Is the association between social network types, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction mediated by the perceived availability of social support? A cross-sectional analysis using the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to examine: 1) whether the relationship between social network types, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction is mediated by different types of perceived social support; and, 2) whether social support plays a mediational role for married versus unmarried older adults.

Methods: The study was based on national, baseline data (Tracking Cohort) from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging for participants aged 65 to 85 (N = 8782). Five social network types derived from cluster analysis were used as predictors in the mediation analyses, with the four social support subscales of the Medical Outcomes Survey (MOS) Social Support Survey (tangible, emotional, positive social interactions, and affectionate) included as mediators, and depressive symptoms and life satisfaction as outcome variables. Socio-demographic and physical health variables were included as covariates.

Results: Significant indirect effects emerged, with less diverse social network structures generally associated with less social support which, in turn, was related to more depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction. However, different findings emerged for different types of social support, for participants who were married and unmarried, and for depressive symptoms versus life satisfaction.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that restricted social networks that are reflective of social isolation, as well as those that are intermediate in terms of their diversity can create gaps in perceived social support and, consequently, can negatively impact mental health and life satisfaction.

Keywords:

• Social network types
• social isolation
• social support
• mental health
• mediation
• older Canadians

Acknowledgments

This research was made possible using the data collected by the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), dataset version Baseline Tracking Dataset version 1.1. Funding for the CLSA was awarded by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) under grant reference: LSA 9447 and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The CLSA is led by Drs. Parminder Raina, Christina Wolfson, and Susan Kirkland.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.