The association between higher social support and lower depressive symptoms among aging services clients is attenuated at higher levels of functional impairment

Abstract

Objective: Adults seeking services from the Aging Services Provider Network (ASPN) are at risk for depression. ASPN clients also have high prevalence of both functional impairments and social morbidities. Study of the relationships between these factors may inform the development of interventions for depression in this service setting.

Methods: We interviewed 373 older adults accessing ASPN services and assessed depression symptom severity, functional impairment (instrumental activities of daily living and activities of daily living), and social support.

Results: Lower social support and greater functional impairment were associated with greater depressive symptoms. At a high level of functional impairment, the inverse associations between indices of social support and depressive symptoms were attenuated.

Conclusions: Results suggest that older adults with more severe functional impairment may benefit somewhat less from increased social support with respect to depression symptom severity.

Keywords: aging services; depressive symptoms; functional impairment; social connectedness; social support.

Figure 1

Simple slope analyses depicting the interaction of functional impairment and perceived social support on depression symptom severity Note. Solid lines indicate statistically significant simple slopes, while dashed lines indicate non-significant simple slopes. Slopes are depicted at −1SD and +1SD of perceived social support. Not all levels of functional impairment are depicted in order to enhance the clarity of the graph.