Resources, stressors, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction among the older adults in Chennai, India.

Abstract

The present study was designed (a). to examine the direct and indirect relationship of resources and stressors on depressive symptoms and life satisfaction by testing three models a?? the independence model, the stress-suppressor model, and the counteractive model and (b). to find out whether the model that exhibited a good fit to the data is invariant across gender. MethodData were collected through quantitative and qualitative methods. For the quantitative study, interviews were conducted among 400 community dwelling older adults aged 65 yrs & above, randomly selected from the electoral list of urban Chennai, India. For the qualitative study, 10 in-depth interviews were conducted. Structural Equation Modeling was conducted for quantitative data and themes were identified for qualitative data.Results Both quantitative and qualitative analysis provided support for the stress-suppressor model for the entire sample and for both gender. Multi-group analysis revealed that males and females differed on the loading of abuse on stressor. Results were similar for both life satisfaction and depression.ImplicationsSocial workers should identify and strengthen the resources available for older adults in their interventions.