Social Participation and Depression in Old Age: A Fixed-Effects Analysis in 10 European Countries

Abstract

We examined whether changes in different forms of social participation were associated with changes in depressive symptoms in older Europeans. We used lagged individual fixed-effects models based on data from 9,068 persons aged ≥50 years in wave 1 (2004/2005), wave 2 (2006/2007), and wave 4 (2010/2011) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). After we controlled for a wide set of confounders, increased participation in religious organizations predicted a decline in depressive symptoms (EURO-D Scale; possible range, 0-12) 4 years later (β = -0.190 units, 95% confidence interval: -0.365, -0.016), while participation in political/community organizations was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms (β = 0.222 units, 95% confidence interval: 0.018, 0.428). There were no significant differences between European regions in these associations. Our findings suggest that social participation is associated with depressive symptoms, but the direction and strength of the association depend on the type of social activity. Participation in religious organizations may offer mental health benefits beyond those offered by other forms of social participation.

The relationship between wealth and loneliness among older people across Europe: Is social participation protective?

“…Participation in sports clubs has been shown to enable men to exchange life experiences with others who share similar interests and characteristics (Bunn et al, 2016), which could plausibly reduce feelings of loneliness and be related to fewer depressive symptoms, via the benefits of physical activity. The weaker association between participation in political and community organisations and loneliness is consistent with a recent study that found involvement in these activities was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms four years later, which the authors suggested may be due to the high effort and low reward incurred (Croezen et al, 2015).…”

“…In addition, several studies demonstrate that participation in formal activities, such as volunteering and attending social clubs, is associated with reduced loneliness in later life (Croezen et al, 2015;Gilmour, 2012;Heaven et al, 2013).…”

Factors related to low social participation in older adults: findings from the Fibra study, Brazil

“…Findings have shown relationships between higher level of social participation and lower risk of morbidity 5 , disability 6,7 , depressive symptoms 8 , and cognitive impairment 9 . Low social participation, on the other hand, increases the risk of mortality, similarly to smoking, sedentary lifestyle, alcoholism and other well-known cardiovascular risk factors 10 .…”

“…Furthermore, most of the social activities are complex and impose high cognitive demands and challenges beyond the resources of people with lower level of education. Social participation may be influenced by health problems that frequently affect the physical and mental abilities needed to perform complex and demanding activities 6,8,9,18 . Restrictions to engage in social activities are possibly due to limited mobility, sensorial, reasoning, and emotional functions.…”

“…Findings have suggested that people living in worse socioeconomic conditions tend to restrict their participation in community activities 13 . Health conditions, also in personal level, include health problems that affect physical and cognitive abilities and are frequently recognized as factors that cause lower functional performance and disabilities [7][8][9] . These aspects may influence the physical abilities, mental capacity and motivation to engage in high demanding activities in society.…”