International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Review

This study explores the prevalence of depression among older African American women as depression has been targeted as a major health problem among older African American women. According to the DSM-5 diagnostic system, depression is defined as a disturbance in mood, characterized by sadness, and is associated with other psychological and physical symptoms that adversely affect a person’s functioning at work, at home and in social contexts. Although controversy surrounds the classification and the reported prevalence of late life depression, most of older female adults in community surveys, report depressive symptoms. Due to the magnitude of the problem, gerontological practitioners must increase their endeavors to explicate the phenomenon of depression. Greater focus needs to be placed on theory development and research related activities to increase knowledge of depression and interventions. To date, little research has been conducted on depression among older African American women. It is important to explore depression in older women for several reasons. First, the higher prevalence rate of depression among older women, relative to older men, needs to be adequately explained. Second, demographic information reveals that older women comprise much of the senior population in Western countries, and this trend is expected to continue. Finally, given that the preponderance of research on late life depression has been carried out with both sexes, existing research has neglected to investigate gender-related influences as a potential source of depression among older women. The implications of the findings for practice, policy, and research are also explored.