Abstract
BackgroundTo examine the relationship between social capital and depression among community-dwelling older adults in Anhui Province, China.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among older people selected from three cities of Anhui Province, China using a multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling method. Data were collected through questionnaire interviews and information on demographic characteristics, social capital, and depression was collected. The generalized linear model and classification and regression tree model were employed to assess the association between social capital and depression.ResultsTotally, 1810 older people aged ≥60 years were included in the final analysis. Overall, all of the social capital dimensions were positively associated with depression: social participation (coefficient: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.22–0.48), social support (coefficient:0.18, 95% CI:0.07–0.28), social connection (coefficient: 0.76, 95% CI:0.53–1.00), trust (coefficient:0.62, 95% CI:0.33–0.92), cohesion (coefficient:0.31, 95% CI:0.17–0.44) and reciprocity (coefficient:0.30, 95% CI:0.11–0.48), which suggested that older people with higher social capital had a smaller chance to develop depression. A complex joint effect of certain social capital dimensions on depression was also observed. The association with depression and the combinative effect of social capital varied among older adults across the cities.ConclusionsOur study suggests that improving social capital could aid in the prevention of depression among older adults.
Highlights
To examine the relationship between social capital and depression among community-dwelling older adults in Anhui Province, China
In cities of different economic levels, social capital dimensions related to depression were varied
In Xuancheng, social connection, reciprocity, and cohesion were positively associated with depression
Summary
To examine the relationship between social capital and depression among community-dwelling older adults in Anhui Province, China. The proportion of older people (≥ 60 years) in many countries is increasing [1]. China has the highest number of older people in the world with a rapidly aging population [2], and geriatric depression remains a great public health challenge [3]. In recent years, increasing studies revealed that older adults are prone to depression if there is an alteration in social roles, social and family settings, and adverse life. Studies in many countries including China [6, 10,11,12] have shown that social capital is associated with depression in older people and increasing attention has been focused on the effect of social capital on geriatric mental health [13]
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