Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Psychology

Major Professor

Jonathan Rottenberg, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Chad Dube, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Fallon Goodman, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Brent Small, Ph.D.

Keywords

American’s Changing Lives (ACL), depressive symptoms, growth mixture modeling, longitudinal data analysis, well-being

Abstract

There is considerable interest in elucidating the dynamics of well-being over long periods of time, including how well-being dynamics are influenced by depression. The Americans' Changing Lives (ACL) study has followed the health and well-being of a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States for 25 years (N1986 = 3,617; N1989 = 2,867; N1994 = 2,562; N2002 = 1,787, N2012 = 1,427). Leveraging data from the ACL study, the present investigation employed growth mixture models to identify unobserved subpopulations (i.e., latent classes) typified by change in well-being over time. Three predominant trajectories for well-being were identified: relative stability in well-being (M1986=.95, SD1986=.10), declining well-being (M1986=.79, SD1986=.17), and increasing well-being (M1986=-.20, SD1986=.20). Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the influence of depressive symptom severity and other sociodemographic factors on well-being trajectories. While we hypothesized that gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and depressive symptom severity would all influence the likelihood of achieving stable well-being, only baseline depressive symptom severity emerged as a significant predictor of well-being trajectory. Subjects with elevated depressive symptoms at baseline were more likely to belong to classes experiencing declining or increasing well-being, than the class characterized by relatively stable well-being. Overall, results speak to the dynamic nature of well-being over long follow-up periods, highlight people’s resilience while navigating life’s challenges, and suggest that interventions focused on promoting sustained well-being may be especially germane to people with depression.

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