Frances Wilby

Coping and Depression Among Community Dwelling Elders: How Do Independent Older Adults Cope with the Symptoms of Depression? Frances Wilby

Depression in older adults has been widely studied in the institutionalized population but less is known about independent community dwelling older adults and depression. This work was designed to learn more about how depression impacts community dwelling older adults, how they cope with depressive symptoms, whether they perceive themselves to be depressed, and how they view the effectiveness of their coping strategies. A random sample was taken of 100 community dwelling older adults who live in a western city in the United States. 27.5% of the sample suffered from significant depressive symptoms as measured by the CES-D indicating that depression is a serious concern for this group. The depressed group used more emotion oriented coping strategies than the nondepressed group. The nondepressed group used more problem solving strategies and fewer emotion oriented strategies. The depressed group consistently ranked themselves as less effective in dealing with depressive symptoms. Men who rated themselves more effective also had less depression after controlling for functional ability. The study has broad implications for social work practice.