The Bidirectional Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms and Homebound Status Among Older Adults

Xiaoling Xiang, Ruopeng An, Hyunsung Oh and Deborah Carr

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2020, vol. 75, issue 2, 357-366

Abstract: ObjectivesThis study aimed to examine the bidirectional relationship between depressive symptoms and homebound status among older adults.MethodThe study sample included 7,603 community-dwelling older adults from the National Health and Aging Trends Study. A bivariate latent state-trait model of depressive symptoms and homebound status was estimated via structural equation modeling.ResultsThe model fit the data well (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = .02, Comparative Fit Index = .97, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual = .06). The relationship between homebound status and depressive symptoms can be decomposed into three parts: a moderate correlation between the stable trait components (r = .56, p <.001); a contemporary association of the state components (b = .17, p <.001); and bidirectional lagged effects between the state components. Change in homebound status was as a stronger predictor of depressive symptoms (b = .19, p < .001) than change in depressive symptoms was of homebound status (b = .06, p < .001; test of difference: Δ scaled χ2(1) = 24.2, p < .001).DiscussionHomebound status and depressive symptoms form a feedback loop to influence each other. Improving the outdoor mobility of older adults may have immediate benefits for reducing depressive symptoms.

Keywords: Depression; Disability; Outdoor mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbx180 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:geronb:v:75:y:2020:i:2:p:357-366.

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B is currently edited by Psychological Sciences - S. Duke Han, PhD and Social Sciences - Jessica A Kelley, PhD, FGSA

More articles in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B from The Gerontological Society of America Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().