The objective of the present study is to investigate factors and predictors of depression among childhood, adulthood and current circumstances for respondents aged 50 and higher, identifying differences between men and women and between different regions of Europe. The data come from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), waves 2 and 3 which allow combining cross-sectional and retrospective information. The analysis was conducted using logistic regression models. The findings indicate that a. childhood predictors are the least significant, except for whether parents drank heavily and the number of books the respondent had access to at age ten among women b. few of adulthood circumstances are important; having experienced a period of stress is the most significant of them for both sexes and all European regions c. having faced financial hardship in the past is very negative for men and d. later life predictors, including physical health, SES and personality traits have the strongest association with depression for all groups. More specifically, poor concurrent health increases chances of depression while cognitive function has a protective role. Trusting in other people seems to have a positive effect while SES exhibits an inverse association.

Acknowledgement: “This work has been completely supported by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) and the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI)”.