This study investigated the role of perceived control and self-reinforcement in depression among community-dwelling elders from different ethnic backgrounds. The first purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the behavioral competencies of self-reinforcement and perceived control covary with and predict depression scores among 205 elderly individuals (77 Asian American and 128 Caucasian American). The second purpose was to examine possible cultural differences in depression, self-reinforcement, and perceived control scores. It was found that self-reinforcement predicted depression for the total sample and each ethnic subsample concurrently and 5 months later. Perceived control predicted depression concurrently and subsequently for the Caucasian elders only. Implications for the multicultural assessment of depression among the elderly are discussed.
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