The results of a recent study, published in the May issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, indicate that the more frequently elderly people experience depressive symptoms, the more attention they demand from their spouses and relatives and the more often they ask them for help.

The study was conducted on a group of almost 6,500 elderly people (aged 70 and over) who participated in the 1993 Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old study.