Old age depression across welfare states: a life course perspective on the role of social and economic capital

Depression is one of the most common reasons for mental ill health, and ranked as the leading cause of disability by the World Health Organization. Hence, preventing depression and depressive symptoms is a major public health concern, especially in a context of ageing societies and its concomitant rise in age-related health issues. A wealth of research identified social determinants of depression, including inadequate social support, stressful life events and low socio-economic status. Yet, a definitive answer on how these determinants cause depression in old age has not yet been found. Therefore the aim of this project is to apply a life course perspective to empirically examine whether, and to what extent, changes in social and economic capital affect the prevalence of depression and depressive symptoms in old age. We use longitudinal and life history data from different harmonized health and retirement studies, providing us with a unique opportunity to study old age depression across 16 high income countries. The focus is on (1) accumulation of social and economic capital over the life course; (2) transfer of specific forms of social and economic capital, summarized as ‘time’ and ‘money’, between generations; and (3) the role of the institutional context of the welfare state. Moreover, the data at hand allow to take due account of potential issues of reverse causality. The results will feed into policy strategies to combat mental health issues in ageing societies.