Analysis of longitudinal data (1975-1984) from the Cleveland GAO study shows that physical health and social support emerge as major coping resources for forestalling decline in mental health among the elderly over a nine-year period. However, social resources and poorer self-assessed physical health, which are significant predictors of decline in emotional health, have no effect in loss of cognitive ability, suggesting a biological component in such loss. However mortality over the nine-year time span is related to poorer initial mental health and cognitive ability, thus revealing that selective survival masks the extent to which mental conditions decline over time, with impaired White males the least likely to survive. Although measures of mental health and cognitive skills play a major role in predicting mortality, taken together they are less significant in explanatory power than the availability of social resources.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aneshensel, C. S.
, R. R. Frerichs, and G. J. Huba. 1984. "Depression and Physical Illness: A Multiwave, Nonrecursive Causal Model."Journal of Health and Social Behavior25: 350-371.
2.
Blazer, D. G.1978. "The OARS Durham Surveys: Description and Application." Pp. 75-88 in Multidimensional Functional Assessment: The OARS Methodology, 2nd ed., edited by E. Pfeiffer. Durham, NC: Center for the Study of Aging Human Development.
3.
Blazer, D. G.1981. "Social Stress and Mental Disorders in the Elderly." Pp. 329-343in Aging: Biology and Behavior, edited by J. L. McGraugh and S. B. Kiesler. New York, Academic Press.
4.
Blumenthal, M.1980. "Depressive Illness in Old Age: Getting Behind the Mask."Geriatrics4: 34.
5.
Cogan, D.
and M. R. Haug. 1985. "Health Assessment and Health Care Utilization Patterns Among the Elderly in an Urban HMO." Paper presented at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America.
6.
Cohen, J.
and P. Cohen. 1983. Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd ed.Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
7.
Comptroller General of the United States, General Accounting Office
. 1977. "The Well-Being of Older People in Cleveland, Ohio: A Report to the Congress."Washington, DC: General Accounting Office.
8.
Dohrenwend, B. P.
and D. L. Crandall. 1970. "Psychiatric Symptoms in Community, Clinic and Mental Hospital Groups. American Journal of Psychiatry126: 1611-1621.
9.
Duke-OARS
. 1978. Multi-dimensional Functional Assessment: The OARS Methodology. Durham, NC: Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development.
10.
Esser, S. R.
and P. P. Vitaliano. 1988. "Depression, Dementia and Social Supports."International Journal of Aging and Humant Developement26: 289-230 1.
11.
Folkman. S.
, R. S. Lazarus, S. Pimley, and J. Novacek, J.1987. "Age Differences in Stress and Coping Processes."Psychology and Aging2(2): 171-184.
12.
Folmar, S., A. Roy, and A. B. Ford. 1988. "Social Resources and Mortality: Evidence from the Cleveland GAO Study." Unpublished manuscript.
13.
Ford, A. B., M. R. Haug, P. Jones, A. Roy, and S. Folmar. 1988. "Race-Related Differences Among Elderly Urban Residents: A Longitudinal Study, 1975-1984." Unpublished manuscript.
14.
Gerson, L. W.
, D. Jarjoura, and G. McCord. 1987. "Factors Related to Impaired Mental Health in Urban Elderly."Research on Aging9(3): 356-371.
15.
Gurland, B. J.
and J. A. Toner. 1982. Depression and the Elderly: A Review of Recently Published Studies. Pp. 228-265 in Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Vol. 3, edited by C. Eisdorfer. New York: Springer.
16.
Haug, M. R.
and S. J. Folmar. 1987. "Longevity, Gender, and Life Quality."Journal of Health and Social Behavior27: 332-345.
17.
Haug, M. R.
, L. L. Belgrave, and B. Gratton. 1984. "Mental Health and the Elderly: Factors in Stability and Change Over Time."Journal of Health and Social Behavior25(2): 100-115.
18.
Jarvik, L. F.
and M. Perl. 1981. "Overview of Physiologic Dysfunctions and the Production of Psychiatric Problems in the Elderly. Pp. 1-15 in Psychiatric Management of Physical Disease in the Elderly, edited by A. Levenson and R. C. W. Hall. New York: Raven Press.
19.
Kaplan, B. H.
, J. G. Cassel, and S. Gore. 1977. "Social Support and Health."Medical Care15(5, supplement): 47-58.
20.
Kaplan, G.
, V Barell, and A. Lusky. 1988. "Subjective State of Health and Survival in Elderly Adults."Journal of Gerontology Social Sciences43(4): 5114-5120.
21.
Kessler, R. C.
and D. F. Greenberg. 1981. Linear Panel Analysis, Models of Quantitative Change. New York: Academic Press.
22.
Langner, T. S.1962. "A Twenty-Two Item Screening Score of Psychiatric Symptoms Indicating Impairment."Journal of Health and Human Behavior3: 269-276.
23.
LaRue, A.
, C. Dessonville, and L. F. Jarvik. 1985. "Aging and Mental Disorder." Pp. 664-702 in Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, 2nd ed., edited by J. E. Birren and K. W. Schaie. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
24.
Lin, N.
, A. Dean, and W Ensel, eds. 1986. Social Support, Life Events and Depression. New York: Academic Press.
25.
Lord, F. M.1963. "Elementary Models for Measuring Change." In Problems in Measuring Change, edited by C. W. Harris. Madison: University of Wisconsin.
26.
Lowenthal, M. F.
and C. Haven. 1968. "Interaction and Adaptation: Intimacy as a Critical Variable."American Sociological Review33: 20-30.
27.
Maddox, G. L.
and E. B. Douglas. 1973. "Self-Assessment of Health: A Longitudinal Study of Elderly Subjects."Journal of Health and Social Behavior14: 87.
28.
Morgan, L. A.1976. "A Re-examination of Widowhood and Morale."Journal of Gerontology31: 687-695.
29.
Mossey, J. M.
and E. Shapiro. 1982. "Self-Rated Health: A Predictor of Mortality Among the Elderly."American Journal of Public Health72: 800-808.
30.
Perlmutter, M.
, C. Adams, J. Berry, M. Kaplan, D. Person, and F. Verdonik. 1987. "Aging and Memory." Pp. 57-92 in Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Vol. 7, edited by K. W. Schaie and C. Eisdorfer. New York: Springer.
31.
Pfeiffer, E.1975. "A Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire for the Assessment of Organic Brain Deficit in Elderly Patients."Journal of the American Geriatric Society23(10): 433-441.
32.
Turner, R. J.
and S. Noh. 1988. "Physical Disability and Depression: A Longitudinal Analysis."Journal of Health and Social Behavior29: 23-37.
33.
Verwoerdt, A.1976. A Clinical Geropsychiatry. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins.
34.
Weissman, M. M.
, J. K. Myers, and C. E. Ross. 1986. "Community Studies in Psychiatric Epidemiology: An Introduction." In Community Surveys of Psychiatric Disorders, edited by M. M. Weissman, J. K. Myers, and C. E. Ross. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
