Mental health and adequacy of social support: a four-wave panel study

LISREL analyses with manifest variables were used to examine the causal relationship between mental health and adequacy of social integration and of attachment, measured at four consecutive waves each four months apart, in a representative sample of 225 adult residents in Canberra. Mental health was assessed with the 30-item General Health Questionnaire. The analyses suggest that while there is no temporal relationship between adequacy of attachment and mental health, adequacy of social integration is influenced by earlier mental health. The temporal relationship between adequacy of attachment and adequacy of social integration appears to be reciprocal.