Protective Psychosocial Factors of Geriatric Depression in Community Dwelling Older Adults: A Review Article

Context: Depression is a major health problem in geriatric population and has many adverse consequences. The aim of this study was to review the existing literature on psychosocial factors that protect against depression in later life. Evidence Acquisition: A MEDLINE systematic search was done via Pubmed and Sciencedirect web pages to gather the published articles on psychosocial factors of late life depression First, the titles and abstracts reviewed and relevant articles were selected according to the inclusion criteria. Then full texts of the selected articles obtained, read, and data were extracted and categorized. Results: There were 204 articles on psychosocial factors of late life depression in community dwelling older adults and among them 29 articles included protective factors. Reading them carefully, protective factors were extracted and organized into 5 main categories: Demographic factors, psychological factors, social factors, health related factors and also spiritual factors. Conclusion: Psychosocial factors protecting older adults against depression are diverse. Identification of the modifiable ones and provision of appropriate interventions to enhance them, can be helpful in preventing geriatric depression.