Right Tail of the Distribution of Depressive Symptoms Is Stable and Follows an Exponential Curve during Middle Adulthood

BACKGROUND Previous research has reported that the mean of depressive symptoms is stable in the general population through middle adulthood. To understand the stability of depressive symptoms during middle adulthood, we investigated the nature of the distribution of depressive symptoms. METHODS We analyzed 24,890 subjects aged 15 to 84 years who participated in the Active Survey of Health and Welfare, Japan. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Japanese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The descriptive statistics and frequency curves of the distributions were then compared according to age group. RESULTS The distribution of depressive symptoms was stable through middle adulthood. The right tail which covers clinical depression was more stable than the left tail or peak of the distributions. The right tail of the distribution during middle adulthood exhibited a linear pattern with a log-normal scale. CONCLUSIONS The right tail of the distribution of depressive symptoms is stable and exhibits an exponential pattern during middle adulthood.