The association between self-rated mental health and symptoms of depression in Korean American older adults

Abstract

Objective: The study examined the association of self-rated mental health (SRMH) with three measures of depressive symptoms (the short form CES-D, GDS-SF, and PHQ-9) in Korean American older adults.

Method: The sample consisted of 420 community-dwelling Korean American older adults (M _age = 71.6, SD = 7.59) in the New York City metropolitan area. Hierarchical regression models of SRMH were estimated with an array of predictors: (a) sociodemographic characteristics, (b) physical health-related variables, and (c) each of the three depressive symptom measures.

Results: The three measures of depressive symptoms were interrelated, and each of them made a significant contribution to the multivariate models of SRMH. The amount of variance explained by the short-form CES-D, GDS-SF, and PHQ-9 was 11%, 10%, and 16%, respectively.

Conclusion: Findings show a moderately strong linkage between the measures of depressive symptoms and SRMH and invite further research on SRMH in diverse populations.

Keywords:

• self-rated mental health
• depressive symptoms
• Korean American older adults

Acknowledgements

The project was supported by a grant from the Advanced Research Institute in Geriatric Mental Health (R25MH068502; PI – Martha Bruce, Ph.D.).