The effects of types of social support from adult children on depression in elderly persons

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Abstract
Employing a stressors-mental health outcomes model, this study examines the effects of four newly developed measures of functional social support from adult children on the depressive symptomatology of elderly persons. Data derive from structured interviews of a community, stratified probability sample of adults aged 50 and over (N =1,174). The stressors examined are undesirable life events and level of disability. Scales representing four types of social support provided by adult children to their elderly parents are employed: caring and concern (CC), social integration (SI), love and affection (LA), and instrumental support (IN). We observed their differential effects on depression in a model which includes sociodemographic factors, disability, and stressful life events. Among the expressive scales (CC, SI, and LA), operationalizations of Cobb's definition of social support, CC and SI show inverse though modest main effects on depression. Conversely, IN exhibits no significant effects. Salutary effects of expressive support are maximized when CC is high. Only SI exhibits a buffering effect. Implications of these and other findings are discussed.

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