Hostname: page-component-75d7c8f48-cp9qn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-03-22T03:05:33.355Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social participation, attitudes towards ageing and depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2022

Huijun Liu ,
Lijuan Guo  and
Zhixin Feng Open the ORCID record for Zhixin Feng [Opens in a new window]
Huijun Liu
Affiliation:
Institute for Population and Development Studies, Aging and Health Research Center, School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
Lijuan Guo
Affiliation:
School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
Zhixin Feng*
Affiliation:
School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: frankfengs@outlook.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Participation in social activities might increase older adults’ chances to interact with other people and has been found to be important in reducing the likelihood of depression. A picture of older adults’ attitudes towards ageing and their self-esteem constructed through the lens of how they interact with other people might cast light on the sources of older adults’ depression. This study explored the influences of social participation and attitudes towards ageing on depression of Chinese older adults. Using two waves data from the China Longitudinal Ageing Social Survey (CLASS) in 2014 and 2016 (6,908 participants in 2014 and 3,477 participants in both 2014 and 2016), we found that social participation in 2014 could prevent the risk of depression in both the 2014 and 2016 cohorts. In addition, both psychosocial loss and psychosocial growth in 2014 were negatively associated with depression in both 2014 and 2016. However, there was no evidence that social participation moderated the relationship between attitudes towards ageing and depression in either cohort. Social policies need to encourage older adults’ conversion from ‘passive participation’ to ‘active participation’. This could help older adults understand the process of ageing and their value to society, as well as have positive effects on older adults’ mental health.

