The aim of this study was to examine intraindividual variation in depression in the elderly and changes in family and non-family social contact frequency as potential determinants of this variation from a longitudinal perspective. Data from the 2nd th...
The aim of this study was to examine intraindividual variation in depression in the elderly and changes in family and non-family social contact frequency as potential determinants of this variation from a longitudinal perspective. Data from the 2nd through 8th waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging(KLoSA), which were collected from individuals aged 65 years and older, were utilized, and a total of 2,984 individuals were included. The research questions were: first, to identify the changes in depression and family and non-family contact frequency over time, and second, to identify the pathways through which family contact frequency and non-family contact frequency influence depression in the elderly. The results of the analysis are as follows. First, the latent growth model analysis showed that among the three variables, the frequency of non-family contact decreased linearly with elderly depression, and the frequency of family contact increased linearly. Second, the parallel latent growth model was applied to examine the influence of family and non-family contact on elderly depression, and the results showed that the frequency of family and non-family contact at the initial time point influenced the initial elderly depression. On the other hand, the amount of change in non-family contact frequency affected the amount of change in elderly depression, but the initial level and the rate of change in family contact frequency did not affect the amount of change in elderly depression. Therefore, this study suggests that it is important to increase the initial level of family·non-family contact frequency, as well as continuous observation of non-family contact frequency and appropriate intervention to prevent elderly depression that can lead to severe depression in the long run. In addition, the significance, implications, and limitations of this study are discussed.
Key words: Elderly Depression, Social Contact Frequency, Parallel Latent Growth Models