Major depression is the most common reason older adults are admitted to hospitals for psychiatric treatment (Brown, 2001; Serby & Yu, 2003). After discharge, many elderly patients continue treatment in outpatient settings and receive different types of assistance from members of social support networks and social service providers (Langa et al., 2004). The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between different aspects of social support and the patient's depressive symptoms at six month following hospital discharge.

Methods The study sample was extracted from a project titled “Service Use of Depressed Elders after Acute Care.” The original project included 199 patients who were 1) 60 years of age or older, 2) hospitalized for treatment of depression, 3) met DSM-IV Axis 1 depression criteria, 4) were able to provide reliable information, and 5) discharged to homes. This analysis was based on 148 patients who participated in the six-month follow-up assessment. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between aspects of social support and depressive symptoms. The significance level for multiple regression analyses was set at less than or equal to .05.

Results The stepwise multiple regression model predicting depressive symptom was statistically significant [F=11.12, N=148, df=5, p<.0001) and explained 28.1% of the variance in the rating of depressive symptoms. Of the aspects of social support, availability of a confidant (p=.004) and spending times with others (p=.02) were significantly related to lower ratings of depressive symptoms. Among the control variables, depressive symptoms at discharge (p=.0003), psychotic feature (p=.004), and negative life events (p=.002) were significantly related to the patient's ratings of depressive symptoms at the six-month follow-up.

Implications for Practice or Policy Given the importance of social support in promoting better depression recovery outcomes, the patient's social support networks should carefully assessed before hospital discharge. Since the different aspects of social support are differentially associated with varying recovery outcomes, the assessment of social support network should be comprehensive and in-depth. In addition, considering the benefits of having a confident and spending time with others to the patient's recovery, social workers should encourage patients to discuss their concerns and issues with their confidants and socialize with friends and family members. For elderly patients who have limited social networks, programs including friendly visitors and activities at senior centers may increase the patient's socialization.