Everyday Communication Profiles and Depressive Symptoms in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Latent Class Analysis

Depressive symptoms in later life are associated not only with how often older adults interact but also with qualitative aspects of communication, such as self-disclosure, that have received less research attention. This study examined patterns of conversational frequency and self-disclosure and their associations with depressive symptoms among 187 community-dwelling older adults. Latent class analysis identified three profiles: low frequency with low self-disclosure, moderate levels of both, and active communication with high self-disclosure. After adjustment, the active, high-disclosure profile showed significantly lower depressive symptoms than the low-frequency, low-disclosure profile. These findings may help social workers identify psychosocial risk and inform late-life depression prevention.