Late-life depression is a complex condition impacted by both mental and physical health outcomes and psychosocial factors. Psychosocial predictors of depression are reliant on cultural factors including socioeconomic variables, stigmas, and cultural values. Most research on late-life depression and its effect on cognitive functioning has been completed in so-called Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) populations and findings may not generalize to older adults living in other areas of the world. The current study explored predictors of depressive symptoms as well as the association between depressive symptoms and neuropsychological functioning in Congolese older adults.

A total of 319 participants (mean age=72.7±6.15, mean education in years=7.6±4.56; 47% female) were randomly recruited. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale. Given the exploratory nature of the current study, forward stepwise linear regression models were run to assess predictors of depressive symptoms. The independent variables assessed as potential predictors included age, years of education, gender, participant income, parental income, living arrangement (i.e., alone or with others), functional abilities (FAQ), fragility, and self-rated overall health. Analyses were run in the overall sample as well as stratified by gender. The association between depressive symptoms and performance on the Community Screening Instrument for Dementia (SCID) was also explored.

Higher depressive symptoms were found in women (ß=.228, p=0.036), those with lower parental income (ß=-.156, p=.005), higher fragility (ß=-.237, p<.001), and worse overall health (ß=-.311, p=.020). Among women, lower parental income, (ß=-.230, p=.002), higher fragility (ß=-.312, p<.001), and lower overall health (ß=-.235, p=.004) predicted higher depressive symptoms, while in men only higher fragility (ß=-.164, p=.041) and living alone (ß=-.184, p=.022) predicted higher depressive symptoms. There was also a significant association between depressive symptoms and lower scores on the CSID (ß=-.189, p=.001)

Similar to results in WEIRD populations, general health and fragility predicted depressive symptoms in Congolese older adults. However, parental income (more so than participant income) also predicted depressive symptoms in Congolese older adults, particularly in women, while living alone was a predictor in Congolese older men. It is possible that the difference in depressive symptoms between men and women is driven by underreporting of depressive symptoms among men. Our results also showed that there was an association between depressive symptoms and global cognitive functioning similar to prior findings in WEIRD populations. Our results are important for clinicians assessing depressive symptoms in patients in or from Congo or sub-Saharan Africa.