Financial Strain and Symptoms of Depression in a Community Sample of Elderly Men and Women

Abstract

For many older Americans, managing economic resources is a considerable challenge, often resulting in chronic financial strain. This study examines the impact of financial strain on one domain of distress: symptoms of depression. Data came from a longitudinal study of a representative community sample of an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse elderly population. In multivariate analysis, financial strain was strongly associated with concurrent depression as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) among men and women. In addition, financial strain was associated with increases in CES-D scores over a 3-year period, but only among men. Again among men only, emotional support buffered the adverse effect of financial strain, whereas poor physical health aggravated its effect on depressive symptoms. These findings provide further evidence that financial strain is related to psychological distress in the elderly, particularly in men, and that in these men, this effect is modified by social support and physical health.