Citation

Jang Y, Park NS, Kang SY, Chiriboga DA. Community Ment. Health J. 2014; 50(3): 325-330.

Affiliation

School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin, 1925 San Jacinto Blvd., D3500, Austin, TX, 78712, USA, yjang12@austin.utexas.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10597-013-9642-2

PMID

23925731

Abstract

The study examined racial/ethnic differences in the association between symptoms of depression and self-rated mental health among older adults. Data came from the first wave of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, a population-based study of non-institutionalized older adults aged 57 to 85. The sample consisted of non-Hispanic Whites (n = 2,110), Blacks (n = 509), and Hispanics (n = 304). The association between symptoms of depression and self-rated mental health was weaker among minority groups than that among non-Hispanic Whites. Tests of interaction effects showed that the predictability of depressive symptoms to self-rated mental health was substantially weakened among Blacks of advanced ages and Hispanics with multiple chronic conditions. The study explored potential sources of racial/ethnic differences in subjective reports of mental health and called attention to older minorities with advanced ages and cormorbid conditions in mental health services and interventions.

Language: en