Péquignot R, et al. - In the Three-City Study, researchers prospectively quantified the link between depressive symptoms (DSs) at repeated study visits and all-cause and cause-specific mortality, and assessed the impact of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) on this link. Study participants included 7,377 adults (63.7% females) aged 73.8 years (SD=5.4 years) without a history of CVD at baseline examination. Participants underwent assessments at baseline, between 1999 and 2001, and after 2, 4, 7, and 10 years of follow-up. At each study visit, 19% to 22% of participants were found to have DSs. Development of a first CVD was reported in 650 participants, and death was reported in 1,255 during the follow-up period. After adjustment for baseline sociodemographic variables, vascular risk factors, impairment in daily life activities, and antidepressants, the presence of DSs at baseline and during follow-up was found to be associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality in older participants, and this association was not modified by and was moderately mediated by incident CVD. Only 6.9% of the excess of mortality associated with DSs was explained by incident CVD, as corroborated in a mediation analysis.