Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Age Trends in Well-Being and Depressive Symptoms: the Role of Social Desirability

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Psychiatric Quarterly Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine whether age-related variance in social desirability mediates age trends in psychological health. Self-report measures assessing depressive symptoms, well-being and social desirability were administered to wide age range sample (158 participants aged 20–101 years) from Sardinia, an Italian region located in the Mediterranean Sea being characterized by high level of longevity. Binary correlations showed that ageing was significantly correlated with fewer depressive symptoms and greater well-being; social desirability was significantly correlated with fewer depressive symptoms and higher well-being; age and social desirability were positively correlated. Mediation analyses indicated that social desirability explained a significant proportion (7–33%) of age-related variance in perceived well-being and depressive symptomatology. In conclusion, age differences in self-reported depressive symptoms and well-being partially reflect age differences in social desirability. The age-related increase in social desirability may reflect development of an advantageous coping style that contributes to psychological health.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ryff CD, Love GD, Urry HL, Muller D, Rosenkranz MA, Friedman EM, et al. Psychological well-being and ill-being: do they have distinct or mirrored biological correlates? Psychother Psychosom. 2006;75:85–95. https://doi.org/10.1159/000090892.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Weich S, Brugha T, King M, McManus S, Bebbington P, Jenkins R, et al. Mental well-being and mental illness: findings from the adult psychiatric morbidity survey for England 2007. Br J Psychiatry. 2011;199:23–8. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.111.091496.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Steptoe A, Deaton A, Stone AA. Subjective wellbeing, health, and ageing. Lancet. 2015;385:640–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(13)61489-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Siedlecki KL, Salthouse TA, Oishi S, Jeswani S. The relationship between social support and subjective well-being across age. Soc Indic Res. 2014;117:561–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-013-0361-4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Thomsen DK, Mehlsen MY, Viidik A, Sommerlund B, Zachariae R. Age and gender differences in negative affect. Is there a role for emotion regulation? Pers Indiv Differ. 2005;38:1935–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2004.12.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Teachman BA. Aging and negative affect: the rise and fall and rise of anxiety and depression symptoms. Psychol Aging. 2006;212:201–7. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.21.1.201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Soubelet A, Salthouse TA. (2011). Influence of social desirability on age differences in self-reports of mood and personality. J Pers. 2011;79:741–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00700.x.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Paulhus DL. Socially desirable responding: the evolution of a construct. In: Braun H, Jackson DN, Wiley DE, editors. The role of constructs in psychological and educational measurement. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum; 2002. p. 67–88.

    Google Scholar 

  9. McCrae RR, Costa PT. Social desirability scales: more substance than style. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1983;51:882–8. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.51.6.882.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. McCrae RR. Well-being scales do not measure social desirability. J Gerontol. 1986;41:390–2. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/41.3.390.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Erskine JA, Kvavilashvili L, Conway MA, Myers L. The effects of age on psychopathology, well-being and repressive coping. Aging Ment Health. 2007;11:394–404. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860600963737.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Paulhus DL, John OP. Egoistic and moralistic biases in self-perception: the interplay of self-deceptive styles with basic traits and motives. J Pers. 1998;66:1025–60. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.00041.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Linden W, Paulhus DL, Dobson KS. (1986). Effects of response styles on the report of psychological and somatic distress. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1986;54:309–17. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.54.3.309.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Fastame MC, Hitchcott PK, Penna MP, Murino G. (2016). Does institutionalization influence perceived metamemory, metacognition, psychological well-being and working memory efficiency in Italian elders? A preliminary study. J Clin Gerontol Geriatr. 2016;7:6–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcgg.2015.07.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Fastame MC, Hitchcott PK, Penna MP. Does social desirability influence psychological well-being: perceived physical health and religiosity of Italian elders? A developmental approach. Aging Ment Health. 2017;21:348–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1074162.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Fastame MC, Hitchcott PK, Penna MP. The impact of leisure on mental health of Sardinian elderly from the ‘Blue Zone’: evidence for ageing well. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2018;30:169–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-017-0768-x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Fastame MC, Penna MP, Hitchcott PK. Life satisfaction and social desirability across the late life span: what relationship? Qual Life Res. 2015;24:241–4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-014-0750-4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Fastame MC, Penna MP, Hitchcott PK. Mental health in late adulthood: what can preserve it? Appl Res Qual Life. 2015;10:459–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-014-9323-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Willcox BJ, Willcox DC, Ferrucci L. Secrets of healthy aging and longevity from exceptional survivors around the globe: lessons from octogenarians to supercentenarians. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2008;63:1181–5. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/63.11.1181.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Fastame MC, Penna MP, Hitchcott PK. Psychological markers of longevity in Sardinian centenarians: the impact of developmental factors and social desirability. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2019:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-019-01157-y.

  21. Crowne DP, Marlowe D. A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. J Consult Psychol. 1960;24:349–54. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0047358.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Fastame MC, Penna MP. Does social desirability confound the assessment of self-reported measures of wellness and metacognitive efficiency in young and older adults? Clin Gerontol. 2012;35:239–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2012.660411.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. De Beni R, Borella E, Carretti B, Marigo C, Nava LA. BAC: Benessere e Abilità cognitive nell’età Adulta e Avanzata. [BAC: wellness and cognitive abilities in the advanced and adult age]. Organizzazioni Speciali: Firenze; 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Hitchcott PK, Fastame MC, Ferrai J, Penna MP. Psychological well-being in Italian families: an exploratory approach to the study of mental health across the adult life span in the blue zone. Eur J Psychol. 2017;13:441–54. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v13i3.1416.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Fastame MC, Hitchcott PK, Penna MP. Do self-referent metacognition and residential context predict depressive symptoms across late-life span? A developmental study in an Italian sample. Aging Ment Health. 2015;19:698–704. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2014.962003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR. “Mini-mental state”: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiatr Res. 1975;12:189–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3956(75)90026-6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Radloff LS. The CES-D scale a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Meas. 1977;1:385–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Fava GA. Assessing depressive symptoms across cultures: Italian validation of the CES-D self-rating scale. J Clin Psychol. 1983;39:249–51. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-4679(198303)39:2<249:AID-JCLP2270390218>3.0.CO;2-Y.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Hayes AF. Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based approach (2nd edition). New York, London: Guilford Publications; 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Fastame MC, Penna MP, Rossetti ES. Perceived cognitive efficiency and subjective well-being in late adulthood: the impact of developmental factors. J Adult Dev. 2014;21:173–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-014-9189-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Paulhus DL. Measurement and control of response bias. In: Robinson JP, Shaver PR, Wrightsman LS, editors. Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes, vol. 1991. San Diego: Academic Press; 1991. p. 17–59.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  32. Paulhus DL. Paulhus deception scales (PDS): the balanced inventory of desirable responding-7: user's manual. Multi-Health Systems: North Tanawanda; 1998.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Paul Kenneth Hitchcott

    Present address: Department of Surgery, Medical, Molecular, and Critical Area Pathology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Via Is Mirrionis 1, 09123, Cagliari, Italy

    Paul Kenneth Hitchcott, Maria Pietronilla Penna & Maria Chiara Fastame

Authors
  1. Paul Kenneth Hitchcott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Maria Pietronilla Penna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Maria Chiara Fastame
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Chiara Fastame.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

The ethical committee of the Department of Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy of the University of Cagliari approved this study in conformity with the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was given by all participants prior to participation.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hitchcott, P.K., Penna, M.P. & Fastame, M.C. Age Trends in Well-Being and Depressive Symptoms: the Role of Social Desirability. Psychiatr Q 91, 463–473 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-020-09711-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-020-09711-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation