Social support and depression among community living older people

AGES Project

Abstract

  Receiving and providing social support has positive effects on health. However, whether or not such effects differ by social support network is less clear. To investigate the associations among different social support network members and depression (scored 5 + by 15 item Geriatric Depression Scale), we used 2003 survey data (n=32,891) from the AGES (Aichi Gerontological Evaluation Study) project and conducted a series of logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, presence of illnesses, marital status, and living arrangement stratified by gender. We found that social support was associated with lower rate of depression both among men and women irrespective of type of support network members. Such results imply that even in the absence of family members which provide support, support from others can prevent depression among older people.