J Korean Acad Nurs.  2004 Jun;34(3):477-484.

The Relationship of Stress, Social Support and Depression in the Elderly

Affiliations
  • 1College of Nursing, Korea University, Korea. pslee@korea.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, Inha University, Korea.

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study was to identify the relationship between stress, social support and depression in the elderly. METHOD: The subjects were 283 elderly adults over 60 in Seoul. Data was collected by questionnaire surveys using convenience sampling. The instruments used in this study are the ELSI developed by Aldwin(1990), the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List developed by Cohen & Hoberman (1983), and the Geriatric Depression Scale by Yesavage & Brink(1982). Data was analyzed by the SAS program, using descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlation Coefficient, t-test, ANOVA and progressed Multiple Regression. RESULT: The relationship between stress and depression had a positive correlation (r= 0.33), but the relationship between stress and social support had no significant correlations. The relationship between social support and depression had a negative correlation (r= -0.38). The most powerful predictor of depression was the economic status and then a combination of stress, and social support account for 39% of the variance in depression in the elderly. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that stress and social support deficits can be potential risk factors in old age depression. Therefore, these findings give useful information for constructing an intervention program focused on depression in the elderly.

Keyword

Stress; Social support; Depression; The elderly

MeSH Terms

Aged
Depression/*etiology
Female
Humans
Korea
Male
Middle Aged
*Social Support
Stress, Psychological/*complications
Full Text Links
  • JKAN
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr