The relation between age and distress was examined with four-wave panel data from the Czech Republic. Age was positively associated with Czech men’s 1999 depression (the older panel members compared with the middle-aged members) and negatively with women’s problem behavior prior to controls. Age was also associated with change in men’s depression between 1994 and 1999, but not change in women’s problem behavior. The additions of life-course variables, economic experiences, and health and social-psychological resources helped explain the relation between age and change in men’s depression, and this was particularly true for economic experiences and personal resources. These same variables were also related to change in men’s problem behavior and women’s depression. Men’s problem behavior and women’s depression appeared to be distress symptoms but simply not related to age.
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