Widowhood and Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms among Older Adults of Mexican Descent: Implications of Social Integration, Socioeconomic Resources, and Health Status

Maria A. Monserud, University of Houston
Kyriakos S. Markides, University of Texas at Galveston

Little is known about differences in age trajectories of depressive symptoms in later life by marital status. Drawing on six waves of data from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly, this study uses growth curve models to compare the age patterning of psychological well-being of the recently and continuously widowed to that of the continuously married among Mexican American men (n = 3,157 person-periods) and women (n = 2,856 person-periods), aged 65 to 99 years. Compared to the continuously married, the recently widowed have higher levels, whereas the continuously widowed have similar levels of depressive symptoms across age groups. Regardless of marital status, social integration is related to greater increases in depressive symptoms, whereas socioeconomic resources do not matter for trajectories of psychological well-being. Among the recently widowed, better health status is associated with slower increases, and even decreases, in depressive symptoms with age.