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Are newly added and lost confidants in later life related to subsequent mental health?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2017

Ella Schwartz  and
Howard Litwin
Ella Schwartz*
Affiliation:
Israel Gerontological Data Center, Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Howard Litwin
Affiliation:
Israel Gerontological Data Center, Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Ella Schwartz, Israel Gerontological Data Center, Paul Baerwald School of Social Work, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, 91905 Jerusalem, Israel. Phone: +(972) 2 588 0306; Fax: +(972) 2 588 0306. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Background:

This study examined internal changes in the personal social networks of older people and the relationship between these changes and mental health over time. It focused on two key aspects: emotional closeness and contact frequency with lost and newly added confidants.

Methods:

The study was based on data from the fourth (2011) and sixth (2015) waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The study sample consisted of respondents aged 65 years and older who participated in both waves (n = 14,101). We performed OLS regressions in which the scores on two mental health indicators over time – depressive symptoms (Euro-D) and perceived quality of life (CASP-12) – were regressed on the relationship with lost and newly added confidants, controlling for baseline social networks, socio-demographic, and health variables.

Results:

The nature of the relationship with the lost and newly added confidants was associated with mental health, beyond the number of these confidants. Emotional closeness with newly added confidants was related to improved mental health in both indicators (B = −0.09, CI = −0.14 to −0.04 for depression; B =1.13, CI = 0.67–1.60 for quality of life). Losing frequently contacted confidants was associated with higher depressive symptoms (B = 0.09, CI = 0.02–0.15).

Conclusions:

The results show the positive mental health implications of adding emotionally close confidants to older adults’ social milieus, and the negative effects of losing frequently contacted confidants. Practitioners are advised to pay attention to the quality of such changing relationships, due to their mental health consequences.

Keywords

social networksSHAREquality of lifedepressionlongitudinal studies
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 29 , Issue 12 , December 2017 , pp. 2047 - 2057
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2017 

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