Data is lacking on the association of interpersonal stressors and social isolation with mental disorders and the mediating role of loneliness. Thus, we examined this association prospectively using community-based data.
Data on 6105 adults aged ≥50 years from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) was analyzed. Mental health outcomes were assessed 2 years after baseline. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were evaluated with validated scales. Multivariable linear regression and mediation analyses were conducted.
Higher levels of spousal support, less strain from spouse and better social network integration were protective against depressive symptoms in men. Social support from friends and children was protective against depressive symptoms in both genders. Higher levels of social strain from children were positively associated with depressive symptoms in women. Loneliness was a significant mediator in the majority of these associations.
Interventions aimed at increasing relationship quality and strengthening existing social network structures, with a specific focus on reducing feelings of loneliness, may be beneficial in the prevention of depressive symptoms among older adults.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 11. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 July 2023.
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#3,760,512
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#2,488
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#51,497
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Outputs of similar age from Journal of Affective Disorders
#43
of 172 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 29,286,349 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 86th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 11,611 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.2. This one has done well, scoring higher than 78% of its peers.
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