Abstract
Social wellbeing constitutes a critical aspect of one’s health, quality of life, and overall psychosocial wellbeing. Social isolation and perceived loneliness are growing public health concerns as they are considered to be important risk factor for poor physical and mental health outcomes. Not much is known about how the level of one’s social participation is associated with morbid thought and suicidal ideation. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether social participation shows any significant correlation with morbid thought and suicidal ideation among the elderly population. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from Wave 1 of the Study of Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE). The sample population consisted 2018 men and women aged 65 years and above from the following countries: China (n = 787), Ghana (n = 278), India (n = 560), and Russia (n = 396). Outcome variables of self-reported occurrence of morbid thoughts and suicide ideation during the past 12 months were reported. Results: A great majority of the participants reported not participating in activities such as public meetings (84.6%), club meeting (49.6%), neighborhood activities (46%), and religious activities (57.2%). Those who reported attending public meetings several times a year had a higher likelihood of reporting having morbid thoughts (predicted probability = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.52). However, the association was no longer significant after stratifying by sex. Attending clubs (marginal effect = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.49, 0.76) and neighborhood activities (predicted probability = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.58, 0.88) several times a year showed protective effects against morbid thoughts. Being visited by friends several times a month (predicted probability = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.40, 0.67) and visiting friends (predicted probability = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.50, 0.75) several times a year also showed lower likelihood of morbid thoughts. Similar effects were observed for attending social gatherings with colleagues and social events as well. Conclusions: The present findings suggest that there exist significantly positive associations between participation in social activities and morbid thoughts and suicidal ideation among the elderly population in the sample countries. More in-depth studies are necessary to investigate the barriers to participation in social activities as well as the role of the quality of social relationships with experiencing suicidal thoughts.
Highlights
This article is an open access articleSocial wellbeing is considered an integral part of one’s overall health and wellbeing [1,2,3].The social aspects of health are widely recognized among researchers and practitioners and is reflected in the definition of health by the World Health Organization (WHO) “state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” [4]
More in-depth studies are necessary to investigate the barriers to participation in social activities as well as the role of the quality of social relationships with experiencing suicidal thoughts
Based on data from the Study of Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE), the present study aimed was to assess whether social participation shows any significant correlation with morbid thought and suicidal ideation among the elderly population in four developing countries including China, Ghana, India, and Russia
Summary
The social aspects of health are widely recognized among researchers and practitioners and is reflected in the definition of health by the World Health Organization (WHO) “state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” [4]. Psychiatry Int. 2021, 2 of mental health and social wellbeing especially among the elderly population [5]. Social conditions are strongly correlated with behavioral and health-related outcomes, and socially active life is an important contributor to successful aging. Maintaining healthy social connections exert a strong influence on our ability to cope with daily life and social situations, which in turn can boost mental and physical health and influence the risk of morbidity and mortality [6]
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