Exploring central symptoms of subthreshold depression in older adults: A network analysis

Subthreshold depression (StD) is prevalent among older adults, significantly impacting their quality of life. Understanding the central symptoms of StD is crucial for improving the structural comprehension of StD and forming effective prevention strategies. Network analysis offers a useful framework for examining complex interconnections among symptoms and identifying those that play a central role within the symptom network. In this cross-sectional study, a symptom network was constructed among 424 older adults with StD, with centrality assessed using expected influence (EI) and network stability evaluated via case-dropping subset bootstrap method and correlation stability coefficient. Among the 17 depressive symptoms analyzed, work and activities (EI = 0.63) and depressed mood (EI = 0.54) emerged as the most central symptoms. The network demonstrated acceptable stability. These findings enhance the understanding of the symptom structure of StD and provide a foundation for developing targeted interventions in older adults.