Social support and depression among older adults living alone: the importance of friends within and outside of a retirement community.
Using socioemotional selectivity theory as a framework, the study described in this article examined the extent to which social support from friends both within and outside of a retirement community was associated with depression. Although levels of social support from friends within the retirement community were quantitatively high, they failed to have a significant effect on depression. In contrast, social support from friends living elsewhere consistently predicted low levels of depression. Practice implications include the importance of maintaining friendship ties with people living elsewhere and of strengthening friendship ties within the retirement community.
Potts
M K
MK
Department of Social Work, California State University, Long Beach 90840-0902, USA. mpotts@csulb.edu
D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D012179:Retirement / Q000523:psychology*; D012847:Single Person / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires