Social factors relating to depression among older people in Japan: analysis of longitudinal panel data from the AGES project

Abstract

Objectives: Preventing the onset of depression among older people in Japan requires clarifying the social determinants of depression by using longitudinal data, while also taking biological and psychological factors into account. Identification of such determinants may enable more active intervention through social policy. We aimed to reveal the social factors related to depression in Japan’s older people and consider associated policy implications.

Method: Panel data obtained from a longitudinal survey (Wave 1 to Wave 2) of 3464 elderly subjects, aged 65 years or more, as part of the Aichi Gerontological Evaluation Study (AGES) project was employed. The outcome variable was depression, as evaluated by the Geriatric Depression Scale. Frequency of meeting with friends, social support, hobbies, participation in organizations, life events, illness, self-rated health, instrumental activities of daily living, and sense of coherence were entered as explanatory variables within a logit model for each gender.

Results: Of the subjects without mental illness or depression at Wave 1, 14% had become depressed by Wave 2. In both men and women, life events predicted increased odds of depression, while sense of coherence predicted reduced odds. The frequency of meeting with friends, hobbies, and self-rated health predicted reduced odds of depression in men, while age predicted increased odds in women.

Conclusion: Overall, social interaction is important for preventing depression in Japan, and that the establishment of a system capable of promoting social interaction and providing care to the elderly during life events may be a useful social policy approach to preventing depression.

Keywords:

• Older people
• longitudinal panel data
• depression
• social factors
• Japan

Acknowledgments

This study used data from the Aichi Gerontological Evaluation Study (AGES), conducted by the Center for Well-being and Society, Nihon Fukushi University as one of their research projects. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the members of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) Project as follows: Jun Aida, Toyo Ashida, Noriko Cable, Yoshihisa Fujino, Takeo Fujiwara, Masamichi Hanazato, Maho Haseda, Takahiro Hayashi, Hiroyuki Hikichi, Hiroshi Hirai, Yukinobu Ichida, Seungwon Jeong, Yoshihito Kameda, Ichiro Kawachi, Naoki Kondo, Yasuhiro Miyaguni, Chiyoe Murata, Yuiko Nagamine, Miyo Nakade, Toshiyuki Ojima, Eisaku Okada, Ken Osaka, Masashige Saito, Tami Saito, Yuri Sasaki, Kokoro Shirai, Yugo Shobugawa, Kayo Suzuki, Daisuke Takagi, Tokunori Takeda, Akiko Tamakoshi, Yukako Tani, Hidemi Todoriki, Toru Tsuboya, Taishi Tsuji, Tatsuo Yamamoto, Natsuyo Yanagi, and Chihiro Yokota.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported in part by MEXT-Supported Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities, 2009–2013 and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) [grant numbers 23243070, 18390200, 24683018, 15H01972]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.