Place, Family and Depressive Symptomatology: A Comparison of Two Countries among Older Adults.

Background: According to the World Health Organization, rates of older adult depression worldwide rest between about 4% and 20%, however the variation in prevalence is culturally and contextually dependent. Although rates of older adult depression are similar for Asian, American, and European nations, how these rates compare between countries of Asian and Indian descent has been relatively understudied. China and India both have strong traditions of family support expectations (filial piety and seva respectively). Both nations are characterized as high Human Development Index (HDI) nations, whereby rapid changes in economic growth and demands of full-time employment affects the amount of time spent with extended family in an effort to focus on the nuclear family. Objectives: Drawing on modernization theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences in rates of older adult depression in China and India, and how these differences vary by rural and urban residences, as well as family interaction. Methods: Using nationally representative data from the WHO Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE): Wave 1, 2007-2010 analyses will be conducted using nested logistic regressions. Findings: We expect to find that depressive symptoms will vary by country of origin, place (rural vs urban), and by family interaction. These findings would suggest the need for a better understanding of the importance of parent-child relationship quality as it relates to mental health for these countries, and how the development of interventions for older adult care should be sensitive to cultural variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]