The effect of a communal lifestyle on depressive symptoms in late life.

Abstract

This study compares depression levels among lifetime kibbutz members (n = 525) and old-age kibbutz residents (n = 366) with a comparable national sample (n = 412) and assesses the relationship between depression and individual differences related to lifetime in a kibbutz (e.g., health) and those related to current living conditions (e.g., social network). The analysis is based on data from the Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Aging Study conducted in Israel between 1989 and 1992 and the follow-up during 1993 and 1994. The findings indicate significantly lower depressive symptomatology among women, but not among men, residing in kibbutz communities. The women's lower level of depressive symptoms appears to be a result of better physical and mental functioning among kibbutz members and of such favorable lifestyle characteristics as frequent contact with their children among old-age kibbutz residents. Both lifetime and current living conditions contribute to better mental health of women in the kibbutz at older ages.