In contrast to the uncertainty about the prevalence and importance of late-life depressive disorders, a consistent pattern of risk factors for depressive symptoms has been shown by studies using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The authors surveyed a representative sample of 2,137 elderly community residents with the CES-D and found a hierarchy of characteristics associated with substantial levels of depressive symptoms: illness, disability, isolation, bereavement, and poverty. If these findings are confirmed by prospective studies, addressing modifiable factors in the emergence, persistence, and remission of depressive symptoms might extend the independent survival of older adults.