Peer-reviewed article
Association Between Intergenerational Relationship With Adult Children and Anxiety-Depression Comorbidity Symptoms in Older Women in China: A National Study Using Latent Profile Analysis.
Huang Z, Ren J, Tang H, Qiu G, Yang B et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined anxiety and depression patterns in over 20,000 Chinese women aged 65 and above, using statistical analysis to identify three groups with different symptom levels. The research found that older women with poorer relationships with their adult children were more likely to experience moderate to high levels of anxiety and depression symptoms combined. The study suggests that stronger intergenerational connections may protect older women's mental health.
Key points
- Three distinct patterns of anxiety-depression comorbidity were identified: low (67.7%), moderate (28.6%), and high (3.6%) among older women
- Poorer intergenerational relationships with adult children increased odds of moderate comorbidity by 7.9% and high comorbidity by 18.7%
- More frequent interactions between older women and adult children were associated with lower levels of symptom comorbidity
- The association between intergenerational relationships and comorbidity patterns remained robust across stratified sensitivity analyses
Limitations
This study focuses on older women's mental health rather than child well-being. The cross-sectional design cannot establish whether poor relationships cause mental health problems or whether mental health difficulties affect relationships.
Abstract
Background The phenomenon of global aging is becoming increasingly salient, and the mental health of older women requires greater attention. However, there is a conspicuous paucity in the exploration of anxiety-depression comorbidity patterns among Chinese older women, as well as the correlation between intergenerational relationships with adult children and these comorbid conditions. Methods About 20,153 older women aged 65 years or above from the China Aging and Health Survey (CAHS) were included in the study. Depression and anxiety were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) Questionnaire, respectively. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was utilized to identify subgroups of older women exhibiting similar patterns of symptoms. To examine the association between intergenerational relationships with adult children and the comorbid patterns of anxiety and depression, multinomial logistic regression was employed. Finally, stratified analyses were conducted to perform sensitivity testing. Results LPA revealed three profiles: low (n = 13,658), moderate (n = 5762), and high comorbidity (n = 733). Poorer intergenerational relationships with adult children significantly increased odds of moderate (odds ratio [OR] = 1.079, 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.045-1.114) and high comorbidity (OR = 1.187, 95% CI:1.006-1.275) versus the low-comorbidity group after covariate adjustment. Stratified analyses confirmed robustness. Conclusion Anxiety-depression comorbidity patterns in older women can be classified into three categories: low, moderate, and high comorbidity. Moreover, intergenerational relationships with adult children are associated with these comorbid patterns, with more frequent interactions corresponding to lower levels of comorbidity.