Longitudinal Analysis of the Reciprocal Effects of Self-Assessed Global Health and Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

This study examined whether a reciprocal relationship exists between measures of self-assessed global health and depressive symptoms, net of covariates that included chronic illness, functional disability, education, income, gender, race, and age. Analyses of five waves of data from the Rand version of the Health and Retirement Survey (N=7,475), using an autoregressive, cross-lagged panel design, indicated that self-assessed overall health had a modest but statistically significant and consistent effect on depressive symptoms. In contrast, the level of depressive symptoms had a statistically nonsignificant effect on self-assessed health. There has been growing interest in identifying the factors that inform self-assessments of overall health. The present findings indicate that self-assessed global health is not simply a manifestation of depressed affect.

The Effects of Caregiving on Women's Self-Assessed Health Status: An International Comparison

“…As has been found in previous studies, our work reestablishes the connection between emotional strain and self-assessed health status (Kosloski et al, 2005). Furthermore, we found that in this study, as in others, emotional stress predicts health outcomes even more than physical strain, the effects of the provision of ADL assistance, or hours per week of care provided (Harwood et al, 2000).…”

“…Possible correlates and covariates of self-assessed health status include demographic variables such as gender (Huisman, Van Lenthe, & Mackenbach, 2007;Macran, Clarke, Sloggett, & Bethune, 1994;Yiengprugsawan, Lim, Carmichael, Sidorenko, & Sleigh, 2007); socioeconomic status, including social class, employment, education, and income (Huisman et al, 2007;Macran et al, 1994;Sacker, Clarke, Wiggins, & Bartley, 2005;Yiengprugsawan et al, 2007;Zimmer, Natividad, Hui'sheng, & Chayovan, 2000); age (Craig, 2005;Liang et al, 2005;Yiengprugsawan et al, 2007); presence or absence of a chronic health condition or disability (Yiengprugsawan et al, 2007); functional status (Craig, 2005); and anxiety and depression (Kosloski, Stull, Kercher, & Van Dussen, 2005;Mackenbach et al, 2002).…”

Analyzing growth and change: latent variable growth curve modeling with an application to clinical trials

“…The second variable, self-rated overall physical health (SOPH), was assessed using a single question that is commonly asked in surveys and as part of patient-reported outcomes (e.g., SF-36): ''In general, would you say your health is excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor?'' This variable was used in the present analyses because of its consistent relationship with morbidity, mortality, and other health-related outcomes [34,35]. In addition, the experimental condition, treatment with an ACE inhibitor versus placebo, was used as an antecedent variable to see if slopes of change varied by treatment.…”

Depression, chronic diseases, and decrements in health: results from the World Health Surveys

“…[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Lower health status has been reported in depressed patients than in those without depression, and this state is unequally distributed across population groups. 7,13,[20][21][22] Eff ects of depressive episodes have also been studied with regard to loss in productivity and poor health-related quality of life. 13,21,[23][24][25][26] Despite this evidence, depression, like other mental disorders, is often not deemed to be on a par with other chronic physical health conditions in terms of its eff ect on overall health.…”