Affective Fear of Crime and Its Association with Depressive Feelings and Life Satisfaction in Advanced Age: Cognitive Emotion Regulation as a Moderator?

Worry about crime and loneliness in nine countries of the former Soviet Union

Worry about crime has been linked to several detrimental outcomes including worse mental health. However, there has been little research on the association between worry about crime and loneliness, even though loneliness is increasingly being recognised as a serious public health issue. To address this deficit, this study examined the association between worry about crime and loneliness in nine countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine), using data from 18,000 respondents aged 18 and above that were collected during the Health in Times of Transition (HITT) survey in 2010/11. Results from a pooled logistic regression analysis showed that compared to those who reported no worry about crime, individuals with a high level of worry had significantly higher odds of loneliness (odds ratio [OR]: 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17-1.75). Sex- and age-stratified analyses further showed that the association was observed in women with a mid (OR: 1.37, 95%CI: 1.10-1.71) and a high level (OR: 1.70, 95%CI: 1.33-2.17) of worry about crime but not in men, and that a high level of worry about crime was linked to loneliness in adults aged 35-59 (OR: 1.39, 95%CI: 1.02-1.91) and 60 and above (OR: 1.64, 95%CI: 1.12-2.40) but not in those aged 18-34. High levels of worry about crime are associated with loneliness in the FSU countries. Reducing crime and its associated worries may have important public health benefits in these countries.

Association of elder abuse, crime victimhood and perceived neighbourhood safety with major depression among older adults in India: a cross-sectional study using data from the LASI baseline survey (2017-2018)

OBJECTIVE

The study aims to explore the associations of elder abuse, crime victimhood and perceived safety with depression among older adults and examine the interactive effects of sex and place of residence in those associations.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study was conducted using a large survey data.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

The study used data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India wave 1 (2017-2018). The effective sample size was 31 464 older adults (aged 60 years or older).

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

The outcome variable was major depression, calculated using Short Form Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Descriptive statistics along with bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to fulfil the objectives.

RESULTS

5.22% of the older adults (n=1587) experienced abuse in the past 1 year. 1.33% of the older individuals (n=402) were victims of a violent crime, and 14.30% (n=1886) perceived an unsafe neighbourhood. Also, 8.67% of the older adults (n=2657) were suffering from depression. Older adults who were abused had 2.5 odds of suffering from depression (adjusted OR (AOR): 2.47, CI: 1.96 to 3.10) and victims of a violent crime were 84% more likely to be depressed (AOR: 1.84, CI: 1.15 to 2.95) compared with their counterparts. Besides, older individuals who perceived as living in unsafe neighbourhood were 61% more likely to be depressed (AOR: 1.61, CI: 1.34 to 1.93) compared with their counterparts. In the interaction analysis, older women who reported abuse had higher odds of suffering from depression (AOR: 3.27; CI: 2.34 to 4.57) compared with older men who were not abused. Similar result was found in older adults reporting abuse and residing in rural areas (AOR: 3.01, CI: 2.22 to 4.07) compared with those urban residents reporting no abuse.

CONCLUSIONS

Healthcare providers should pay more attention to the mental health implications of elder abuse, crime victimhood and perceived safety to grasp the underlying dynamics of the symptomology of late-life depression.