Social and environmental factors and major depression in old age

This community-based epidemiological survey is concerned with relationships between social and environmental factors and major depression in a Finnish population aged 60 years and over. The occurrence of major depression was related to advanced age, widowhood or divorce, low number of hobbies, frequently being alone, poor social participation, and many long-standing and current social-stress factors. According to the questionnaire data, subjects suffering from major depression had more frequently experienced serious illnesses and deaths among their close relatives during the five years before the beginning of this survey than had the non-depressed subjects. The log-linear model constructed for major-depressive persons revealed six interactions. The first was characterized by a low number of hobbies, high incidence of long-standing social-stress factors, and widowed or divorced status; the second by poor social participation and high incidence of long-standing and current social-stress factors, or combination of moderate level of social participation, high incidence of long-standing social-stress factors, and low incidence of current social-stress factors; the third by a low number of hobbies and high incidence of current social-stress factors; the fourth by a high incidence of current social-stress factors and widowed or divorced status; the fifth by a low number of hobbies and low level of social participation; and the sixth by a moderate level of social participation and widowhood or divorce.