Stressful Events and Depressive Symptoms among Old Women and Men: A Longitudinal Study

Depression is quite common among the elderly members of Hong Kong Chinese society. This study examined the impact of a series of common stressful life events (SLEs) on changes in depressive symptoms among the older people. The respondents were 260 people aged seventy years or older from a longitudinal study of a representative community sample of the elderly population in Hong Kong. Using multiple regression models, the authors found that, of eight SLEs examined, only widowhood was associated with depressive symptoms three years later, even after controlling sociodemographic, physical health status, and social support variables were applied. In addition, the SLE influenced the depression differently for men and women, as we found that the death of a spouse was associated with increased in depressive symptoms among elder women, and the moving out of children was associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms among old men. Finally, we also found a close relationship between number of SLEs and depression.