ANXIETY, ANGER, AND DEPRESSION IN ELDERLY WOMEN

Few epidemiological data are available on affect, such as anxiety, anger, and depression, among elderly persons. Given the increase in the number of relatively older people, epidemiological studies of aging are critically important. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the relationship between age and these affects. Data obtained from 4,302 women participating in a breast cancer screening program, aged over 43 and up to 89 years, showed that correlations for age and anxiety, anger, and depression are generally low, respectively, -.02, -.05, and .05. Mean scores for anxiety, anger, and depression over the various age groups are comparatively similar, with some slight age-related trends for anger and depression. The changes in depression (an increase in mean depression scores with increasing age) appeared to be related to the positive association of the self-reported ''somatic-depression'' with age.