Negative life events and depression by gender in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brazil)

Abstract

Objective: Gender differences may interfere with the association between Negative Life Events (NLEs) and prevalent/incident depression. This study evaluated the effect of gender in this association using data from the ELSABrazil cohort. Methods: The authors analyzed 15,088 participants (mean age, 52.1 (9.1), 54.4% women). NLEs (robbery, hospitalization, death of a close relative, financial hardship, and rupture of a love relationship) were accessed at baseline. Depression was assessed at baseline and follow-ups. The authors built logistic (Odds Ratio [OR], 95% Confidence IntervStressal [95% CI]) and Poisson regression models (Relative Risk [RR], [95% CI]) to evaluate this association. Results: Women reported more NLEs compared to men. The authors found associations between NLEs and prevalent depression: for men, hospitalization (OR = 1.83; 95% CI 1.16‒2.91), financial hardship (OR = 2.42; 95% CI 1.69‒3.49), rupture of a love relationship (OR = 2.54; 95% CI 1.50‒4.29), and any NLE (OR = 2.30; 95% CI 1.59‒3.35); and for women, robbery (OR = 1.81; 95% CI 1.31‒2.49), hospitalization (OR = 1.46; 95% CI 1.11‒1.92), financial hardship (OR = 1.76; 95% CI 1.43‒2.17), rupture of a love relationship (OR = 1.66; 95% CI 1.20‒2.32), and any NLE (OR = 1.65; 95% CI 1.34‒2.04). For incident depression only financial hardship (RR = 2.09; 95% CI 1.55‒2.83) was associated with depression in men, while, for women, robbery (RR = 1.54; 95% CI 1.16‒2.04); hospitalization (RR = 1.36; 95% CI 1.07‒1.74), financial hardship (RR = 1.37; 95% CI 1.14‒1.65), and any NLE (RR = 1.25; 95% CI 1.04‒1.49) were associated with incident depression. No association was found between the death of a close relative and prevalent/incident depression. Conclusion: NLEs were associated with depression in men and women, with a higher impact in the latter.