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Objectives: The aim of the study was to analyze the association between secure attachment style, loneliness, and social network as risk factors for late-life depression.
Methods: This cross-sectional study examined 969 subjects of the KORA-Age study. We applied the Relationship-Specific Attachment Scales for Adults (Beziehungsspezifische Bindungsskalen für Erwachsene, BBE), the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Social Network Index (SNI). Depression was operationalized through the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) and/or use of antidepressants. Logistic-regression models were calculated, sex-stratified, and controlled for age and living status.
Results: For men, lower depression scores were associated with higher attachment security scores (OR = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.15-0.44) and not reporting feelings of loneliness (OR = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.14-0.53). For women, independent determinants of not having late life depression consist of not feeling lonely (OR = 0.22,95% CI = 0.13-0.38).
The KORA research platform (KORA, Cooperative Research in the Region of Augsburg) was initiated and financed by the Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and by the State of Bavaria. The KORA-Age project was financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF FKZ 01ET0713) as part of the “Health in Old Age” program.
Guenther Klug, M.D., is affiliated with the Department for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Germany. Maria Elena Lacruz, Ph.D. and Rebeca Thwing Emeny, Ph.D., M.P.H., are affiliated with the Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany. Sybille Häfner, M.D., is affiliated with the Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich and University Hospital for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Georg-August-University, Göttingen. Karl-Heinz Fadwig, Ph.D., M.D. habil., is affiliated with the Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany and Department for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Germany. Dorothea Huber, Ph.D., M.D., is affiliated with the Department for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Klinikum München-Harlaching and the International Psychoanalytic University, Berlin.
Discussion: Loneliness is a risk factor for late life depression in women and men, attachment style is a risk factor more for men, while social network size is not a risk factor.