Study on the relationship between social support and mental health of the elderly in China: a case study of Xi’an city, Shaanxi province

Abstract

Background: The elderly’s mental health is becoming more and more severe under the aging society in China (one third of the elderly had the symptom of depression according to the statistics). It is urgent to explore how the social support system of the elderly can influence their mental health and how to enhance their mental care from the perspective of social support.

Aims: This article analyzes the relationship between social support and mental health of the elderly using quantitative and qualitative data.

Methods results: This study relies on a survey did in 2016 in Xi’an among elderly over the age of 60, mainly using structural questionnaires and assisted with interviews for some specific people. The study finds that the status of mental health of the elderly in Xi’an maintains a medium-to-high level (the minimum value is 8, the maximum is 32, the average is 24.06 and the standard deviation is 4.278).

Conclusions: The children’s support plays a decisive role in the elderly’s mental health, which is a hygiene factor; friends, neighbors and social participation for the elderly also contribute to the mental health, which is a motivator factor. Besides, some special cases, such as those elderly who lost their only child, those migrating to other cities and those empty nesters, have become the vulnerable groups in mental health.

• Elderly
• mental health
• social support
• aging society

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Office of China National Committee on Aging Work Policy and Theory Study Project (No. QLB2016A026), the Shaanxi Province Social Science Fund (No. 2016G005) and the Technology Planning Projects of Shaanxi Province (No. 2017KRM197).

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.