THL National Institute for Health and Welfare, Mental Health Promotion Unit, Vaasa, Finland.
Aging Ment Health. 2012;16(6):771-9. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2012.667784.
To study the association between structural and cognitive aspects of social capital and depression among older adults in two Nordic regions.
Data were retrieved from a postal survey targeting older adults aged 65, 70, 75 and 80 years (N=6 838, response rate=64%) residing in the Västerbotten region (Sweden), and the Österbotten region (Finland) in 2010. The associations between structural (measured by frequency of social contact with friends and neighbours) and cognitive (measured by experienced trust in friends and neighbours) aspects of social capital and depression (measured by Geriatric Depression Scale, GDS-4) were tested by logistic regression analyses.
Both low structural and cognitive social capital as defined in the study showed statistically significant associations with depression in older adults. Only experienced trust in neighbours failed to show significant association with depression. In addition, being single and being 80 years of age indicated a higher risk of depression as defined by GDS-4.
The findings underline the connection between adequate levels of both structural and cognitive individual social capital and mental health in later life. They also suggest that the connection differs depending on various network types; the cognitive aspect of relationships between friends was connected to depression, while the connection was not found for neighbours. Further, the oldest age group in the sample (80 years of age) is pointed out as a population especially vulnerable for depression that should not be overlooked in mental health promotion and depression prevention.
研究北欧两个地区老年人社会资本的结构和认知方面与抑郁之间的关系。
数据来自于 2010 年针对居住在瑞典的韦斯特博滕地区和芬兰的厄斯特博滕地区的 65、70、75 和 80 岁老年人（共 6838 人，应答率为 64%）进行的邮寄调查。通过逻辑回归分析测试社会资本的结构（通过与朋友和邻居的社交频率来衡量）和认知（通过对朋友和邻居的信任程度来衡量）方面与抑郁（通过老年抑郁量表，GDS-4 来衡量）之间的关系。
研究中定义的低结构和认知社会资本都与老年人的抑郁有统计学显著关联。只有对邻居的信任与抑郁没有显著关联。此外，单身和 80 岁的年龄表明，根据 GDS-4 定义，患抑郁的风险更高。
研究结果强调了适当水平的个人社会资本的结构和认知方面与晚年心理健康之间的联系。它们还表明，这种联系因各种网络类型而异；朋友之间关系的认知方面与抑郁有关，而与邻居之间的关系则没有发现这种联系。此外，样本中最年长的年龄组（80 岁）被指出是一个特别容易患抑郁的人群，在促进心理健康和预防抑郁方面不应忽视这一点。
