Department of Preventive Medicine, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
J Prev Med Public Health. 2021 Nov;54(6):441-450. doi: 10.3961/jpmph.21.337. Epub 2021 Oct 22.
Socioeconomic disadvantages interact with numerous factors which affect geriatric mental health. One of the main factors is the social relations of the elderly. The elderly have different experiences and meanings in their social lives depending on their socio-cultural environment. In this study, we compared the effects of social relations on depression among the elderly according to their living arrangement (living alone or living with others) and residential area.
We defined social relations as "meetings with neighbors" (MN). We then analyzed the impact of MN on depression using data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging Panel with the generalized estimating equation model. We also examined the moderating effect of living alone and performed subgroup analysis by dividing the sample according to which area they lived in.
MN was associated with a reduced risk of depressive symptoms among elderlies. The size of the effect was larger in rural areas than in large cities. However, elderly those who lived alone in rural areas had a smaller protective impact of MN on depression, comparing to those who lived with others. The moderating effect of living alone was significant only in rural areas.
The social relations among elderlies had a positive effect on their mental health: The more frequent MN were held, the less risk of depressive symptoms occurred. However, the effect may vary depending on their living arrangement and environment. Thus, policies or programs targeting to enhance geriatric mental health should consider different socio-cultural backgrounds among elderlies.
社会经济劣势与影响老年心理健康的众多因素相互作用。其中一个主要因素是老年人的社会关系。老年人在社会生活中有不同的经历和意义，这取决于他们的社会文化环境。在这项研究中，我们根据老年人的居住安排（独居或与他人同住）和居住区域比较了社会关系对抑郁的影响。
我们将社会关系定义为“与邻居见面”（MN）。然后，我们使用韩国老龄化纵向研究小组的数据，通过广义估计方程模型分析了 MN 对抑郁的影响。我们还检验了独居的调节作用，并根据他们居住的区域对样本进行了亚组分析。
MN 与老年人抑郁症状风险降低有关。在农村地区，影响的大小大于大城市。然而，与与他人同住的老年人相比，农村独居老年人 MN 对抑郁的保护作用较小。独居的调节作用仅在农村地区显著。
老年人之间的社会关系对他们的心理健康有积极影响：与邻居见面的频率越高，发生抑郁症状的风险越低。然而，这种影响可能因他们的居住安排和环境而异。因此，针对老年人心理健康的政策或计划应考虑老年人不同的社会文化背景。
