Depression among Centenarians and the Oldest Old: Contributions of Cognition and Personality

Abstract

Background: An estimated 20% of adults over the age of 55 experience clinical mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. For older adults, mental health concerns are often undetected, concomitant with physical challenges, and ultimately go untreated. These realities have significant implications for older adults’ day-to-day functioning, particularly among the oldest old. Objective: The present study examined the ability of cognition and personality in explaining depression within a sample of octogenarians and centenarians. Methods: Participants were assessed during the most recent cross-sectional data collection of the Georgia Centenarian Study. The final eligible sample included 76 octogenarians (mean: 84.25 years, SD: 2.82; range: 81–90) and 158 centenarians and near centenarians (mean: 99.82 years, SD: 1.72; range: 98–109). Results: Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the relation between key variables and depressive symptoms in the two age groups. Blocks entered into the analyses included: demographics (i.e. age group, residential status, sex, and ethnicity) and functioning, memory and problem-solving ability, and personality (i.e. extraversion and neuroticism). Models differed for octogenarians and centenarians. Decreased problem-solving ability was related to greater depressive symptoms among octogenarians. For centenarians, institutional residence and increased neurotic tendencies were related to greater depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Study findings demonstrate the need to examine a variety of factors which influence mental health in later life and to consider the unique contexts and differential experiences of octogenarians and centenarians.

Positive attitude toward life, emotional expression, self-rated health, and depressive symptoms among centenarians and near-centenarians

“…Positive attitudes have been suggested to be one of the major coping mechanisms against depression used by older nursing home residents (Choi, Ransom, & Wyllie, 2008). As poor mental health may have significant implications for daily, physical, and social functioning in this population (Margrett et al, 2010), having a tendency toward positive attitudes, affect, and personality characteristics may be a key protective factor which may enhance emotion regulation and overall functioning in advanced age.…”

Predictors of Exceptional Longevity: Effects of Early-Life and Midlife Conditions, and Familial Longevity

“…Most studies of centenarians in the United States are focused on either genetic (Hadley et al 2000; Perls and Terry 2003; Zeng et al 2010; Murabito et al 2012; Sebastiani et al 2012) or psychological (Adkins et al 1996; Hagberg et al 2001; Margrett et al 2010; Martin et al 2010; Murabito et al 2012) aspects of survival to advanced ages. On the other hand, several theoretical concepts suggest that early-life events and conditions may have significant long-lasting effect on survival to advanced ages.…”

Editorial

“…Notably, economic dependency was not related to distal variables (the nature of which is not described in this paper, but might be inferred to be similar to those covered by Hensley et al [12] . As with the Margrett et al [11] paper, cognition plays a central role in reduced reliance on care and medical services. Given the costly nature of the latter, an investment in efforts to maintain an active mind and treat, or delay, cognitive decline would be a worthwhile public health strategy for making the end of life an autonomous and secure one.…”

“…Continuing the focus on mental health in the oldest old, cognition and personality were found to relate differentially to depression in octogenarians and centenarians [11] . In the case of octogenarians, lower problem solving ability was associated with more depressive symptoms, while for centenarians, the strongest correlates were neurotic tendencies and living in residential aged care.…”