Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T06:40:43.227Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Anxiety and depression in adults in their eighties: do gender differences remain?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2011

Nancy A. Pachana ,
Deirdre McLaughlin ,
Janni Leung ,
Gerard Byrne  and
Annette Dobson
Nancy A. Pachana
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland, School of Psychology, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
Deirdre McLaughlin*
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland, School of Population Health, Herston, Queensland, Australia
Janni Leung
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland, School of Population Health, Herston, Queensland, Australia
Gerard Byrne
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland, School of Medicine, Herston, Queensland, Australia
Annette Dobson
Affiliation:
The University of Queensland, School of Population Health, Herston, Queensland, Australia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr Deirdre McLaughlin, The University of Queensland, School of Population Health, Herston, Queensland, 4006, Australia. Phone: +61 7 3365 5335, Fax: +61 7 3365 5540. Email: deirdre.mclaughlin@uq.edu.au.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: Women report higher rates of depression and anxiety than men; however, it is uncertain whether this gender difference continues into advanced old age.

Methods: 78 men and 111 women aged 82–87 years from the Men, Women and Ageing Project completed measures of anxiety (Geriatric Anxiety Inventory), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire; PHQ9), general psychological well-being (Mental Health subscale of SF-36), general health (general health item of SF-36) and cognitive status (Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status; TICS).

Results: Results revealed no significant gender differences on any of the psychological measures, after controlling for cognitive status, general health and education.

Conclusion: These results support the proposition that the female predominance in psychological distress diminishes with increasing age. The congruence between men and women may reflect changes in identity associated with age or the effect of decreased emotional valence of some social roles.

Keywords

mood disorderspsychogeriatricssex differences
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 145 - 150
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2011

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

Barefoot, J. C., Mortensen, E. L., Helms, M. J., Avlund, K. and Schroll, M (2001). A longitudinal study of gender differences in depressive symptoms from age 50 to 80. Psychology and Aging, 16, 342–345. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.16.2.342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beattie, E. R. A. and Pachana, N. A. (2010). Double Jeopardy: Co-morbid anxiety and depression in late life. Research in Gerontological Nursing, 3, 209–220. doi: 10.3928/19404921-20100528-99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bierman, E.J.M., Comijs, H.C., Jonker, C and Bekman, A.T.F. (2005). Effects of anxiety versus depression on cognition in later life. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 13, 686–693.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costa, E., Barreto, S. M., Uchoa, E., Firmo, J. O. A., Lima-Costa, M. F. and Prince, M. (2007). Prevalence of International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision: common mental disorders in the elderly in a Brazilian community – The Bambui Health Ageing Study. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 17–27. doi: 10.1097/01.JGP.0000230659.72417.a0.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuentes, K. and Cox, B. (2000). Assessment of anxiety in older adults: a community-based survey and comparison with younger adults. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 297–309. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(99)00067-4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallo, J. and Breitner, J. (1995). Alzheimer's disease in the NAS-NRC Registry of ageing twin veterans. IV. Performance characteristics of a two-stage telephone screening procedure for Alzheimer's dementia. Psychological Medicine, 25, 1211–1219. doi:10.1017/S0033291700033183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gonçalves, D. C., Albuquerque, P. B., Byrne, G. B. and Pachana, N.A. (2009). Assessment of depression in aging contexts: general considerations when working with older adults. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40, 609–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyde, J. S. (2005). The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60, 581–592. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.60.6.581.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kazniak, A. W. (1990). Psychological assessment of the aging individual. In Birren, J. E. and Schaie, K.W. (eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging (3rd edn) (pp. 427–445). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kessler, R. C., McGonagle, K. A., Swartz, M., Blazer, D. G. and Nelson, C. B. (1993). Sex and depression in the National Comorbidity Survey: I. Lifetime prevalence, chronicity and recurrence. Journal of Affective Disorders, 29, 85–96. doi:10.1016/0165-0327(93)90026-G.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leach, L. S., Christensen, H., Mackinnon, A. J., Windsor, T. D. and Butterworth, P. (2008). Gender differences in depression and anxiety across the adult lifespan: the role of psychosocial mediators. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43, 983–998. doi: 10.1007/s00127-008-0388-z.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2001). Gender differences in depression. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 173–176. doi: 10.1111/1467-8721.00142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norman, P. E., Flicker, L., Almeida, O. P., Hankey, G. J., Hyde, Z. and Jamrozik, K. (2009). Cohort profile: the Health in Men Study (HIMS). International Journal of Epidemiology, 38, 48–52CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Osborn, D. P. K. et al. (2002). Geriatric Depression Scale scores in a representative sample of 14,545 people aged 75 and over in the United Kingdom: results from the MRC Trial of Assessment and Management of Older People in the Community. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17, 375–382. doi:10.1002/gps.613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pachana, N., Byrne, G., Siddle, H., Koloski, N., Harley, E. and Arnold, E. (2007). Development and validation of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory. International Psychogeriatrics, 19, 103–114. doi:10.1017/S1041610206003504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seedat, S. et al. (2009). Cross-national associations between gender and mental disorders in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. Archives of General Psychiatry, 66, 785–795. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smalbrugge, M., Jongenelis, L., Pot, A. M., Beekman, A. T. and Eefsting, J. A. (2005). Comorbidity of anxiety and depression in nursing home patients. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20, 218–226. doi:10.1002/gps.1269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spitzer, R., Kroenke, K. and Williams, J. (1999). Validation and utility of a self-report version of PRIME-MD: the PHQ primary care study. Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders, Patient Health Questionnaire. JAMA, 282, 1737–1744. doi:10.1001/jama.282.18.1737.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Takkinen, S., Gold, C., Pedersen, N. L., Malmberg, B., Nilsson, S. and Rovine, M. (2004). Gender differences in depression: a study of older unlike-sex twins. Aging and Mental Health, 8, 187–195. doi:10.1080/13607860410001669714.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van't Veer-Tazelaar, P. J. et al. (2008). Depression in old age (75+): the PIKO study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 106, 295–299. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2007.07.004.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ware, J. E. (1999). SF-36 health survey. In Maruish, M. E. (ed.), The Use of Psychological Testing for Treatment Planning and Outcomes Assessment (2nd edn) (pp. 1227–1246). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Zunzunegui, M. V. et al. (2007). Gender differences in depressive symptoms among older adults: a cross-national comparison. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 42, 198–207. doi:10.1007/s00127-007-0158-3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed