Date of Award

8-2009

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Abstract

There is evidence of an association between depression, chronic disease, health status, and functionality among the elderly population. Research examining these relationships among American Indian elders is limited. This paper used data from the Identifying Our Needs: A Survey of Elders II to examine the relationships between target health variables and depression in a national sample of 10,743 American Indian elders. The data suggests that depression is significantly related to self-rated health, overnight hospital stays, spiritual activities, vigorous exercise, activity limitations, chronic disease, and community service usage. Additionally, self-rated health, limitations, binge drinking, and chronic disease were predictive of which American Indian elders had depression.

Included in

Psychology Commons

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