Different dimensions of social support differentially predict psychological well‐being in late life: opposite effects of perceived emotional support and marital status on symptoms of anxiety and of depression in older outpatients in Italy

Abstract

Background Social support is important to psychological well‐being in late life. However, findings in the literature regarding its effects are mixed, less information is available for anxiety than for depressive symptoms, and few studies have been carried out in Italy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of social support on symptoms of anxiety and of depression in a sample of geriatric outpatients in Italy. Methods This cross‐sectional study consecutively enrolled 299 outpatients without dementia (age ≥ 65, all neuropsychologically tested). Social support was assessed with the ENRICHD Social Support Instrument and by interview. Symptoms of anxiety and of depression were evaluated with short versions of the State‐Trait Personality Inventory Trait Anxiety and Geriatric Depression scales. The relationship between social support and psychological well‐being was examined by multiple linear regression models with socio‐demographic and clinical variables, including cognitive performance, as potential confounders. Results Perceived emotional support was a negative predictor of symptoms of anxiety (standardised beta coefficient (β) ‐0.288, standard error (SE) 0.074, P < 0.001) and symptoms of depression (β −0.196, SE 0.040, P < 0.001). On the contrary, marital status (i.e. being married) was a positive predictor of symptoms of anxiety (β 0.199, SE 0.728, P = 0.003) and symptoms of depression (β 0.142, SE 0.384, P = 0.035). Conclusions Different dimensions of social support differentially affect psychological well‐being. The protective effect of perceived emotional support is consistent with social cognitive models of health. The harmful effect of being married may be capturing the distress of the pre‐bereavement period. Alternatively, it may reflect oppression by gender roles within marriage in a predominantly female sample in a traditional society. Our findings provide insight into the relationship between social support and psychological well‐being, and identify potential targets for psychosocial interventions promoting mental health in late life.

Analysis of Social Support as an Argument for the Sustainable Construction of the European Community Space

“…The functional social network being associated with marital status will lead to health benefits, including low morbidity and mortality [48][49][50][51]. An important objective of the study was to investigate the influence of marital status on social support, but also the connection between marital status and recent life events in respondents in the North-West region of Romania.…”

Impacto del soporte social sobre la movilidad limitada en personas mayores de comunidades altoandinas peruanas

“…Entre las dimensiones del soporte social, se ha comprobado que el apoyo emocional percibido tiene un efecto protector. Esta relación entre el apoyo social y el bienestar psicológico se debe tomar en cuenta para las intervenciones psicosociales integrales que promueven la salud mental en la vejez ( 20 ).…”

“…Los resultados presentados aquí confirman datos de la literatura en el sentido de que el enfoque de gestión de la capacidad intrínseca debe evaluarse holísticamente y considerar las interrelaciones entre sus dominios, por ejemplo, la relación de la discapacidad visual con el estado socioeconómico, la velocidad de marcha y la fuerza de prensión ( 21 , 22 ) con la función cognitiva, y las discapacidades visual ( 23 ) y auditiva ( 24 ) con el estado cognitivo. También se suman la relación existente entre las vulnerabilidades sociales (como la falta de apoyo social), y la cognición y el bienestar psicológico ( 20 ). No obstante, se debe tener en cuenta que existen diferencias culturales en la percepción del apoyo social y en su efecto sobre la salud mental ( 25 ), por lo que es importante considerar los diferentes entornos incluso dentro de un mismo país o región.…”

Does motor functioning mediate the relationship between executive functions and psychological well-being of atypically developing older adults?

“…The analysis of the Differential Item Functioning by the application of the Item Response Theory Likelihood Ratio test approach in a sample of older Italians attested that the occurrence of cognitive decline does not bias the assessment of depressive signs through GDS (Chiesi et al, 2018). Internal consistency was reported to be satisfactory (alpha = 0.75) in a sample of Italian older individuals with and without cognitive decline (Nicolini et al, 2021).…”