Stress and sex differences in depressive symptoms among older adults.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether elderly women experience more symptoms associated with depression than elderly men and, if such sex differences exist, to examine several factors that might account for the greater preponderance of psychological distress among women. Unlike previous studies of elderly adults, this study attempted to explain sex differences in depression in terms of differential-exposure and differential-vulnerability to the effects of life stress. The results from a random community survey of 351 older adults indicate that women are more depressed than men. Moreover, a series of demographic-mean decomposition analyses suggest that greater vulnerability among women to the effects of chronic life strains explains a substantial portion of the observed sex differences in distress. Stressful life events were found to be a less important factor in this process.