Intimacy and depression in older women

This study examines the effects of the qualities of intimate relationships on depression in older women. The data are from a study of women over 50, randomly selected from five census tracts in Madison, Wisconsin, who were given questionnaires about depression and the quality of their intimate relationships on two occasions (summer of 1978 and summer of 1979). The results showed that some dimensions of the relationships that the women described with their most significant others predicted depression. The more depressed the women were, the more they felt that (1) the relationship was less friendly, (2) their friendly feelings were not reciprocated by the significant other, (3) their relationship was less consistent and predictable, and (4) there was less time spent with the significant other in the best state. These findings are discussed as partially consistent with Seligman's arguments on the comparability of his "learned helplessness" model and depression and with the focus of cognitive theories of Beck and others on the role of perceptions and expectations in depression.