Jiang Zhaoquan, Ren Hengjie, Sun Qi, Zhang Huijun, Zhou Shixue
School of Nursing, Jinzhou Medical University, No.40, Section 3, Songpo Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.
Editorial Department (Social Sciences Edition), Jinzhou Medical University, No.40, Section 3, Songpo Road, Linghe District, Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China.
BMC Public Health. 2025 Apr 16;25(1):1435. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-22712-5.
Depression among rural empty-nest older adults has emerged as a significant global and Chinese concern in recent years. Studies have identified associations between depression in rural empty-nest older adults and factors such as social alienation, attitudes towards aging, and mental health. However, the intricate mechanisms underlying these relationships remain incompletely understood. Therefore, this study seeks to investigate the intricate connections between social alienation and depression among Chinese rural empty-nest older adults, aiming to shed light on the underlying mechanisms contributing to depression in this demographic.
The study data were gathered from a sample of rural empty-nest older adults (N = 1025) residing in the cities of Chaoyang, Liaoning Province, China. Depression served as the primary outcome variable, with social alienation as the predictor variable. Attitude towards aging and anxiety symptoms were examined as potential mediators in the relationship between social alienation and depression. Mediation and chained mediation modeling analyses were conducted to analyze the data and explore the proposed relationships.
(1) Social alienation positively predicted attitude towards aging (β = 0.109, P < 0.001), anxiety symptoms (β = 0.076, P < 0.001), and depression (β = 0.021, P < 0.001). Attitude towards aging positively predicted anxiety symptoms (β = 0.390, P < 0.001) and depression (β = 0.006, P < 0.001). Anxiety symptoms also positively predicted depression (β = 1.207, P < 0.001). (2) Social alienation mainly affects depression through three indirect effects: (1) Social alienation → attitude towards aging → depression; (2) Social alienation → anxiety symptoms → depression; (3) Social alienation → attitude towards aging → anxiety symptoms → depression.
Our findings suggest that social alienation impacts depression among Chinese rural empty-nest older adults through the pathways of attitude towards aging and anxiety symptoms. Consequently, efforts aimed at preventing depression rooted in social alienation among this demographic should address both attitudes towards aging and mental health concerns.
近年来，农村空巢老年人的抑郁问题已成为全球和中国关注的重要问题。研究已经确定了农村空巢老年人的抑郁与社会疏离、对衰老的态度和心理健康等因素之间的关联。然而，这些关系背后的复杂机制仍未完全明了。因此，本研究旨在探讨中国农村空巢老年人社会疏离与抑郁之间的复杂联系，以期阐明导致该人群抑郁的潜在机制。
研究数据来自居住在中国辽宁省朝阳市的农村空巢老年人样本（N = 1025）。抑郁作为主要结果变量，社会疏离作为预测变量。对衰老的态度和焦虑症状被视为社会疏离与抑郁关系中的潜在中介变量。进行中介和链式中介模型分析以分析数据并探索所提出的关系。
（1）社会疏离正向预测对衰老的态度（β = 0.109，P < 0.001）、焦虑症状（β = 0.076，P < 0.001）和抑郁（β = 0.021，P < 0.001）。对衰老的态度正向预测焦虑症状（β = 0.390，P < 0.001）和抑郁（β = 0.006，P < 0.001）。焦虑症状也正向预测抑郁（β = 1.207，P < 0.001）。（2）社会疏离主要通过三种间接效应影响抑郁：（1）社会疏离→对衰老的态度→抑郁；（2）社会疏离→焦虑症状→抑郁；（3）社会疏离→对衰老的态度→焦虑症状→抑郁。
我们的研究结果表明，社会疏离通过对衰老的态度和焦虑症状途径影响中国农村空巢老年人的抑郁。因此，旨在预防该人群中因社会疏离导致的抑郁的努力应同时解决对衰老的态度和心理健康问题。
