Age and the Effect of Economic Hardship on Depression

2001/06/01 by John Mirowsky, Catherine E. Ross · 286 citations
Health Professions · Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Demographic economics #Demography #Depression (economics) #Developmental psychology #Economics #Employment and Welfare Studies #Gerontology #Global Health Care Issues #Health disparities and outcomes #Labour economics #Maturity (psychological) #Medicine #Psychology #Sociology #Survey of Income and Program Participation #Telephone survey #Wage

paper · doi:10.2307/3090174

published in Journal of Health and Social Behavior 42(2), 132 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex publication_date 2001/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

The amount of depression associated with economic hardship among adults may depend on age. This study tests alternative hypotheses about the interaction. The first asserts that the amount of depression associated with economic hardship decreases with older age because of maturity and experience. The second, the opposite, asserts that the amount increases with older age because of increasingly limited future opportunities for recovery. The study analyzes data from 2,592 households in the 1995 and 1998 telephone survey of Aging, Status, and the Sense of Control (ASOC). Regression analyses find that the amount of depression associated with economic hardship decreases with older age, both cross-sectionally and over time. No model shows an increase with age in the depression associated with economic hardship. However, regressions do show that not having household wage income or having a disabling or life threatening chronic disease increases the depression associated with economic hardship. Those interactions somewhat suppress the moderating effect of older age on the association between economic hardship and depression.

Citations

• The Sociological Study of Stress
• The Stress Process and the Social Distribution of Depression

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