title: Social support and depression of adults with visual impairments.
abstract: Relatively little research exists with regard to the relationship between social support and depression among adults with visual impairments. Such a gap is noteworthy when one considers that individuals become more dependent on others as they enter middle and late adulthood. The present research will examine the association between social networks, social support and depression among adults with visual impairments. Seventy-seven adults with visual impairments participated in the study. Depression, social network and emotional/practical social support were measured with self-report measures. Additionally, the degree to which emotional/practical social support received were positive or negative and the ability of respondents to self-manage their daily living were assessed. Less than a third of respondents scored above the threshold for depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were not related to gender or vision status. Depression was correlated with age, educational level, less positive practical support, more negative practical support and more negative emotional support, with lower perceptions of self-management representing the most robust predictor of depression. Age moderated the relationship between depression and self-management, and between depression and negative emotional support. Lower perceptions of self-management and negative emotional support were significantly associated with depressive symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational and Social Policy, University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia Street, P.O. Box 1591, 54006 Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: kpapado@uom.gr.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational and Social Policy, University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia Street, P.O. Box 1591, 54006 Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: klerip@uom.gr.
authors.forename: Doxa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Papakonstantinou
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational and Social Policy, University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia Street, P.O. Box 1591, 54006 Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: antmont@uom.gr.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.affiliation: Public School, Ministry of Education, Greece. Electronic address: a.solomou@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Argyro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Solomou
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001766:Blindness / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Depression; Social support; Visual impairment