Social Support/Network and Depressive Symptoms Among Community- Dwelling Older Adults During 5 Years of Follow-Up

Examine different sources of social support/network depending on depressive symptoms among older adults.

Data were obtained from two waves of the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility - Reykjavik Study (AGES-Reykjavik): Wave I (2002-2006, N = 5.764) and Wave II (2007-2011, N = 3.316). Seven questions (meet with friends/children feeling close to family/friends telephone children/friends living alone were used as: single question (social support)/social network score (SNS). The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) screened for depressive symptoms, recoded as: low score (GDS score < 6) and high score (GDS score ≥6). Longitudinal linear regression assessed associations between social questions and GDS score at follow-up among low and high depressive symptoms.

Among low depressive symptoms (mean age 77) decrease in depressive symptoms was found for those meeting with children (β: -0.439, p = .007); friends (β: -0.288, p = .002); feeling close to family (β: -0.232, p ≤ .001) and friends (β: -0.217, p = .009). Among high depressive symptoms (mean age 78) decrease in depressive symptoms was when telephoning children (β: -4.679, p = .002); meeting with children (β: -2.725, p = .018).

In older community-dwelling adults regular social support decreases depressive symptoms with most meaningful support arriving from children and friends.

Incorporating social network assessments into routine geriatric evaluations could help identify individuals at higher risk of developing or sustaining depressive symptoms.