Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T00:00:44.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The association between social network relationships and depressive symptoms among older Americans: what matters most?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2011

Howard Litwin
Howard Litwin*
Affiliation:
Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare and Israel Gerontological Data Center, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Professor Howard Litwin, Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Head, Israel Gerontological Data Center, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905-IL, Israel. Phone: +972 2 588 2194; Fax: +972 2 582 3587. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: Although social network relationships are linked to mental health in late life, it is still unclear whether it is the structure of social networks or their perceived quality that matters.

Methods: The current study regressed a dichotomous 8-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-8) score on measures of social network relationships among Americans, aged 65–85 years, from the first wave of the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project. The network indicators included a structural variable – social network type – and a series of relationship quality indicators: perceived positive and negative ties with family, friends and spouse/ partner. Multivariate logistic regression analyses controlled for age, gender, education, income, race/ethnicity, religious affiliation, functional health and physical health.

Results: The perceived social network quality variables were unrelated to the presence of a high level of depressive symptoms, but social network type maintained an association with this mental health outcome even after controlling for confounders. Respondents embedded in resourceful social network types in terms of social capital – “diverse,” “friend” and “congregant” networks – reported less presence of depressive symptoms, to varying degrees.

Conclusions: The results show that the structure of the network seems to matter more than the perceived quality of the ties as an indicator of depressive symptoms. Moreover, the composite network type variable stands out in capturing the differences in mental state. The construct of network type should be incorporated in mental health screening among older people who reside in the community. One's social network type can be an important initial indicator that one is at risk.

