Comparing the Effects of Different Sources of Social Support on Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults

Background and Purpose: This study examined a model that compared the effects of different sources (spouse/partner, children, relatives, and friends) of social support on depressive symptoms of older adults.  Addressing depressive symptoms is of particular importance for older adults in that depressive symptoms can affect physical decline, mortality, and quality of life among this population.  Social support has been shown to alleviate depressive symptomatology.  However, there is a gap in knowledge about the specific sources of social support that produce the positive psychological effects, especially among older adult populations.  This study hypothesized that more support from spouse/partner would have a greater association with lower levels of depressive symptoms than support from children, relatives, and friends. 

Methods: This study analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study (2014), a nationally representative study of adults over the age of 50.  This study only included adults who had a spouse/partner, any children, any other immediate family members, and any friends at the same time.  The data included the eight CES-D scale items measuring the presence of depressive symptoms that respondents experienced during the past week.  The outcome variable was generated by summing the eight items.  This study operationalized social support as positive interactions with spouses/partners, children, relatives, and friends (e.g., how much do they understand the way you feel about things).  Social support for each source was calculated by summing the responses on the three questions.  This study randomly selected one person per household to secure the independent observations.  The final sample after listwise deletion was N = 1,783.  The research hypothesis was tested by a hierarchical OLS multiple regression model.  In step 1, sociodemographic covariates (race, gender, education, logged income, age, and self-rated health) were entered.  In step 2, four sources of social support were entered.   

Results: Approximately 19% of the variance in depressive symptoms were explained by covariates in the regression model in step 1.  Being female (p < .001), having lower logged income (p < .001), being relatively younger (p < .001), and rating lower self-health status (p < .001) were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms.  In step 2, about 4% of the additional variance in depressive symptoms were explained by four sources of social support after controlling for the covariates.  Support from spouse/partner (b = -.16, β = -.17, p < .001) and support from children (b = -.06, β = -.08, p < .01) were significant.  Support from spouse/partner showed a greater association with lower levels of depressive symptoms than support from children.

Conclusions and Implications: This study differentiated the effects of sources of social support on depressive symptomatology of older adults and showed the significance of spousal support.  Given the importance of depressive symptomatology and interactions with the spouse/partner for older adults, this study highlights a need for social work interventions to address older adults’ social support system.  The effort to establish the bonding with their spouses/partners through social work programs can play a prime role to improve the mental health of older adults.