Keywords

depressionsocial participationattitudes towards ageingmoderating effect

Information

Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 44 , Issue 2 , February 2024 , pp. 269 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Baltes, P and Baltes, M (1990) Psychological perspectives on successful aging: the model of selective optimization with compensation. In Baltes, P and Baltes, M (eds), Successful Aging: Perspectives from the Behavioral Sciences (European Network on Longitudinal Studies on Individual Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beekman, ATF, Penninx, BWJH, Deeg, DJH, De Beurs, E, Geerlings, SW and Van Tilburg, W (2010) The impact of depression on the well-being, disability and use of services in older adults: a longitudinal perspective. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 105, 20–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Britton, A, Shipley, M, Singhmanoux, A and Marmot, MG (2010) Successful ageing: the contribution of early-life and midlife risk factors. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 56, 1098–1105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bukov, A, Maas, I and Lampert, T (2002) Social participation in very old age: cross-sectional and longitudinal findings from BASE. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B 57, 510–517.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cattan, M, White, M, Bond, J and Learmouth, A (2005) Preventing social isolation and loneliness among older people: a systematic review of health promotion interventions. Nursing Older People 25, 503–513.Google Scholar
Chachamovich, E, Fleck, M, Laidlaw, K and Power, M (2008) Impact of major depression and subsyndromal symptoms on quality of life and attitudes toward ageing in an international sample of older adults. The Gerontologist 48, 593–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, LJ, Guo, W and Perez, C (2021) The effect of aging attitudes on the quality of life of older adults in China. Research on Aging 43, 96–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cusack, S (2006) Third-age education in Canada and Japan: attitudes toward ageing and participation in learning. Educational Gerontology 32, 463–481.Google Scholar
Depp, CA and Jeste, DV (2006) Definitions and predictors of successful ageing: a comprehensive review of larger quantitative studies. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 14, 6–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Faudzi, FNM, Armitage, CJ, Bryant, C and Brown, LJE (2020) Moderating effects of age on relationships between attitudes to aging and well-being outcomes. Aging & Mental Health 24, 1620–1626.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hess, TM (2006) Attitudes toward aging and their effects on behavior. In Birren, JE and Schaie, KW (eds), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, 6th Edn., Boston, MA: Academic Press, pp. 379–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karp, D and Yoels, W (1982) Experiencing the Life Cycle: A Social Psychology of Aging. Charles C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Kawachi, I and Berkman, LF (2001) Social ties and mental health. Journal of Urban Health 78, 458–467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laidlaw, K (2010) Is depression viewed as an inevitable consequence of age? The ‘understandability phenomenon’ in older people. Clinical Gerontologist 33, 194–209.Google Scholar
Laidlaw, K, Power, MJ, Schmidt, S and WHOQOL-OLD Group (2007) The Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ): development and psychometric properties. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 22, 367–379.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, HK, Min, SS, Gallagher, M and Kirkwood, A (2005) NMDA receptor-independent long-term depression correlates with successful ageing in rats. Nature Neuroscience 8, 1657–1659.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levy, B (2009) Stereotype embodiment: a psychosocial approach to ageing. Current Directions in Psychological Science 18, 332–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, B, Ashman, O and Dror, I (1999) To be or not to be: the effects of ageing stereotypes on the will to live. OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying 40, 409–420.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Li, C, Jiang, S, Li, N and Zhang, Q (2017) Influence of social participation on life satisfaction and depression among Chinese elderly: social support as a mediator. Journal of Community Psychology 46, 345–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, N, Ye, X and Ensel, WM (1999) Social support and depressed mood: a structural analysis. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 40, 344–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, D, Xi, J, Hall, BJ, Fu, M, Zhang, B, Guo, J and Feng, X (2020) Attitudes toward aging, social support and depression among older adults: difference by urban and rural areas in China. Journal of Affective Disorders 274, 85–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murayama, H, Nofuji, Y, Matsuo, E, Nishi, M, Taniguchi, Y, Fujiwara, Y and Shinkai, S (2015) Are neighbourhood bonding and bridging social capital protective against depressive mood in old age? A multilevel analysis in Japan. Social Science & Medicine 124, 171–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musick, MA and Wilson, J (2003) Volunteering and depression: the role of psychological and social resources in different age groups. Social Science & Medicine 56, 259–269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neupert, SD and Bellingtier, JA (2017) Aging attitudes and daily awareness of age-related change interact to predict negative affect. The Gerontologist 57, S187–S192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perese, EF and Wolf, M (2005) Combating loneliness among persons with severe mental illness: social network interventions’ characteristics, effectiveness, and applicability. Issues in Mental Health Nursing 26, 591–609.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quinn, KM, Laidlaw, K and Murray, LK (2010) Older peoples’ attitudes to mental illness. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy 16, 33–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radloff, LS (1977) The CES-D scale A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement 1, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Su, W (2011) A study of the relationship between social participation and attitude toward aging of the retired teachers. Taiwan Economic Forum 6, 62–81.Google Scholar
Sun, L (2007) The community participation of the urban disadvantaged groups: a case study of Wenchang Garden Community in Yangzhou City. Theory and Reform 1, 87–89.Google Scholar
Sun, J and Ji, Y (2016) The relationship between the care of grandchildren and the attitudes toward aging among Chinese older people. Population and Development 22, 79–86.Google Scholar
Takagi, D, Kondo, K and Kawachi, I (2013) Social participation and mental health: moderating effects of gender, social role and rurality. BMC Public Health 13, 701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomioka, K, Kurumatani, N and Hosoi, H (2015) Social participation and the prevention of decline in effectance among community-dwelling elderly: a population-based cohort study. PLOS ONE 10, e0164925.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomioka, K, Kurumatani, N and Hosoi, H (2017) Positive and negative influences of social participation on physical and mental health among community-dwelling elderly aged 65–70 years: a cross-sectional study in Japan. BMC Geriatrics 17, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Umberson, D and Montez, JK (2010) Social relationships and health: a flashpoint for health policy. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 51, S54–S66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (2017) Mental health of older adults. [Accessed on 30th January 2022], https://www.who.int/newsroom/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-of-older-adultsGoogle Scholar
Yang, H, Browning, C and Thomas, S (2013) Challenges in the provision of community aged care in China. Family Medicine and Community Health 1, 32–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, L, Xu, Y, Nie, H, Zhang, Y and Wu, Y (2012) The prevalence of depressive symptoms among the older in China: a meta-analysis. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 27, 900–906.CrossRefGoogle Scholar