Abstract

Objectives

Late-life depression is a severe problem leading to adverse consequences in the lives of seniors. Pervasive evidence emphasizes that childhood maltreatment is one of determining factors in late-life depression. The literature suggests a complicated mechanism underlying this relationship. This study aimed to examine whether the sense of coherence (SOC) mediated and moderated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and late-life depression.

Method

This study sample included 237 community-dwelling older adults (aged 60–97) with a mean of 69.23 years and standard deviation = 6.87, from November to December 2019 in Tehran. A face-to-face interview was done, and the data was collected based on a multistage sampling approach and analyzed with the structural equation modeling.

Results

Childhood maltreatment was positively associated with depression while negatively correlated with the SOC in older adults. A low level of SOC was also correlated with symptoms of depression. In addition, the SOC partly mediated the association between childhood maltreatment and late-life depression. However, no moderation effect of SOC was found.

Conclusions

Childhood maltreatment may be linked with late-life depression. Part of this relationship is highly likely indirect, through the effect of SOC, which could inform intervention efforts to promote the level of SOC to alleviate symptoms of depression in seniors.

中文翻译：

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童年虐待、晚年抑郁症和一致性感：结构方程模型

摘要

目标

晚年抑郁症是一个严重的问题，会给老年人的生活带来不良后果。普遍的证据强调，童年虐待是晚年抑郁症的决定因素之一。文献提出了这种关系背后的复杂机制。本研究旨在检验一致性感 (sense of coherence, SOC) 是否介导和调节了儿童期虐待与晚年抑郁症之间的关系。

方法

该研究样本包括 2019 年 11 月至 2019 年 12 月在德黑兰的 237 名社区居住的老年人（60-97 岁），平均年龄为 69.23 岁，标准差 = 6.87。进行了面对面的访谈，并基于多阶段抽样方法收集数据并使用结构方程模型进行分析。

结果

童年虐待与抑郁症呈正相关，而与老年人的 SOC 呈负相关。低水平的 SOC 也与抑郁症状相关。此外，SOC 部分调节了儿童期虐待与晚年抑郁症之间的关联。但是，没有发现 SOC 的调节作用。

结论

童年虐待可能与晚年抑郁症有关。这种关系的一部分很可能是间接的，通过 SOC 的影响，这可以为干预措施提供信息，以提高 SOC 水平，从而减轻老年人的抑郁症状。