ArticleJAMA psychiatry2013
The trajectory of depressive symptoms across the adult life span.
Article in JAMA psychiatry, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 155 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
155 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 342 citations in OpenAlex.
- Animal-assisted therapy on psychological and physical outcomes: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Journal of global health · 2026Pooled it
- Purpose in life and depressive symptoms: An individual-participant meta-analysis of >500,000 participants across six world regions.Journal of affective disorders · 2026Pooled it
- The effect of horticultural therapy on depressive symptoms among the elderly: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- The Stability and Change of Loneliness Across the Life Span: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies.Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc · 2020Pooled it
- Gene-environment interplay in depressive symptoms: moderation by age, sex, and physical illness.Psychological medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Heterogeneity in long-term trajectories of depressive symptoms: Patterns, predictors and outcomes.Journal of affective disorders · 2016Pooled it
- PERSONALITY AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS: INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANT META-ANALYSIS OF 10 COHORT STUDIES.Depression and anxiety · 2015Pooled it
- Inflammation-induced depressed mood and reward responsivity as a function of age in female adults: a randomized controlled trial of endotoxin.Translational psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Validation of the intolerance of uncertainty scale-12 in a sample of pregnant people.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Trial
- Frailty and Depression in Late Life: A High-Risk Comorbidity With Distinctive Clinical Presentation and Poor Antidepressant Response.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2022Trial
- RETRACTED: Effects of L-DOPA Monotherapy on Psychomotor Speed and [Biological psychiatry · 2019Trial
- BRIGHTEN Heart intervention for depression in minority older adults: Randomized controlled trial.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2019Trial
- Prevalence, Correlates, and Treatment of Major Depression Among Community-Dwelling Adults Aged ≥50 in the US.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2026Article
- Genetic and environmental factors underlying the associations between attachment styles and mental and physical health.Journal of personality and social psychology · 2026Article
- Long-term temperature exposure and depression incidence in the Nurses' Health Study II, a U.S.-based prospective cohort.Environment international · 2026Article
- Prospective association of depression symptoms with exceptional longevity among older women.GeroScience · 2026Article
- From dysphoria to anhedonia: age-related shift in the link between cognitive and affective symptoms.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- From cigarettes to symptoms: the association between smoking and depression in the German National Cohort (NAKO).BMC public health · 2025Article
- Association of epilepsy with trajectory of depressive symptoms in late life: The Cardiovascular Health Study.Epilepsia · 2025Article
- The nature of the relation between mental well-being and ill-being.Nature human behaviour · 2025Review
95 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
importanceLong-term longitudinal studies are needed to delineate the trajectory of depressive symptoms across adulthood and to individuate factors that may contribute to increases in depressive symptoms in older adulthood.
objectivesTo estimate the trajectory of depressive symptoms across the adult life span; to test whether this trajectory varies by demographic factors (sex, ethnicity, and educational level) and antidepressant medication use; and to test whether disease burden, functional limitations, and proximity to death explain the increase in depressive symptoms in old age.
designLongitudinal study.
settingCommunity.
participantsThe study included 2320 participants (47.0% female; mean [SD] age at baseline, 58.1 [17.0] years; range, 19-95 years) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Estimated trajectory of depressive symptoms modeled from 10, 982 assessments (mean [SD] assessments per participant, 4.7 [3.6]; range, 1-21) based on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale and 3 subscales (depressed affect, somatic complaints, and interpersonal problems).
resultsThe linear (γ10 = 0.52; P < .01) and quadratic (γ20 = 0.43; P < .01) terms were significant, which indicated that depressive symptoms were highest in young adulthood, decreased across middle adulthood, and increased again in older adulthood. The subscales followed a similar pattern. Women reported more depressed affect at younger ages, but an interaction with age suggested that this gap disappeared in old age. Accounting for comorbidity, functional limitations, and impending death slightly reduced but did not eliminate the uptick in depressive symptoms in old age. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Symptoms of depression follow a U-shaped pattern across adulthood. Older adults experience an increase in distress that is not due solely to declines in physical health or approaching death.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.