10-Year Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms and Their Predictors: Inequity between People with and without Disabilities

Abstract

This study examined depressive symptom trajectories and their predictors for Koreans aged 19 and over, and analyzed whether there were any differences in association of the trajectories and their predictors between people with disabilities and those without. For these purposes, we used latent growth curve modeling and multi-group analysis involving 13,766 individuals who participated in the Korean Welfare Panel Study from 2006 to 2015. The depressive symptom trajectories were more unfavorable among people with disabilities than among those without disabilities. Multi-group analysis revealed that the depressive symptom trajectories and their predictors varied within and between the two groups. These results can be divided into four types: ① inequality intensified (i.e., aged), ② inequality maintained (i.e., w/disabled: marital status, chronic disease, income, employment state; w/o disabled: gender, marital status, employment status, education) ③ inequality alleviated (i.e., w/ disabled: gender, self-esteem; w/o disabled: self-esteem, chronic disease, social support, income), ④ non effected (i.e., w/ disabled: social support, education; w/o disabled: non). These findings suggest that the depression related interventions should be considered differently depending on the disabled and non-disabled people.