Changes in social activities and the occurrence and persistence of depressive symptoms: Do type and combination of social activities make a difference?

Abstract

ObjectiveWe aimed to explore the association between changes in social activities and the occurrence/persistence of depressive symptoms and investigate the difference in effect sizes among the types and combinations of social activities. MethodsThe study adopted a valid 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale to assess depressive symptoms in 2480 community-dwelling adults aged 64/65 years. Changes in social-related, learning, and personal activities were classified into four categories: continued low frequency (CLF), increased frequency (IF), decreased frequency (DF), and continued regular frequency (CRF)11CLF: continued low frequency, IF: increased frequency, DF: decreased frequency, CRF: continued regular frequency. Relative ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using a modified Poisson regression model. ResultsThose without depressive symptoms at baseline and who engaged in social-related (RRIF = 0.56 (0.39, 0.81), RRCRF = 0.55 (0.41, 0.74)), learning (RRIF = 0.63 (0.44, 0.89), RRCRF = 0.62 (0.46, 0.85)), and personal activities (RRIF = 0.37 (0.24, 0.57), RRCRF = 0.41 (0.30, 0.56)) at IF or CRF were less likely to develop depressive symptoms. Those with depressive symptoms at baseline, engaging in personal activities at IF (RR=0.67 (0.51, 0.87)) and CRF (RR= 0.80 (0.65-1.00)) were less likely to have persistent depressive symptoms. Participation in all three activities consistently at a regular frequency was inversely associated with the occurrence/persistence of depressive symptoms. ConclusionsThe effect of personal activities was more manifest in preventing depressive symptoms than the other two kinds, regardless of depressive symptoms at baseline. Regularly engaging in a combination of all three activities at baseline and follow-up was associated with the occurrence and persistence of depressive symptoms.