A Preliminary Model of Older Women's Depression

California State University Northridge, Northridge CA

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Abstract

The specific aims of the proposed community-based geriatric study are to: 1) identify the rates and unique[unreadable] dimensions of depressive symptomatology among ethnically diverse older women, 2) test the preliminary[unreadable] reliability and validity of a new geriatric stress measure, and 3) test a preliminary model explaining older[unreadable] women's depressive symptomatology. The sample will be comprised of approximately 230 ethnically diverse[unreadable] elderly women residing in Los Angeles County who will be individually assessed utilizing an extensive clinical[unreadable] battery. The proposed recruitment strategies and assessment procedures have been successfully used in[unreadable] the PI's PILOT SCORE research that laid the foundation for this study. The proposed theoretically- and[unreadable] empirically-based stress tool attempts to fill a gap in the psychometric ethnogeriatric literature by targeting[unreadable] culturally relevant factors such as providing caregiving, being geographically distant from family members[unreadable] and friends, and experiencing financial and/or emotional stress following the loss of a spouse. The PI's new[unreadable] geriatric depression model is based on Ryff, Singer, Dienberg Love, and Essex's (1998) conceptualization of[unreadable] resilience, on two theoretical models, i.e., Gatz's (1998) model of mental health and Hobfoll and Wells's[unreadable] (1998) model of conservation of resources during older age, as well as on the latest gender-related and[unreadable] ethnically relevant literature. Structural equation modeling procedures will be utilized to test such a model. It[unreadable] is hypothesized that the proposed stress tool is a reliable and valid instrument, and that the new depression[unreadable] model is valid, thereby explaining a significant amount of variance in the depressive symptomatology of the[unreadable] older women recruited. The long-term objectives of this project are to contribute to the growing epidemiologic[unreadable] body of geriatric mental health and produce a depression model on which to base the development of[unreadable] accurate risk profiles and effective mental health interventions for neglected minority elderly populations.[unreadable] Additionally, once further refined, the new stress instrument will be made available to health professionals[unreadable] working with elderly patients. There are no short geriatric stress screeners currently available; therefore, the[unreadable] creation of a quick theoretically- and empirically-based measure of this kind is needed, to avoid burdening[unreadable] older patients with cumbersome measures when assessing their stress symptomatology within a generally[unreadable] fast-paced medical setting.[unreadable]