The Relationship Between Social Capital and Depressive Symptoms Among the Elderly in China: The Mediating Role of Life Satisfaction

Abstract

Background and Aim

Depression has become a serious health and social issue in recent years in China. This study aims to explore the relationship between social capital and depressive symptoms among the elderly in China, with a particular focus on the mediating role of life satisfaction.

Methods

The data of this study were sourced from the 2016 wave of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), involving 1243 older adults aged 60 and above. A multiple linear regression model was used to explore the impact of social capital on depressive symptoms. Moreover, the add-on PROCESS macro for SPSS was employed to measure the mediating effect of life satisfaction on the relationship between social capital and depressive symptoms.

Results

The regression results suggest that CES-D score was associated with trust (coefficient = −0.1013, p < 0.01). In addition, the protective role of trust was significantly stronger for older adults aged 70–79, women, the poorest 1/3, and the elderly who live in rural areas. Moreover, the mediation analysis results suggest that the effect of trust on depressive symptoms was fully mediated by life satisfaction.

Conclusion

This study reveals that social capital has a positive effect on depressive symptoms among the elderly, and the positive health effect shows significant age, gender, income, and location inequalities. Furthermore, this study also provides new evidence indicating that life satisfaction fully mediates the relationship between social capital and depressive symptoms. Improving social capital could be a promising way for China to promote healthy aging in the future.

Keywords:

• social capital
• depressive symptoms
• life satisfaction
• elderly
• China

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by National Social Science Foundation of China (15BJL003), Shanghai Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project (2014BJL002), Research Foundation of Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission of 2018, Scientific Research Foundation of Outstanding Young Teachers of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and SMC of 2016, and Urban Governance Foundation in Humanities and Social Sciences in Shanghai Jiao Tong University (16JCCS16).

Abbreviations

CFPS, China Family Panel Studies; CES-D Scale, Center of Epidemiological Survey-Depression Scale; VIF, Variance Inflation Factor.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts on interest in this work.