Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T21:14:15.675Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A longitudinal study of depression in old age I: outcome and relationship to social networks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Aideen Freyne ,
Sabina Fahy ,
Angela McAleer ,
Fiona Keogh  and
Margo Wrigley
Aideen Freyne
Affiliation:
St Vincents University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin 4, Ireland
Sabina Fahy
Affiliation:
St Fintans Hospital, Portlaois, Co Laois, Ireland
Angela McAleer
Affiliation:
Royal Victoria Hospital, 13 Craigleith Rd, Edinburgh EH4 2DN
Margo Wrigley
Affiliation:
North Dublin Old Age Psychiatry Service, Mater Hospital, 61 Eccles St, Dublin 1, Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objectives: To ascertain the relationship between social network type and depression over time.

Method: A longitudinal outcome study of depressed elderly patients attending an old age psychiatric service was carried out. Subjects were seen at baseline and regular intervals over two years.

Results: Depression severity at baseline and at follow-up times differed according to subjects' social network. Those with more socially integrated networks had the best outcome and those who had more dependent networks had a poorer outcome. There was a lot of movement between networks over time for subjects, with many moving towards more dependent networks.

Conclusions: When treating depression in the elderly it is important to consider the social network and milieu in which the patient resides. Treatments should include strategies encouraging the maintenance and formation of social integration.

Keywords

DepressionOutcomeSocial networksElderly
Type
Original Papers
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , September 2005 , pp. 87 - 93
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Antonucci, TC, Fuhrer, R, Dartigues, J-F. Social relations and depressive symptomatology in a sample of community-dwelling French older adults. Psychology and Aging 1997; 12: 189–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Steinbach, U. Social networks, institutionalization, and mortality among elderly people in the United States. J Gerontol 1992; S183–S190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Bowling, A. Social networks and social support among older people and implications for emotional well-being and psychiatric morbidity. Int Rev Psychiatry 1994; 6: 41–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Freedman, VA, Berkman, LF, Rapp, SR, Ostfield, AM. Family networks: predictors of nursing home entry. Am J Pub Health 1994; 84: 843–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Ceria, CD, Masaki, KH, Rodriguez, BLet al.The relationship of psychosocial factors to total mortality among older Japanese-American men: the Honolulu heart program. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2001; 49: 725–731.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Colantonio, A, Kasl, SV, Ostfield, AMef al.Psychosocial predictors of stroke outcomes in an elderly population. J Gerontol 1993; 48: S261–S268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Kaplan, GA, Strawbridge, WJ, Camocho, T, Cohen, RD. Factors associated with change in physical functioning in the elderly: a six-year prospective study. J Aging and Health 1993; 5: 140–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8.Michael, YL, Colditz, GA, Coakley, E, Kawachi, I. Health behaviours, social networks and health aging: cross-sectional evidence from the nurses' health study. Qual Life Res 1999; 8: 711–722CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Frasure-Smith, N, Lesperance, F, Gravel, G, et al.Social support, depression and mortality during the first year after myocardial infarction. Circulation 2000; 101: 1919–1924CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Oxman, TE, Berkman, LF, Kasl, Set al.Social support and depressive symptoms in the elderly. Am J Epidemiol 1992; 135: 356–368.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Neeleman, J, Power, MJ. Social support and depression in three groups of psychiatric patients and a group of medical controls. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 1994; 29; 46–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Green, BH, Copeland, JRM, Sharma, Vet al.Risk factors for depression in elderly people: a prospective study. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1992; 86: 213–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Green, BH, Copeland, JRM, Dewey, MEet al.Factors associated with recovery and recurrence of depression in older people: a prospective study. Int J Ger Psychiatry 1994; 9: 789–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Prince, MJ, Harwood, RH, Blizard, RAet al.Social support deficits, loneliness and life events as risk factors for depression in old age. The Gospel Oak Project VI. Psychol Med 1997; 27; 323–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Krause, N. Social support, stress and well-being among older adults. J Gerontol 1986; 41: 512–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Wenger, GC, Davies, R, Shahtahmaseli, S. Morale in old age: refining the model. Int J Ger Psychiatry 1995; 10: 933–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Litwin, H. Social network type and morale in old age. Gerontologist 2001; 41: 516–524.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Wenger, GC. Social networks and the prediction of elderly people at risk. Aging and Mental Health 1997; 1: 311–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Wenger, GC. A comparison of urban with rural support networks – Liverpool and North Wales. Aging and Society 1995; 15: 59–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Kirby, M, Denihan, A, Bruce, Iet al.The pattern of support networks among the community dwelling in urban Ireland: variations with mental disorder. Ir J Psychol Med 2000; 7: 43–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.World Health Organisation. The ICD-10 Classification of mental and behavioural disorders. Geneva: WHO, 1993.Google Scholar
22.American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn,) DSM-IV. Washington, DC: APA, 1994.Google Scholar
23.Yesavage, JA, Brink, TL, Rose, TLet al.Development and validation of a geriatric depression scale. J Psychiat Res 1983; 17: 31–49.Google Scholar
24.Hamilton, M. A rating scale for depression. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1960; 23: 56–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25.Folstein, MF, Folstein, SE, McHugh, PR. Mini-mental state: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res 1975; 12: 189–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Pattie, AH, Gilleard, CJ. A survey version of the Clifton Assessment Procedure for the Elderly (CAPE). Br J Clin Psychol 1981; 20: 1173–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27.Morgan, K, Dallosso, MM, Ibrahim, SBJ. A brief self-report scale for assessing personal engagement in the elderly: reliability and validity. In Ageing: Recent advances and creative responses (Ed Butler, A) Croom Helm, 1985.Google Scholar
28.Freyne, A, Wrigley, M. Prognosis of depression in the elderly. Ir J Psychol Med 1995; 12: 6–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Geerlings, SW, Beekman, AT, Deeg, DJ, Twisk, JW, Van Tilburg, W. The longitudinal effect of depression on functional limitations and disability in older adults: an eight wave prospective community-based study. Psychol Med 2001; 31, 1361–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30.Bowling, A, Farquhar, M, Formby, J. Changes in life satisfaction over a two and a half year period among very elderly people living in London. Soc Sci Med 1993; 36: 641–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31.Prince, MJ, Beekman, At, Deeg, DJet al.Depression symptoms in later life assessed using the EURO-D scale. Effect of age, gender and marital status in 14 European centres. Br J Psychiatry 1999; 174: 339–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
32.Lee, GR, DeMaris, A, Bavin, S, Sullivan, R. Gender differences in the depressive effect of widowhood in later life. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2001; 56: S56–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
33.Kivela, SL, Kongas-Savario, P, Laippala, P, Pahkala, K, Kesti, E. Social and psychosocial factors predicting depression in old age: a longitudinal study. Int Psychogeriatr 1996; 8: 635–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34.Murphy, E. Social origins of depression in old age. Br J Psychiatry 1982; 141; 135–142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35.Wenger, GC, Shahtahmasebi, S. Variations in support networks: some social policy implications. In Mogey, J (ed) Aiding and Aging: the coming crisis. Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1990, 255–77.Google Scholar
36.Wenger, GC, St Leger, F. Community structure and support network variations. Aging and Society 1992; 12: 213–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
37.Wenger, GC. Change and adaptation in informal support networks of elderly people in Wales 1979-1987. J Aging Studies 1990; 4: 375–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
38.Van Tilburg, T. Losing and gaining in old age: changes in personal network size and social support in a four-year longitudinal study. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 1998; 53: S313–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar