Community-based services and depression from person-environment fit perspective: Focusing on functional impairments and living alone.

As communities encourage aging-in-place, community-based services for older adults are expanding. Guided by the Person-Environment Fit perspective, this study investigated the extent to which personal dimension factors (functional limitations, living alone) and environmental dimension factors (community-based services) influence depression among community-dwelling adults. The data came from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative survey of individuals over 51 years old. Our sample was restricted to respondents who participated in the special questionnaire about community-based service utilization (N = 1,710). Logistic regressions examined associations between functional limitations/living alone and depression, and how community-based services moderate these associations. Both functional limitations (OR = 1.470; p < .001), and living alone (OR = 1.724; p < .05) were significantly associated with depression. Community-based service participants tended to be more vulnerable populations, but regression results showed community-based service was not significantly associated with depression after controlling for covariates. However, respondents with functional limitations and those living alone were less likely to be depressed when using community-based services (OR = 0.633; p < .05). This study demonstrates that the associations between community-based services and depression differ depending on personal needs. It discusses the importance of community-based services for aging-in-place policy, particularly among vulnerable populations.