title: Social support resources and post-acute recovery for older adults with major depression.
abstract: This study assessed the relationships between older patients' social support resources and depressive symptoms and psychosocial functioning at 6 months following a psychiatric hospital discharge. The data used in this study were extracted from a prospective study titled "Service Use of Depressed Elders after Acute Care" (National Institute of Mental Health-56208). This sample included 148 older patients who participated in the initial and the 6-month follow-up assessment. Ordinary Least Squares regression (OLS) was used to examine important social support resources in relation to older patients' depressive symptoms and psychosocial functioning. A vast majority of patients were embedded in a social support network that consisted of acquaintances and confidants. Patients' depressive symptoms were related to availability of a confidant and the extent to which they spent time with others. However, patients' psychosocial functioning was not related to social support resources assessed in this study.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1010 W Nevada Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. hongli@uiuc.edu
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morrow-Howell
authors.forename: Enola
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Proctor
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rubin
mesh_terms: D000359:Aftercare; D000368:Aged; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006295:Health Resources; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012944:Social Support; D014481:United States