Depression in adult women: age changes and cohort effects

We sought to separate age and cohort associations with depression, assessed 3 times within a 10-year period in 701 women born between 1928 and 1958.

We used regression analysis to examine age differences in women with depression in 2 birth cohorts, pre-1945 and post-1944, who were assessed at comparable ages. Multilevel modeling was used to estimate changes with age in successive birth year cohorts.

An age by cohort interaction indicated more depression among younger than older women in the post-1944 cohort but a flat age profile in the pre-1945 cohort. Longitudinal analyses indicated declines in depression with age in more recent cohorts but increases in earlier ones.

Increases in depression in younger women in successive cohorts may be offset by decreases in middle age.