This study investigates the role of a motivational process based on a composite of four subcomponents (self-efficacy, decision regulation, activation regulation and motivation regulation), as a mediator of the relationship between social support and depression assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale in cognitively impaired and unimpaired individuals. Participants were 229 adults with a mean age of 74 years (range: 52-94 years). The sample comprised 64 participants diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 47 participants diagnosed with earlystage Alzheimer's disease (AD), and a group of 118 participants without any cognitive impairment. In this crosssectional study, bivariate correlations and linear regression models were used to assess the association between the predictor variables and depression. Linear regression models were controlled for age, gender, education, cognitive status, cognitive impairment and activities. In the total Based on these findings, it can be argued that the impact of social support on depressive symptoms is attenuated by cerebral deterioration in cognitively impaired individuals, while motivational processes remain relevant.