Keywords

network typesocial capitalnegative tiesNSHAPCES-D
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 23 , Issue 6 , August 2011 , pp. 930 - 940
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anstey, K. J., von Sanden, C., Sargent-Cox, K. and Luszcz, M. A. (2007). Prevalence and risk factors for depression in a longitudinal, population-based study including individuals in the community and residential care. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 497–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Antonucci, T. C. et al. (2002). Differences between men and women in social relations, resource deficits, and depressive symptomatology during later life in four nations. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 767–783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
August, K. J., Rook, K. S. and Newsom, J. T. (2007). The joint effects of life stress and negative social exchanges on emotional distress. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 62, S304–S314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barcelos-Ferreira, R., Izbicki, R., Steffens, D. C. and Bottino, C. M. C. (2010). Depressive morbidity and gender in community-dwelling Brazilian elderly: systematic review and meta-analysis. International Psychogeriatrics, 22, 712–726.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berkman, L. F., Glass, T., Brissette, I. and Seeman, T. E. (2000). From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Social Science and Medicine, 51, 843–857.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braam, et al. (2004). Religious involvement and 6-year course of depressive symptoms in older Dutch citizens: results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Journal of Aging and Health, 6, 467–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryant, C., Jackson, H. and Ames, D. (2009). Depression and anxiety in medically unwell older adults: prevalence and short-term course. International Psychogeriatrics, 21, 754–763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Castro-Costa, E. et al. (2007). Prevalence of depressive symptoms and syndromes in later life in ten European countries: the SHARE study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 191, 393–401.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chang, C. C. H., Yang, H. C., Tang, G. and Ganguli, M. (2009). Minimizing attrition bias: a longitudinal study of depressive symptoms in an elderly cohort. International Psychogeriatrics, 21, 869–878.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charlson, M. E., Pompei, P., Ales, K. L. and McKenzie, C. R. (1987). A new method of classifying prognostic comorbidity in longitudinal studies: development and validation. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 40, 373–383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chi, I. et al. (2005). Prevalence of depression and its correlates in Hong Kong's Chinese older adults. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 13, 409–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, S. (2004). Social relationships and health. American Psychologist, 59, 676–684.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cornwell, E. Y. and Waite, L. J. (2009). Social disconnectedness, perceived isolation, and health among older adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 50, 31–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Finch, J. F. and Zautra, A. J. (1992). Testing latent longitudinal models of social ties and depression among the elderly: a comparison of distribution-free and maximum-likelihood-estimates with nonnormal data. Psychology and Aging, 7, 107–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fiori, K. L., Antonucci, T. C. and Cortina, K. S. (2006). Social network typologies and mental health among older adults. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 61, P25–P32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garcia-Pena, C. et al. (2008). Depressive symptoms among older adults in Mexico City. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23, 1973–1980.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gray, A. (2009). The social capital of older people. Ageing and Society, 29, 5–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ha, J. H. (2010). The effects of positive and negative support from children on widowed older adults' psychological adjustment: a longitudinal analysis. Gerontologist, 50, 471–481.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herrmann, C. (1997). International experiences with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: a review of validation data and clinical results. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 42, 17–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kawachi, I. and Berkman, L. F. (2001). Social ties and mental health. Journal of Urban Health-Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 78, 458–467.Google ScholarPubMed
Kristjansson, B., Breithaupt, K. and McDowell, I. (2001). Development and validation of an indicator of support for community-residing older Canadians. International Psychogeriatrics, 13, 125–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Litwin, H. (2001). Social network type and morale in old age. Gerontologist, 41, 516–524.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Litwin, H. (2010). Social networks and well being: a comparison of older people in Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean countries. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 65B, S599–S608. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbp104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Litwin, H. and Sapir, E. V. (2009). Perceived income adequacy among older adults in 12 countries: findings from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe. Gerontologist, 49, 397–406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Litwin, H. and Shiovitz-Ezra, S. (2006). Network type and mortality risk in later-life. Gerontologist, 46, 735–743.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Litwin, H. and Shiovitz-Ezra, , , S. (2010). Social network type and subjective well-being in a national sample of older Americans. The Gerontologist. Epublished ahead of print, doi:10.1093/geront/gnq094.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mavandadi, S., Rook, K. S. and Newsom, J. T. (2007a). Positive and negative social exchanges and disability in later life: an investigation of trajectories of change. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 62, S361–S370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mavandadi, S., Sorkin, D. H., Rook, K. S. and Newsom, J. T. (2007b). Pain, positive and negative social exchanges, and depressive symptomatology in later life. Journal of Aging and Health, 19, 813–830.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McDougall, F. A. et al. (2007). Prevalence of depression in older people in England and Wales: the MRC CFA study. Psychological Medicine, 37, 1787–1795.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Measurement Group (2005). PNS Cooperative Agreement Evaluation. Module 26: CES-D Form Scoring Instructions. Available at: http://www.themeasurementgroup.com/modules/mods/ins_mod26score.htm; last accessed 4 November 2010.Google Scholar
Mechakra-Tahiri, S., Zuzunegui, M. V., Preville, M. and Dube, M. (2009). Social relationships and depression among people 65 years and over living in rural and urban areas of Quebec. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24, 1226–1236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merz, E. M. and Huxhold, O. (2010). Wellbeing depends on social relationship characteristics: comparing different types and providers of support to older adults. Ageing and Society, 30, 843–857.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Navarro, B., Andres, F., Parraga, I., Morena, S., Latorre, J. M. and Lopez-Torres, J. (2010). Approach to major depression in old people in a primary care setting. International Psychogeriatrics, 22, 733–738.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newsom, J. T., Nishishiba, M., Morgan, D. L. and Rook, K. S. (2003). The relative importance of three domains of positive and negative social exchanges: a longitudinal model with comparable measures. Psychology and Aging, 18, 746–754.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newsom, J. T., Rook, K. S., Nishishiba, M., Sorkin, D. H. and Mahan, T. L. (2005). Understanding the relative importance of positive and negative social exchanges: examining specific domains and appraisals. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 60, P304–P312.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Muircheartaigh, C., Eckman, S. and Smith, S. (2009). Statistical design and estimation for the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 64, I12–I19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Okabayashi, H., Liang, , Krause, J., Akiyama, N., Sugisawa, H., , H. (2004). Mental health among older adults in Japan: do sources of social support and negative interaction make a difference? Social Science and Medicine, 59, 2259–2270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robison, J., Curry, L., Gruman, C., Covington, T., Gaztambide, S. and Blank, K. (2003). Depression in later-life Puerto Rican primary care patients: the role of illness, stress, social integration, and religiosity. International Psychogeriatrics, 15, 239–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shiovitz-Ezra, S. and Leitsch, S. A. (2010). The role of social relationships in predicting loneliness: the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. Social Work Research, 34, 157–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, T. F. and Hirdes, J. R. (2009). Predicting social isolation among geriatric psychiatry patients. International Psychogeriatrics, 21, 50–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steffens, D. C., Fisher, G. G., Langa, K. M., Potter, G. G. and Plassman, B. L. (2009). Prevalence of depression among older Americans: the Aging, Demographics and Memory Study. International Psychogeriatrics, 21, 879–888.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walen, H. R. and Lachman, M. E. (2000). Social support and strain from partner, family, and friends: costs and benefits for men and women in adulthood. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 17, 5–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, S. R., Pham-Kanter, G. and Leitsch, S. A. (2009). Measures of chronic conditions and diseases associated with aging in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Study. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 64, I12–I19.Google Scholar
Zunzunegui, M. V., Beland, F. and Otero, A. (2001). Support from children, living arrangements, self-rated health and depressive symptoms of older people in Spain. International Journal of Epidemiology, 30, 1090–1099.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed