Preventing Depression Among Older Adults With Severe Illness: The Mediating Role of Life Satisfaction and the Moderating Role of Gender

Purpose The occurrence of severe illness, the risk for which increases as people age, often results in depression. The current study aimed to explore how and when severe illness leads to depression among older adults. Method Data collected from a sample of 756 older adults were analyzed using moderated mediation analysis to examine the underlying mechanism between severe illness and depression. Results Results, as verified by a robustness check, demonstrated that life satisfaction mediated the association between severe illness and depression among older men and women, and that gender moderated the direct relationship between severe illness and depression. Conclusion The formation path of depression from severe illness among older adults varies according to gender. For men, severe illness did not directly trigger depression, but indirectly triggered depression through decreased life satisfaction; for women, severe illness not only triggered depression directly, but also indirectly triggered depression through decreased life satisfaction. Results yield theoretical and practical implications for gerontological nursing. [ Journal of Gerontological Nursing, xx (xx), xx–xx.]