Potential transition of depression of older adults affected by socioeconomic status show different styles: A longitudinal study of Chinese older adults

Socioeconomic status' (SES) impact on depressive symptoms has been extensively examined; however, previous studies have generally used variable-centered approaches and cross-sectional designs. Therefore, this study explored the subtypes of depression and examined the degree of association between SES and latent transition probabilities. We used latent profile and latent transition analyses with the 2015 and 2018 waves of data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (N = 4904). Three subtypes of depression were identified based on symptoms: severe symptom (SS), low symptom (LS), and sub-health (MS). The SS subtype had the highest probability of staying within the original subtype. Individuals in the MS subtype were more likely to move to the SS subtype than those in the LS subtype. The heterogeneity analysis also showed that the effect of SES on latent transition probabilities is heterogeneous to the satisfaction with their relationship with their children, as well as the number of children. Additionally, decision tree analysis found SES and gender can predict transitioning. These findings add to literature on the effects of SES on the heterogeneity of depression and have implications for depression screening and identifying individuals in need of targeted interventions.