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Moderators of treatment response in late-life depression

Abstract

As late-life depression is associated with a high degree of treatment resistance, understanding predictors of outcome may inform management. In this review, we examine a spectrum of factors that may moderate treatment response. These include clinical moderators related to depression presentation and history, social moderators, psychosocial stressors, personality, and cognitive factors. As there has been substantial research on biological predictors of response, we also include a review of neuroimaging moderators, including markers of accelerated brain aging, as well as other peripheral or central biomarkers of response.

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Fig. 1: Summary of reported brain regions that are associated with changes in depression severity post treatment of antidepressants.

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Steffens was responsible for the final draft of the manuscript. Diniz, Jain, Kluewer-D’Amico, Manning, and Wang each contributed to the writing of a section based on their expertise.

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Steffens, D.C., Diniz, B.S., Jain, N. et al. Moderators of treatment response in late-life depression. Neuropsychopharmacol. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-026-02337-x

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