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Moos RH, Schutte KK, Brennan PL, Moos BS. The interplay between life stressors and depressive symptoms among older adults. The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences. 2005 Jul 1; 60(4):P199-206.
This study examined mutual predictive associations between life stressors and depressive symptoms in later life. A sample of late-middle-aged and older adults (N = 1,291) was surveyed at baseline and 1 year, 4 years, and 10 years later. At each contact point, participants completed an inventory that assessed chronic and acute life stressors and depressive symptoms. Over the 10-year interval, there was evidence of both social causation and social selection processes: More life stressors were associated with subsequent increases in depressive symptoms (social causation), and more depressive symptoms were associated with subsequent increases in stressors (social selection or stress generation). These findings reflect a mutual influence process in which life stressors and depressive symptoms can alter each other.