Declining functional status, social conflict and modernization independently predict low mood in

adulthood among Tsimane forager-farmers of the Bolivian Amazon

Jonathan Stieglitz
*1
, Michael Gurven
2
, Eric Schniter
3
, Christopher von Rueden
2
, and Hillard Kaplan
1

*Corresponding author

1
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico
2
Integrative Anthropological Sciences Unit, University of California-Santa Barbara
3
Economic Sciences Institute, Chapman University

Prepared for 2013 Population Association of America Conference

ABSTRACT
While understanding risk factors for low mood are of obvious clinical and practical importance, the
etiology of low mood remains unclear, despite decades of research. Traditional societies are highly
under-represented in studies of mood, and offer novel insights into the origins of low mood. In this paper,
we test the hypotheses that declining functional status, social conflict, and modernization are
independently associated with low mood in adulthood among a large sample of Tsimane forager-farmers
of lowland Bolivia. A low mood questionnaire consisting of 18 items was developed, and internal
consistency was acceptable. Ordinary least squares regression was used to test hypotheses. We find that
low mood is strongly associated with declining functional status, social conflict (particularly conflict with
non-kin) and modernization. We conclude that ones marginal fitness value to descendent kin may
influence mood through ecological, behavioral and cognitive pathways.



INTRODUCTION
Depression (hereafter low mood
1
) has been identified as a leading cause of lost productivity due to
disability worldwide (WHO 2009). While understanding risk factors for low mood are of obvious clinical
and practical importance, the etiology of low mood remains unclear, despite decades of research.
Traditional societies are highly under-represented in studies of mood; this is problematic because
traditional societies contain many of the selective pressures that shaped cognition and variability in mood
over human evolutionary history. These include heavy subsistence workloads, high pathogen load and
low rate of non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, no reliable access to
modern healthcare, low variance in socioeconomic status, and residential arrangements with extensive
resource flows within and across households. Data from traditional societies are sorely needed to
advance a more general framework for understanding variation in mood, and differential susceptibility to
mood disorder across contexts, individuals and populations.

Most current evolutionary theories of low mood emphasize the role of social problems in eliciting
symptoms, where social problems are usually characterized as high dependency on others, or
interpersonal conflicts of interest. Low mood is hypothesized to either force the loser of a conflict to signal
submission to the winner (Price et al 1994), solicit greater investment from a social partner by imposing
costs on that partner (the labor strike metaphor, Hagen 2003) or improve ones ability to analyze and
solve social problems (Watson and Andrews 2002). de Catanzaro (1984) proposes that extreme, self-
destructive manifestations of low mood, such as suicide associated with major depressive disorder, may
be more likely among individuals who are a net burden on kin; suicide thus mitigates inclusive fitness
losses. Because symptoms of low mood may be costly to the individual, some argue that low mood is an
honest signal of need to potential sharing partners. Factors affecting variation in need may therefore co-
vary with mood, although the mechanisms have not yet been documented in traditional societies.


1
Depression has pathological connotations; we therefore use the term low mood, which refers to the
cluster of symptoms often associated with depression (e.g., sad affect, loss of interest, fatigue, diminished
ability to concentrate).
Despite widespread theoretical interest in the evolutionary origins of low mood, few scholars have
proposed adaptive explanations that integrate sociality with productivity and current physical condition.
In this paper we propose such an explanation; we first test the hypothesis that declining functional status
is associated with low mood in a kin-based, small-scale society, the Tsimane of lowland Bolivia. This
relationship may be mediated by reduced productivity, increased need, reduced involvement in reciprocal
sharing networks, or associated cognitive changes including reduced self-esteem or greater anxiety over
resource scarcity, outstanding tasks, health of ego or kin, or navigating novel social niches. We then test
the general hypotheses that low mood is associated with greater social conflict and modernization.

METHODS
Tsimane (pop. ~11,000) are forager-horticulturalists, inhabiting 80+ villages that vary in proximity to the
closest town of San Borja (pop. ~25,000). Cross-sectional data on mood, anthropometry, functional status
and sociality were collected in 63 villages from 2007-2012 as part of the Tsimane Health and Life History
Project. Census data were recorded during this period, documenting age, sex, community membership
and level of schooling. A low mood questionnaire consisting of 18 items was developed based on focus
groups, 10+ years of ethnographic experience, review of previous mood scales (e.g., Hamilton
Depression Rating Scale, Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Becks Depression
Inventory) and extensive piloting. Participants were queried about the frequency of somatic and
psychological symptoms associated with low mood, such as sad affect, changes in appetite, diminished
ability to concentrate, suicidal ideation and fatigue (response range: 1 [never] 4 [always]). Internal
consistency was acceptable (Cronbachs =0.7). Ordinary least squares regression was used to test
hypotheses.

RESULTS
With age, more individuals report sensory difficulties (particularly vision) or bodily pain while working;
performance during mild exercise tests reveal consistent age-related decline in motor coordination,
strength and endurance. Concurrently, involvement in subsistence work decreases, although better
physical condition later in life (age 65+) may partially offset age-related declines in functional status
(figure 1). Reduced work capacity may also be associated with distress if outstanding subsistence tasks
are perceived as overwhelming. Indeed, a majority of men and women report either high subsistence
workload (particularly horticultural labor) or morbidity, which directly decreases productivity, as a recurring
source of distress (table 1).

Figure 1. Subsistence involvement by age and body mass index (BMI) for A) men (n=341) and B) women
(n=356). Median BMI for both sexes=23.4.



