Functional disability and social conflict increase risk of depression in older adulthood among Bolivian forager-farmers
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OBJECTIVES: To present an explanatory framework for depression in older adulthood in a small-scale society. We propose that depression is a consequence of functional disability, which can reduce subsistence productivity and resource transfers within and across generations. Social conflict can also disrupt resource flows and should be associated with depression. METHOD: To evaluate depression among Tsimane forager-farmers of Bolivia, we developed a reliable interview based on focus groups and a review of validated depression scales. Older adults (mean ± SD age = 62 ± 9, n = 325) were recruited regardless of their health status. Demographic, economic, and medical data were collected during annual censuses and routine medical exams. RESULTS: Depression is associated with reduced energetic status, greater physical limitations, and reduced subsistence involvement after controlling for potential confounds such as age, sex, number of reported unresolved conflicts, and market involvement. Depression is also associated with greater reported conflict, particularly with non-kin. DISCUSSION: Tsimane depression is associated with disability, reduced subsistence productivity, and interpersonal conflict, all of which can disrupt resource flows. Depression appears to be a response to conditions regularly experienced over human history, and not simply a by-product of modernity.
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- Authors
- Stieglitz, J., Schniter, E., von Rueden, C., Kaplan, H., & Gurven, M.
- Affiliations
- University of New Mexico (US)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2014-07-01
- Volume
- 70
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 948-956
- ISSN
- 1079-5014 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5368
- PMC
- PMC4841159
- OpenAlex
- W2129094595
- Cited by
- 52
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 5
- FWCI
- 5.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Chapman University Digital Commons (Chapman University) (submittedVersion)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0612903)
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute on Aging (R56AG02411, R01AG024119)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Aging, Health, and Disability
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Health and Well-being Studies
- Keywords
- depression, older adults, functional disability, social conflict, Tsimane, resource transfer, energy status, physical limitations, small-scale societies, Bolivian Amazon
- MeSH terms
- Farmers, Activities of Daily Living, Bolivia, Conflict, Psychological, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Female, Persons with Disabilities, Humans, Indians, South American, Male, Middle Aged, Social Problems, Risk Assessment
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