Effect of staff turnover and the social environment on depressive symptoms in nursing home residents.

Although one would expect a relationship on the basis of anecdotal evidence, there is little objective evidence for a hypothesized relationship between the social environment provided in institutional settings and the psychological well-being of the residents. In an attempt to operationalize this hypothesis, the present study examined the effect of nursing staff turnover, frequency of visitors, and the presence or absence of close friends on depressive symptoms among nursing home residents. Once physical dependency and past history of depression were taken into account, there was no demonstrable relationship between staff turnover and depressive symptoms among the residents of this sample of nursing homes. There was, however, a significant relationship between absence of close friends among other residents and depressive symptoms, although only 13% of the total variance was explained.