Assessing social support and depressive symptoms in older Chinese adults: A longitudinal perspective

Objectives: This study examined the relationship between social support and depression in a national longitudinal sample in Taiwan. This study integrates previous literature and develops a predictive model involving seven components of social support - social network size, network composition, frequency of social contact, proximity, types of support received, helping others, and satisfaction with social support. Method: A total of 4049 elders who were interviewed up to five times over a 14-year period from the 'Surveys of Health and Living Status of Elderly' (SHLSE) in Taiwan served as the subjects of this study. Random effects modeling was used to analyze the data. Results: Greater network size, broader networks, more frequency of contact, living with a married son, receiving instrumental, emotional and financial support, providing financial and short-term instrumental support to others, and higher satisfaction with support were all associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Providing physical care was related to higher levels of depression. Of the social support measures, satisfaction with support emerged as the most powerful predictor of elders' depression. Conclusion: This investigation provides evidence that each aspect of social support accounts for a certain portion of the concept and emphasizes the importance of distinguishing different dimensions of social support. Also, the inconsistent findings between the current study and the Chinese literature reminds future investigators that the effect of social support on depression may differ among Chinese elderly in different communities, even through they share the same cultural origin.