Unveiling the mechanism(s) Between Poverty, Deprivation, and Depression in Older Indian Adults: Findings From a Nationwide Survey

Objective: This study tries to investigate the association between two measures of poverty (subjective poverty and material deprivation) with depression and its underlying mechanism(s). Method: A total sample of 28,723 older adults aged 60 years and above was included from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between poverty measures and depression after adjustment of control variables. The Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) method was used for mediation analysis to assess the indirect effect of functional, behavioral, and psycho-social factors between poverty measures and depression. Results: The findings suggested that "subjective poverty" has a significantly stronger impact on depression in comparison to material deprivation. Further, functional and psycho-social factors have significantly mediated the relationship between subjective poverty, material deprivation, and depression but are not favorable for behavioral components. Discussion: We believe that policymakers should reconsider the mental health aspects of poverty to promote healthy aging in India.