Dataset Information

Body mass index and depressive symptoms in older adults: a cross-lagged panel analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There are conflicting results about the association between body mass index (BMI) and depressive symptoms in older adults. The present study examined the relationship between weight and depressive symptoms over time in older adults in South Korea.

Methods

We used data from three waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging and ran a series of cross-lagged panel models to test the reciprocal relationship between depressive symptoms and obesity in older Korean adults. We assumed a temporally stable relationship between depressive symptoms and obesity and, thus imposed equality constraints over time.

Results

After controlling for the effect of depressive symptoms two years prior, underweight older adults had a higher depressive symptom score than those of normal weight. When controlling for obesity status from two years prior, older adults with higher levels of depressive symptoms were more likely to be underweight and less likely to be overweight than normal weight. The same patterns were observed in data from 2006 to 2008 and from 2008 to 2010.

Conclusions

These results show that there is a correlation between depressive symptoms and weight status. In middle-aged and elderly Asian populations, depression can lead to weight loss rather than obesity, and underweight may develop depressive symptoms.

SUBMITTER: Kim J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4263712 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Body mass index and depressive symptoms in older adults: a cross-lagged panel analysis.

Kim Jinseok J Noh Jin-Won JW Park Jumin J Kwon Young Dae YD

PloS one 20141211 12

<h4>Background</h4>There are conflicting results about the association between body mass index (BMI) and depressive symptoms in older adults. The present study examined the relationship between weight and depressive symptoms over time in older adults in South Korea.<h4>Methods</h4>We used data from three waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging and ran a series of cross-lagged panel models to test the reciprocal relationship between depressive symptoms and obesity in older Korean adults. ...[more]

PMID: 25501372

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Project description:BackgroundDepressive symptoms are the most prevalent mental health concern among older adults (possibly heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic), which raises questions about how such symptoms can be lowered in this population. Existing research shows that offline social connectedness is a protective factor against depression in older adults; however, it is unknown whether web-based social connectedness can have similar effects.ObjectiveThis study investigates whether social connectedness on a support website protects older adults against depressive symptoms over the course of a year, above and beyond the protective effect of offline social connectedness. The secondary aim is to determine whether older adults with increased depressive symptoms are more likely to engage in social connectedness on this website. Thus, we examine depressive symptoms as both an outcome and predictor of web-based social connectedness to fully understand the chain of causality among these variables. Finally, we compare web-based social connectedness with offline social connectedness in their ability to lower depressive symptoms among older adults.MethodsA total of 197 adults aged 65 years or older were given access to a social support website, where they were able to communicate with each other via a discussion forum for a year. Participants' social connectedness on the web-based platform, conceptualized as message production and consumption, was measured using behavioral log data as the number of messages participants wrote and read, respectively, during the first 6 months (t1) and the following 6 months (t2) of the study. Participants self-reported their offline social connectedness as the number of people in their support networks, and they reported their depressive symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 both at baseline (t1) and at 12-month follow-up (t2). To ascertain the flow of causality between these variables, we employed a cross-lagged panel design, in which all variables were measured at t1 and t2.ResultsAfter controlling for the effect of offline support networks at t1, web-based message consumption at t1 decreased older adults' depressive symptoms at t2 (β=-.11; P=.02), but web-based message production at t1 did not impact t2 depressive symptoms (β=.12; P=.34). Web-based message consumption had a larger effect (β=-.11; P=.02) than offline support networks (β=-.08; P=.03) in reducing older adults' depressive symptoms over time. Higher baseline depressive symptoms did not predict increased web-based message consumption (β=.12; P=.36) or production (β=.02; P=.43) over time.ConclusionsThe more messages older adults read on the web-based forum for the first 6 months of the study, the less depressed they felt at the 1-year follow-up, above and beyond the availability of offline support networks at baseline. This pinpoints the substantial potential of web-based communication to combat depressive symptoms in this vulnerable population.International registered report identifier (irrid)RR2-10.1186/s13063-015-0713-2.

Dataset Information

Body mass index and depressive symptoms in older adults: a cross-lagged panel analysis.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Body mass index and depressive symptoms in older adults: a cross-lagged panel analysis.

Similar Datasets

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