Table 1. If you could change something in your life to make you happier, what would you change? Which problems
bother you the most in your life right now?
MEN WOMEN
Free-listed response
% would
change
(n=349)
% bothered
right now
(n=316)
% would
change
(n=374)
% bothered
right now
(n=344)
Complete outstanding work 50 52 27 20
Improve own health 28 6 40 14
Buy more goods/services 28 8 10 1
Reduce social conflict 9 10 7 6
Increase access to food 9 7 8 15
Live closer to natal kin 7 2 17 2
Improve health of children or grandchildren 4 15 11 40
Re-marry (if unmarried) 2 2 1 1
Improve health of other kin 2 2 1 3
Easier integration into market economy 1 2 0 <1
Greater belief in god 1 0 <1 0
Return to more traditional lifestyle <1 0 0 0
Nothing <1 3 <1 3


Low mood scores increase with age, peaking in the early 80s and then stabilizing. Females score 10%
higher in low mood than males controlling for age (marginal meanSE for females and males=43.70.3
and 39.70.3, respectively, n=844). BMI is independently associated with low mood score (=-0.08,
p=0.028, controlling for age, age
2
and sex, n=744); a one SD-unit increase in BMI is associated with a
10% decrease in maximum low mood score. BMI interacts with age: the increase in low mood with age is
particularly evident among those with low BMI (figure 2). Even after controlling for BMI and other factors,
individuals scored higher in low mood if they perceived their health to deteriorate since the previous year
(figure 3).
Figure 2. BMI interacts with age to affect low mood (BMI*age interaction p=0.018, controlling for sex,
Spanish fluency and distance to San Borja, n=597).


Figure 3. Low mood is associated with perception of deteriorating health (controlling for age, sex, BMI,
Spanish fluency and distance to San Borja, n=550)


45
50
55
60
65
35 45 55 65 75 85
%

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Age
At/above median BMI
Below median BMI
Both indicators of declining functional status are independently associated with low mood after controlling
for other factors (table 2). Disability is the strongest predictor of low mood, and mediates the effect of age.
Individuals in the top decile of disability score 24% higher on low mood than individuals in the bottom
decile (marginal meanSE=50.31.9 vs. 40.61.4, controlling for predictors in model 4, n=37). Greater
social conflict is also significantly associated with low mood, and the effect strengthens after controlling
for modernization variables. For each social partner we inquired about, individuals scored higher on low
mood if reporting a conflict compared to those reporting no conflict. However, only those reporting conflict
with non-relatives scored significantly higher on low mood (figure 4). In addition, both indicators of
modernization are marginally associated with low mood, and the full model explains 38% of variance in
low mood score.

Table 2. OLS regression coefficients (standardized) for predictors of low mood

MODEL 1
(baseline)
MODEL 2
(disability and
subsistence
involvement)
MODEL 3
(social conflict)
MODEL 4
(modernization)
Predictor p p p p
Age (years)
0.60 0.07 0.13 0.83 -0.80 0.25 -0.36 0.64
Age
-0.44 0.18 -0.14 0.82 0.83 0.23 0.28 0.71
Sex (male)
-0.29 <0.01 -0.17 <0.01 -0.20 <0.01 -0.24 <0.01
Body mass index (kg/m
2
)
-0.08 0.03 -0.11 0.04 -0.09 0.10 -0.15 0.02
Disability score
a



0.37 <0.01 0.47 <0.01 0.49 <0.01
Subsistence involvement score
b



-0.14 0.02 -0.08 0.10 -0.15 0.02
Social conflict score
c





0.09 0.10 0.14 0.03
Spanish fluency
d

0.11 0.10
Distance to San Borja (km)





-0.11 0.09







Adj. R 0.11

0.19

0.29

0.38
N 744

288

242

183
a
Sum of performance difficulty for 11 tasks from the MacArthur Aging Study; higher scores indicate greater disability
b
Sum of involvement (continued participation=1, inability=0) in daily subsistence tasks for men (hunting, chopping
big trees, walking all day, lifting heavy loads) and women (weaving bags, weaving mats, walking all day).
c
Sum of current conflicts reported (yes=1, no=0) over witchcraft, gossip, and with a spouse, child, other relative, and
non-relative
d
0=no fluency, 1=intermediate, 2=fluent














Figure 4. Low mood score by whether ego reported current conflict (controlling for age, sex, BMI,
disability score, subsistence involvement score, Spanish fluency and distance to San Borja, n=183)


DISCUSSION
Low mood is strongly associated with declining functional status in adulthood among Tsimane forager-
farmers. Declining functional status increases dependency on others for material resources and
assistance in daily tasks. In this sense, our results strongly suggest that ones marginal fitness value to
descendent kin influences mood. This notion provides an ultimate explanation for the robust clinical and
experimental finding that slow progress towards a valued resource elicits low mood (and vice versa)
(reviewed in Nesse 2009), and that perceived or actual lack of control over life events elicits low mood.

Low mood is independently associated with social conflict, but only conflict with non-kin. Unlike
interactions with kin, which are characterized by frequent, bi-directional resource transfers in small-scale
villages, Tsimane interactions with non-kin may involve exploitative market transactions (e.g., sale of
horticultural products or wood, debt peonage) and may therefore induce psychosocial stress. Indeed, we
find that low mood is associated with increasing proximity to the market town of San Borja (table 2),
despite greater access to modern healthcare and lower mortality rates near town. Among resource
stressed populations like the Tsimane experiencing early stages of modernization, increasing awareness
of the scope of wealth inequality, coupled perhaps with the pursuit of unreachable goals may also
induce psychosocial stress and thus low mood. In the face of modernization, older cohorts with more
traditional knowledge but less schooling may be especially susceptible to low mood if they perceive
declines in their own value to descendent kin (all else equal).
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
Non-kin Kin outside
nuclear family
Spouse Offspring
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(

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No Yes
"Reported conflict with" dummy variable