Influence of sociodemographic characteristics on non-clinical depressive symptomatology among portuguese population

Abstract

Introduction: Depression is the most frequent psychiatric disorder with several negative consequences on health, emotional well-being, and quality of life. Re-garding the increased risk of comorbidities in population due to depression, the identification of vulnerable characteristics for depressive symptomatology is crucial to decrease this worldwide cause of disability. We aim to analyze the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and depressive symptomatology among non-depressed to mildly-depressed cognitively healthy adults and older individuals’ residents in the community. Material and Methods: We used a community-based sample (N = 850; mean age = 57.34 ± 15.20, age range = [25-91]; mean education = 7.89 ± 4.56, education range = [2-27]) that was stratified into the main sociodemographic variables (age, gender, educational level, geographic region, geographic localization, and residence area). The distribution by these strata is similar to that verified in the Portuguese population, thus the study sample can be considered representative of the general population. To measure depressive symptomatology, we applied the Geriatric Depression Scale – 30 (GDS-30). Results: Among the sociodemographic variables, gender had the largest effect size on the GDS-30 total scores (ηp² = 0.061), followed by educational level (ηp² = 0.027) and employment status (ηp² = 0.019). We found the association between female gender, low educational level, inactive employment status, and residence in inland geographic localization, as a possible pattern for higher depressive symp-tomatology in the Portuguese population. Discussion: This study revealed a vulnerable pattern of sociodemographic characteristics related to depressive symptomatology among Portuguese non-depressed to mildly-depressed cognitively healthy adults and older individuals.