ETHNICITY, GENDER, AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN OLDER WORKERS

We used data from a prospective investigation of full-time workers age d 58 to 64 years and residing in a North Carolina metropolitan area at baseline to examine a causal model for depressive symptomatology amon g White men, White women, African American men and African American wo men. We found significant group differences. (1) White men were more v ulnerable to social network losses than White women; (2) Work stressor s had long-term effects on African American men whose levels of depres sive symptoms were also elevated by poor health and retirement; and (3 ) The influence of income was more dominant among African Americans an d its effect was greater for African American women.