Developmental resources and depression in the elderly.

A longitudinal study was carried out with 28 clinically depressed and 28 mentally healthy older adults, matched on age, sex, and years of education. Developmental resources and depression were measured on three occasions using the Developmental Resources of Later Adulthood and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scales. A 2 X (3) repeated measures factorial analysis of variance indicated that the depressed group had significantly lower developmental scores across all three time periods. Results of cross-lagged panel correlation analyses suggested that the direction of the relationship between developmental resources and depressive symptoms differed markedly between the two groups. The mentally healthy group showed a significant causal tendency for developmental resources to influence level of depression; a reverse trend was noted in the depressed group.