TY  - JOUR
AU  - Peleg, Shira
AU  - Litwin, Howard
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/08/12
TI  - Differential Effects of Social Network on Health in Later Life and the Moderating Role of Depression
JO  - OBM Geriatrics
SP  - 067
VL  - 03
IS  - 03
AB  - Background: Differential effects of the characteristics of social network on limitations with activities (LWA) and the quality of life (QOL) among older adults, and the moderating role of depression were studied.
Methods: The data obtained from two consecutive waves of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) was examined.
Results: Emotional closeness, satisfaction with the social network, and contact frequency were able to predict the QOL and not LWA. Moreover, depression was observed to moderate the effects of network characteristics on these health outcomes, in a way that the effect of emotional closeness on QOL was significant among the low-depressed individuals in comparison to its effect on the highly depressed individuals; similar outcomes were observed for the effect of contact frequency and satisfaction with the social network on LWA. In addition, greater geographic distance was able to predict lower LWA when the levels of depression were high compared to when the levels of depression were low.
Conclusions: The findings of the present study highlighted the importance of recognizing the differential effects of different characteristics of social network on health outcomes, and, in addition, considered the role of depression levels in predicting these outcomes among the older adults. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings have also been discussed in the present report.
SN  - 2638-1311
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.geriatr.1903067
DO  - 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1903067
ID  - Peleg2019
ER  -