Social participation and depression in old age: a fixed-effects analysis in 10 European countries.

ABSTRACT: We examined whether changes in different forms of social participation were associated with changes in depressive symptoms in older Europeans. We used lagged individual fixed-effects models based on data from 9,068 persons aged ≥50 years in wave 1 (2004/2005), wave 2 (2006/2007), and wave 4 (2010/2011) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). After we controlled for a wide set of confounders, increased participation in religious organizations predicted a decline in depressive symptoms (EURO-D Scale; possible range, 0-12) 4 years later (β = -0.190 units, 95% confidence interval: -0.365, -0.016), while participation in political/community organizations was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms (β = 0.222 units, 95% confidence interval: 0.018, 0.428). The

SUBMITTER: Croezen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4493978 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature