Moderating effect of social support on depression and health promoting lifestyle for Chinese empty nesters: A cross-sectional study

Jul 5, 2019Journal of affective disorders

How social support influences depression and healthy habits in Chinese older adults living alone

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Abstract

A survey of 1,593 empty nesters found that low depression and sufficient perceived social support directly predict better health promoting lifestyle.

Low depression is associated with better health promoting lifestyle among empty nesters.
Sufficient perceived social support is linked to improved health promoting lifestyle.
The impact of social support on health promoting lifestyle diminishes as education levels increase.
Family, friends, and other sources of support each have significant negative effects on the relationship between depression and health promoting lifestyle.
Socioeconomic status may partially compensate for the lack of social support.

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BACKGROUND: Health promoting lifestyle (HPL) may be a facilitator for empty nesters' active aging against depression. Social support (SS) may improve their HPL. This study aimed to examine moderating effect of SS and its three sources of SS on relationship between depression and HPL among empty nesters. The compensating role of socioeconomic status (SES) for lack of SS was examined, too.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of empty nesters (n = 1593) was conducted in six districts of Taiyuan, China, using a stratified random cluster sampling method. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses were performed to assess moderation models by SS and its three sources.

RESULTS: The findings indicated that low depression (p < 0.001) and sufficient perceived SS (p < 0.001) could directly predict better HPL among empty nesters. The effect of SS on HPL declined with the raise of educational level (p < 0.001). Family support (β = 0.083, p < 0.001), friends support (β = 0.085, p < 0.001) and others support (β = 0.098, p < 0.001) expressed significant negative buffer effects on depression and HPL individually.

LIMITATIONS: There was a cross-sectional study that limited the moderating effect of SS on depression and HPL just for empty nesters in Taiyuan, China. The results cannot explain the causal relationships among the study variables.

CONCLUSIONS: SS might be a protective factor of empty nesters' health in China. Three sources of SS all showed moderating effect on the relationship between depression and HPL among empty nesters, and should be integrated to achieve maximum utility. Friends support/ others support could play complement role for lack of family support. SES expressed partial compensatory for lack of SS.

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Moderating effect of social support on depression and health promoting lifestyle for Chinese empty nesters: A cross-sectional study

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