Social capital, perceived neighborhood environment, and depressive symptoms among older adults in rural China: the role of self-rated health

Aug 9, 2021International psychogeriatrics

How social support, neighborhood feelings, and self-rated health relate to depression in older adults in rural China

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Abstract

Among 447 older adults in rural China, structural social capital was significantly associated with depressive symptoms.

Cognitive social capital was initially associated with depressive symptoms but became nonsignificant when perceived environment variables were included.
Structural social capital remained a significant factor related to depressive symptoms after controlling for demographics, socioeconomic status, and health status.
Satisfaction with health care was significantly linked to depressive symptoms in individuals with poor self-rated health.
In individuals with good self-rated health, satisfaction with security and transportation showed strong associations with depressive symptoms.

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OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationships between social capital, perceived neighborhood environment, and depressive symptoms among older adults living in rural China, and the moderating effect of self-rated health (SRH) in these relationships.

PARTICIPANTS: A quota sampling method was applied to recruit 447 participants aged 60 years and older in rural communities in Jilin province, China in 2019.

MEASUREMENTS: Depressive symptoms were measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Structural equation modeling was used to build latent constructs of social capital and test the proposed model. Multiple group analysis was used to test the moderation effects.

RESULTS: Cognitive social capital and structural social capital were both associated with depressive symptoms controlling for participants' demographics, socioeconomic status, and health status. After adding perceived environment variables in the model, the relationship between cognitive social capital and depressive symptoms became nonsignificant, while structural social capital remained became a significant factor (= -.168,< .01). Satisfaction with health care was significantly associated with depressive symptoms among those with poor SRH (= -.272,< .01), whereas satisfaction with security and transportation were strongly associated with depressive symptoms among those with good SRH (security:= -.148,< .01; transportation:= -.174,< .01). β p β p β p β p

CONCLUSIONS: Study findings highlighted the importance of social capital and neighborhood environment as potential protective factors of depressive symptoms in later life. Policy and intervention implications were also discussed.

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Social capital, perceived neighborhood environment, and depressive symptoms among older adults in rural China: the role of self-rated health

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