Differential Longitudinal Associations Between Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Status by Living Situation in Older Adults

This study explores whether living situation modifies longitudinal associations between depressive symptoms and changes in cognitive status across ten years in generally healthy, community-dwelling older adults. Participants (N = 687, Mage = 73.92 years) from the no-contact control condition of a multisite longitudinal study completed the Mini-Mental State Examination, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale, and self-reported living situation. Multilevel models revealed that for older adults living alone, having clinically meaningful depressive symptoms was associated with greater decline in MMSE over ten years. However, reporting clinically meaningful depressive symptoms was not associated with decline in MMSE for adults who were living with others. These results suggest that living situation may be a modifying factor of cognitive change over time for older adults with clinically meaningful depressive symptoms. This highlights the need for targeted interventions for adults who may be at a greater risk of cognitive decline across older adulthood.