Social Psychiatry

Abstract

Abstract The world’s elderly population will double between 2015 and 2050 to 2 billion persons or about one-fifth of all people, and the reconfiguration of historical age distribution patterns will create enormous social and economic strains on societies and their ability to care for aging individuals. Moreover, globalization, modernization, and mass migration have especially affected older adults. Various micro and macro-level social and social-psychological theories of aging have been proffered to explain the processes that shape behavior and mental well-being. With respect to specific psychiatric disorders, cross-national studies have generally found lower incidence and prevalence rates of formal psychiatric disorders in older persons, although differences in psychiatric symptoms have been found less consistently. A variety of social variables have been found to affect rates of psychiatric disorders, but there are many inconsistencies that may reflect methodological differences across investigations.