Mediating effect of resilience and depression between social support and self-neglect in empty-nest community-dwelling elderly / 中华行为医学与脑科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the mediating effects of resilience and depression on the relationship between social support and self-neglect.Methods:From July to October 2020, a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 549 empty-nest community-dwelling elderly in the community using the social support rating scale, Connor and Davidson resilience scale, geriatric depression scale and elderly self-neglect scale. SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 24.0 were used for data analysis, including descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and structural equation modeling.Results:The scores of social support, resilience and self-neglect of the empty-nest elderly were (38.63±7.47), (64.30±14.57) and (3.72±2.67) respectively, and 31.70% (174/549) of the subjects had depressive symptoms. The score of self-neglect was negatively correlated with the score of social support ( r=-0.597, P<0.01) and resilience ( r=-0.557, P<0.01), and positively correlated with depression score ( r=0.675, P<0.01). The score of social support was positively correlated with resilience score ( r=0.531, P<0.01) and negatively correlated with depression ( r=-0.597, P<0.01). Social support could affect self-neglect directly ( β=-0.485, P<0.05), and it could also influence self-neglect indirectly through the partial mediating effect of resilience ( β=-0.451, P<0.05). The mediating effect of resilience and depression accounted for 12.18% and 36.00% of the total effects respectively. Conclusion:Social support could influence self-neglect directly or indirectly through resilience and depression. The empty-nesters should be encouraged to participate more in social activities so as to improve their resilience, reduce the occurrence of self-neglect.