AGE AND DEPRESSION IN THE POSTCOMMUNIST CZECH-REPUBLIC

Depression increases with old age in the United States. Three sources of stress are thought to account for this relationship: economic stres s, poor health, and social isolation. The relation between these sourc es of stress and depression may be direct or mediated by mastery. This pattern is tested in the 1994 Czech republic. The data from 740 house holds in the Czech republic provided the 647 women and 554 men include d in this analysis. Age is related to the three sources of stress and they are associated with depression, After controls for mastery, the e ffect of poor health on depression remains strong for both women and m en. The relation between economic stress and depression also remains s trong for Czech men. It is their sense of deprivation relative to the Communist past rather than absolute economic hardship that is depressi ng for men. For Czech women, the effect of economic hardship is mediat ed by mastery Mastery also mediated the effect of social isolation on women's depression, but for men social isolation was directly as well as indirectly depressing. The discussion ends on the note that the rel ation between age, economic stress, and depression in the Czech republ ic may change in the future.