Older women report more loneliness than male peers. Loneliness is an area of concern related to the well being of older women because it is a cause of emotional distress and is linked to a variety of health problems in older individuals. Life changes, including widowhood and relocation, are associated with increased vulnerability to loneliness. Gender, social, and cultural factors influence the experience of loneliness in older women. Cognitive and interactionist theoretical approaches to loneliness have utility for nursing practice and research with older women who experience loneliness.

High rates of depression are documented in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS), but few studies examine depression over time. This analysis considered data from 607 persons with MS over a sevenyear period as part of an ongoing longitudinal study of quality of life in chronic illness. Latent growth curve analysis was used to examine trajectories in depression and the effects of covariates such as age, time since diagnosis of MS, type of MS, and functional limitations on the extent to which depression changed over the study period. The results of the analysis indicated that depressive symptoms fluctuated over time for individuals but did not show a tendency to an overall significant increase or decrease for the group as a whole. Younger age, longer time since diagnosis of MS, progressive forms of MS and greater extent of functional limitation were predictive of greater depressive symptoms at Time 1. With the exception of functional limitation, which showed an association with depression at all time periods, these variables did not predict the changes in depressive symptoms over time. Gender was not a significant predictor of changes in depressive symptoms, nor did women have higher rates of depression as expected from previous research. The results of this analysis indicate the importance of screening for depression in all persons with MS.Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demylinating disease of the central nervous system that affects women 2-3 times more often than men (Noonan, Kathman & White, 2002). A higher incidence of depressive symptoms and major depressive disorder in persons with MS is well documented, and reported in both large community surveys (Chwastiak et al., 2002;Patten, Beck, Williams, Barbui, & Metz, 2003) and studies of persons with MS (Sadovnick et al., 1996). Depressive symptoms are associated with reduced quality of life for persons with MS (Fruehwalk, Loeffler-Stastka, Eher, Saletu & Baumhackl, 2001;Lobentanz et al., 2004) and with an increased risk of suicide (Faber, 2003; Sadovnick, Eisen, Paty, & Ebers, 1991).An important unresolved issue is whether depressive symptoms remain stable or fluctuate over time because most studies on this topic are cross-sectional. Therefore, additional longitudinal studies to describe the course of depressive symptoms and associated risk factors are warranted (Ehde & Bombardier, 2005). Learning more about the trajectory of depressive symptoms over time has implications for identification and treatment of depression in persons with MS. In particular, the influence of gender, age at MS onset, and severity of MS on the association between MS course and depression need further study (Zabad, Patten, & Metz, 2005).To respond to these issues, the purpose of this study was to explore the trajectory of depressive symptoms over a seven-year time period in a sample of persons with MS. We examined the correlations between the characteristics of change in depressive symptoms and the moderating Corresponding author: Claudia Beal, 5108 Lake Jackson Drive, Waco, ...

Acceptance of chronic conditions often has been studied from the perspective of grief and loss. This paper presents a new conceptualization of acceptance of chronic conditions that is grounded in the perspective of those living with a chronic condition and focuses on adaptation to and acceptance of change in one's life. Data obtained from a sample of 822 persons with multiple sclerosis and a sample of more than 2,000 polio survivors support the reliability and validity of the new Acceptance of Chronic Health Conditions Scale.

The purpose of this study was to describe the health practices of women with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and the predictors of an overall health promoting lifestyle in these individuals. The predictors of a health promoting lifestyle examined in this study were barriers, social support, self-efficacy, demographic characteristics and illness factors. The sample consisted of 198 women who participated in a randomised clinical trial to test the effectiveness of a health promotion intervention for women with FMS. The women in this sample engaged most frequently in health practices in the domains of interpersonal relations and spiritual growth and least frequently in the domain of physical activity. Self-efficacy and social support were significant predictors of an overall health promoting lifestyle.

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