Research on Attitudes towards Ageing, Social Participation and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults in China

Abstract

Abstract Depressive symptoms are one of the most common mental health problems in later life. Although previous studies examined the social determinants of depressive symptoms, older adults’ attitudes towards ageing (ATA) and the underlying mechanisms are understudied, especially in developing country contexts such as China. The objective of this study was to examine the association between ATA and social participation, and their influences on depressive symptoms among older Chinese adults. The data were drawn from the 2014 baseline wave of the China Longitudinal Ageing Social Survey, and 8,568 respondents aged sixty years or older were included in this study. Path analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that both psychological loss and psychological growth (i.e. two types of ATA) had a direct effect on depressive symptoms. In addition, ATA were likely to mediate the relationship between social participation and depressive symptoms among older people. In conclusion, this study emphasises the importance of older people’s ATA in reducing depressive symptoms and how engaging in social activities could modify ATA and further reduce the risk of depressive symptoms.