The Association between Hopelessness, Social Support and Community Integration and Depression among Elderly Living Alone / 農村醫學 地域保健

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to investigate the association between hopelessness, social support and community integration, and depression. METHODS: We analyzed data from a questionnaire administered to subjects aged 65 years or older living alone for a 2015 community mental health project in Gyeongnam S city. We used a correlation analysis and a hierarchical regression analysis to identify factors that affect depression. RESULTS: When controlling for socio-demographic factors, hopelessness and community integration had significant effects on depression. That is, the higher the hopelessness (B=0.768, p<.001) and the lower the community integration (B=-0.163, p=.012), the higher the depression in elderly living alone . CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for approaches at both the individual and social levels that consider and improve measures to prevent and reduce depression. Moreover, it is especially necessary to enhance community integration.