Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, Australia.
School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2021 Jun;56(6):1069-1081. doi: 10.1007/s00127-020-01960-3. Epub 2020 Oct 3.
To examine (i) reciprocal longitudinal associations between social connectedness and mental health, and (ii) how these associations vary by age and gender.
Three waves of nationally representative data were drawn from the HILDA survey (n = 11,523; 46% men). The five-item Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) assessed symptoms of depression and anxiety. The Australian Community Participation Questionnaire provided measures of informal social connectedness, civic engagement and political participation. Multivariable adjusted cross-lagged panel regression models with random intercepts estimated bidirectional within-person associations between mental health and each of the three types of social connectedness. Multi-group analyses were used to quantify differences between men and women, and between three broad age groups (ages: 15-30; 31-50; 51+).
Reliable cross-lagged associations between prior informal social connections and future mental health were only evident among adults aged 50 years and older (B = 0.101, 95% CI 0.04, 0.16). Overall, there was no significant association between prior civic engagement and improvements in mental health (p = 0.213) though there was weak evidence of an association for men (B = 0.051, 95% CI 0.01, 0.09). Similarly, there was no significant association in the overall sample between political participation and improvements for mental health (p = 0.337), though there was weak evidence that political participation was associated with a decline in mental health for women (B = - 0.045, CI - 0.09, 0.00) and those aged 31-50 (B = - 0.057, CI - 0.10, - 0.01). Conversely, prior mental health was associated with future informal social connectedness, civic engagement, and political participation.
Interventions promoting social connectedness to improve community mental health need to account for age- and gender-specific patterns, and recognise that poor mental health is a barrier to social participation.
（i）检验社会联系与心理健康之间的相互纵向关联，以及（ii）这些关联如何因年龄和性别而异。
从 HILDA 调查中抽取了三波具有全国代表性的数据（n=11523；46%为男性）。使用五项目心理健康量表（MHI-5）评估抑郁和焦虑症状。澳大利亚社区参与问卷提供了非正式社会联系、公民参与和政治参与的衡量标准。具有随机截距的多变量调整交叉滞后面板回归模型估计了心理健康与三种类型的社会联系之间的双向个体内关联。多组分析用于量化男性和女性之间以及三个广泛年龄组（年龄：15-30 岁；31-50 岁；51 岁及以上）之间的差异。
仅在 50 岁及以上的成年人中，先前的非正式社会联系与未来的心理健康之间存在可靠的交叉滞后关联（B=0.101，95%CI 0.04，0.16）。总体而言，公民参与与心理健康的改善之间没有显著关联（p=0.213），尽管对于男性有微弱的关联证据（B=0.051，95%CI 0.01，0.09）。同样，在总体样本中，政治参与与心理健康的改善之间也没有显著关联（p=0.337），但有微弱的证据表明，政治参与与女性（B=-0.045，CI -0.09，0.00）和 31-50 岁年龄组（B=-0.057，CI -0.10，-0.01）的心理健康下降有关。相反，先前的心理健康与未来的非正式社会联系、公民参与和政治参与有关。
为改善社区心理健康而促进社会联系的干预措施需要考虑年龄和性别特定的模式，并认识到，心理健康状况不佳是参与社会的障碍。
