Association between social cognition, depressive symptoms and resilience among elderly people

Depression is a serious mental and psychological problem among elderly people. This study aimed to explore the association between social cognition, depressive symptoms and resilience among elderly people living in communities.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in China from January 2022 to August 2024. A total of 1958 participants aged 60 years or older were selected using a complex multistage sampling design from 39 locations. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews. Social cognition was measured using six items from the Blessed Dementia Rating Scale and the short form Chinese Geriatric Depression Scale was used to measure depressive symptoms. Logistic regression models were used to assess the association between social cognition and depressive symptoms.

Univariate analysis results showed that the prevalence of depressive symptoms were high in group with low levels of social cognition function and in group with low levels of general cognition function. Logistic regression analysis results showed that depressive symptoms were negatively associated with social cognition and general cognition levels adjusted for covariates, and the odds ratios were 0.29 and 0.46 (P < 0.001), respectively.

This was a cross-sectional study and conducted a post-hoc analysis that could not determine the causal association between social cognition and increased prevalence of depressive symptoms.

Social cognition function was more strongly associated with depressive symptoms compared with general cognition function among elderly people. These results suggest that the prevalence of depressive symptoms may be directly or indirectly decreased by improving the social cognition level among elderly people.