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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| The impact of downward social comparison processes on depressive symptoms in older men and women | | Author(s) | Steven J Kohn, Gregory C Smith |
| Journal title | Ageing International, vol 28, no 1, Winter 2003 |
| Pages | pp 37-65 |
| Keywords | Depression ; Older men ; Older women ; Attitude ; Social surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Despite numerous age-related changes to their physical health and functional abilities, most older people maintain good mental health. Although it is widely believed that making downward social comparisons is a strategy used by older people to protect their psychological well-being against narcissistic threats, there has been scant research on the topic. In this study, the authors tested a model in which making downward social comparisons (i.e. to similar others who are worse off) was hypothesised, to mediate the relationship between a self-perceived decline in physical functioning and depressive symptoms. Data were obtained from self-administered questionnaires from 355 community-dwelling Americans aged 60-95 from the Baltimore-Washington, DC area (163 men, 192 women). The observed data fitted the proposed model well for both sexes, using the EQS 5.7. Mediation held across gender, but men were more likely to use downward comparisons. Model fit improved for both genders when an unhypothesised path from depressive symptoms to comparison consequences was added, which is sensible, because depressed individuals often tend to evaluate self-related information in a negative manner. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-030522002 A |
| Classmark | ENR: BC: BD: DP: 3F: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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