Social support and depression among elderly Chinese people in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study examines the association between social support and depressive symptomatology in a representative community sample of 1106 Chinese people in Hong Kong aged sixty years or older. Significant bivariate relationships were found between depression and all dimensions of social support including social network size, network composition, social contact frequency, satisfaction of social support, instrumental/emotional support, and helping others. Using multiple regression models, the authors found that at least one measure of these six dimensions of social support was associated with depressive symptomatology, even after controlling for socio-demographic, and functional disability. We found that social support from family is important for elderly Chinese people in Hong Kong, and satisfaction with support is a more important predictor of depression levels than other objective measures of network relationships. Lastly, it was found that material aid and instrumental support is more important in preventing depression for elderly individuals in Hong Kong than emotional support.