Positive news for positive ageing

Australian research suggests elderly people have better mental health than their middle-aged counterparts.

Elderly Australians are less anxious and depressed than their elderly counterparts, according to a study by researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

The research by Dr Julian Trollor (pictured) and Dr Tracy Anderson goes against widespread negative views of ageing, finding people over the age of 65 reported lower prevalence of psychiatric disorders and psychological distress than middle-aged people.

The study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry was based on the Australian National Mental Health and Wellbeing Survey (NMHWS).

 “The overall impression from the survey is that elderly people are more psychologically healthy than their younger counterparts, and quite significantly so,” Dr Trollor said.

Sex, marital status, education, employment and health were correlates of mental disorder in the survey as a whole, but few were significant in the elderly participants.

Physical health was the only factor that impacted on mental well being in both middle-aged and elderly participants.

“Being female, separated or divorced, or having lost a job were significant factors for experiencing mental disorder for those in their middle-age,” Dr Trollor said.

“The elderly differed significantly in this regard.”

He says more work needs to be done to determine exactly what the determinants are of mental disorder in later life, given the paucity of demographic correlates.

A new NMHWS which is currently underway will provide more data for researchers in 2008.

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