COMPARISON OF DEPRESSION IN THE COMMUNITY-DWELLING AND ASSISTED-LIVING ELDERLY

Depressive affect in assisted living (n = 351) and community dwelling (n = 102) elderly was compared by means of the state and trait forms o f Set 1 of the Depression Adjective Check Lists (DACL). Four separate analyses of covariance (age as covariate) showed the main effects of l iving arrangement and form to be significant on each of the four lists . Assisted living and the state form were significantly higher. Sex wa s not significant on any of the lists, and none of the two-way and thr ee-way interactions reached significance. Implications of the findings for program planning for the elderly in assisted living arrangements are discussed.