Different Discussion Partners and Their Effect on Depression among Older Adults

Abstract

Although the multidimensionality of core discussion networks has been well established and widely studied, studies of the effects of social support on depression rarely consider the multifaceted aspects of dyadic discussion partner ties. This article proposes defining dyadic social relationships as a construct comprising several tie-level attributes and differentiating multiple forms of support relationships by assessing the configuration pattern of multiple attributes. The current study examines various forms of older adults’ discussion partners and identifies which form of discussion partner relationship is effective at buffering the negative effects of adverse life events on depression symptoms. Results from the University of California Social Network Survey show that older adults’ discussion partners can be classified into five distinct types of dyadic ties: spouse/romantic partners, close neighbors, remote type, social companions, and acquaintances. The discussion network with more close neighbor confidants is more effective at buffering the negative effects of adverse life events. These results offer an alternative way of investigating the differential significance of various social support relationships in mental well-being.

Distinct aspects of human connection associated with subjective well-being

“…Its data yield network correlations with SWB independent of egos’ evaluations; its three waves of data provide estimates of both between- and withinperson effects; and it covers a broader age range than do most studies—young adults and late-middle-aged adults. Previous studies have also used UCNets (e.g., Child and Lawton, 2019 , 2020 ; Offer, 2020 ; Bilecen and Vacca, 2021 ; K. Lee, 2021 ; Ruppel et al, 2022 ). Our work replicates these analyses to a degree, but expands on them in two ways: First, we use all three waves of the UCNets data, which few studies have done thus far, and which allows us to undertake more sophisticated causal analyses.…”

Marital Transitions, Change in Depressive Symptomology, and Quality of Social Relationships in Midlife and Older U.S. Adults: An Analysis of the Health and Retirement Study

“…Positive social relationships have been identified as beneficial for older adults, often acting as a buffer against increased levels of depressive symptomology (Ahn et al, 2016; Chen & Feeley, 2014; Li et al, 2018). When faced with stressful life events, older adults with a geographically close support system comprised mostly of neighbors/friends experienced lower depressive symptoms compared to those with more mixed social connections (Lee, 2021). When examining mental well-being among older adults in China, social support was identified as a significant mediator of the association between social participation and depressive symptoms (Li et al, 2018).…”