[The relationship of stress, social support and depression in the elderly].
OBJECTIVE
This study was to identify the relationship between stress, social support and depression in the elderly.


METHODS
The subjects were 283 elderly adults over 60 in Seoul. Data was collected by questionnaire surveys using convenience sampling. The instruments used in this study are the ELSI developed by Aldwin(1990), the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List developed by Cohen & Hoberman (1983), and the Geriatric Depression Scale by Yesavage & Brink(1982). Data was analyzed by the SAS program, using descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlation Coefficient, t-test, ANOVA and progressed Multiple Regression.


RESULTS
The relationship between stress and depression had a positive correlation (r= 0.33), but the relationship between stress and social support had no significant correlations. The relationship between social support and depression had a negative correlation (r= -0.38). The most powerful predictor of depression was the economic status and then a combination of stress, and social support account for 39% of the variance in depression in the elderly.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggested that stress and social support deficits can be potential risk factors in old age depression. Therefore, these findings give useful information for constructing an intervention program focused on depression in the elderly.
College of Nursing, Korea University, Sungbuk-ku, Seoul. pslee@korea.ac.kr
Pyoung-Sook
PS
Lee
Yong-Mi
YM
Lee
Ji-Young
JY
Lim
Ra-Il
RI
Hwang
Eun Young
EY
Park
D000368:Aged; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*