Age, gender, social contacts, and psychological distress: findings from the 45 and up study.

OBJECTIVE: The study examined the relationships between social contact types and psychological distress among mid-older adults. METHOD: Self-completed data from 236,490 Australian adults aged 45+ years. RESULTS: There was a consistent relationship between increased frequency in phone contacts, social visits, and social group contacts and reduced risk of psychological distress adjusted for demographic and health factors. However, stratified analyses by age showed, with one exception, that no significant associations were found between social group contact frequency and risk of psychological distress for those aged 85 years and older. Furthermore, significant interaction terms revealed that women experience a steeper reduction in risk than men at age 65 to 74 years and 75 to 84 years compared with those aged 45 to 64 years. DISCUSSION: Social contacts have age and gender differential effects on psychological distress of mid-older Australian adults. Interventions addressing social interaction need to be sensitive to gender and age differences.