Rumination moderates the longitudinal associations of awareness of age-related change with depressive and anxiety symptoms
Abstract
Objective Lower awareness of age-related gains (AARC-gains) and higher awareness of age-related losses (AARC-losses) may be risk factors for depressive and anxiety symptoms. We explored whether: (1) Baseline AARC-gains and AARC-losses predict depressive and anxiety symptoms at one-year follow-up; (2) age and rumination moderate these associations; (3) levels of AARC-gains and AARC-losses differ among individuals with different combinations of current and past depression and/or with different combinations of current and past anxiety. Methods In this one-year longitudinal cohort study participants (N=3386; mean age = 66.0; SD = 6.93) completed measures of AARC-gains, AARC-losses, rumination, depression, anxiety, and lifetime diagnosis of depression and anxiety in 2019 and 2020. Regression models with tests of interaction were used. Results Higher AARC-losses, but not lower AARC-gains, predicted more depressive and anxiety symptoms. Age did not moderate these associations. Associations of lower AARC-gains and higher AARC-losses with more depressive symptoms and of higher AARC-losses with more anxiety symptoms were stronger in those with higher rumination. Individuals with both current and past depression reported highest AARC-losses and lowest AARC-gains. Those with current, but not past anxiety, reported highest AARC-losses. Conclusion Perceiving many age-related losses may place individuals at risk of depressive and anxiety symptoms, especially those who frequently ruminate.
Citation
Sabatini , S , Dritschel , B , Rupprecht , F S , Ukoumunne , O C , Ballard , C , Brooker , H , Corbett , A & Clare , L 2023 , ' Rumination moderates the longitudinal associations of awareness of age-related change with depressive and anxiety symptoms ' , Aging & Mental Health , vol. 27 , no. 9 , pp. 1711-1719 . https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2023.2176820
Publication
Aging & Mental Health
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1360-7863Type
Journal article
Description
Funding: This paper represents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. Obi Ukoumunne and Linda Clare were supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) South West Peninsula.Collections
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