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

Clin Gerontol. 2025 Nov 7:1-11. doi: 10.1080/07317115.2025.2580569. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

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

METHODS: 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.

RESULTS: 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).

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

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

PMID:41201818 | DOI:10.1080/07317115.2025.2580569