Depression in older adults: Measuring the impact of co-residing minors in the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project

The National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) is an innovative, longitudinal study of older adults that examines the interaction between aging, social relationships, and health outcomes. During the first wave of data collection we conducted 3,005 detailed, in-person interviews with a nationally representative sample of adults aged 57 to 85, achieving a final response rate of 75.5 percent. One hundred eighty-two of these respondents reported living in a household with at least one child under the age of 18.

The prevalence of psychological distress among older adult caregivers is well documented, with depressive symptoms frequently self-reported (Nicholson et al. 2002; Minkler et al. 1997). NSHAP measured depressive symptomology with a shortened version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) (Radloff 1977). In this paper we examine the impact of co-residing children on the prevalence of depression in older adults, and if such impact is mitigated by demographic characteristics or level of social support. We categorize respondents as living in one of four household types: single person households; households with one or more children under age eighteen; households where the respondent acts as a caregiver to another adult; and households with multiple adults with no caregiving responsibilities, and specify the frequency of each. We then determine the incidence of self-reported depression and examine possible explanatory covariates.