AUTHOR=Liao Mingsheng , Zhang Xuesi , Xie Zhiquan , Li Limei , Zou Liqin 

TITLE=The mediating effect of life satisfaction between daily living abilities and depressive symptoms in the Chinese older people: evidence from CHARLS 2020

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1393530

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2024.1393530

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Background</title><p>Depressive symptoms represent a significant public health challenge, impacting the mental well-being of older adults. Despite this, the understanding of how activities of daily living (ADL) abilities correlate with life satisfaction and depressive symptoms among older Chinese adults remains limited.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Aims</title><p>This study aims to investigate the relationship between ADL and depressive symptoms in older people Chinese individuals, with a specific focus on examining the mediating role of life satisfaction within this context.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Methods</title><p>The study utilized data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) collected in 2020. A cohort of 8,343 individuals aged 60 years and above was included. The analysis was conducted using STATA 17.0 and SPSS 26.0, employing descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Pearson correlations, and mediation analysis using the percentile Bootstrap method with 5,000 resamples to explore the interrelations among ADL, life satisfaction, and depressive symptoms.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Results</title><p>ADL is positively correlated with life satisfaction (r = 0.129, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01) and negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (r = −0.313, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01). Additionally, life satisfaction and depressive symptoms are negatively correlated with each other (r = −0.360, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01). In the model of the mediating effect, ADL directly, significantly and negatively predicts depressive symptoms in the Chinese older people (β = −0.193, t = −17.827, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). After incorporating life satisfaction into the regression equation, the direct predictive effect of ADL on depressive symptoms remains significant (β = −0.177, t = −17.099, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001); furthermore, ADL has a significant positive predictive effect on life satisfaction (β = 0.007, t = 4.959, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) and life satisfaction significantly negatively predicts depressive symptoms (β = −2.235, t = −27.799, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). Furthermore, the direct effect of ADL on depressive symptoms (−0.177) and its mediating effect (−0.016) account for 91.71% and 8.29% of the total effect (−0.193), respectively.</p></sec><sec id="sec5"><title>Conclusion</title><p>ADL is inversely associated with the risk of depressive symptoms among older people Chinese individuals, with life satisfaction serving as a significant mediator in this relationship. Interventions aimed at improving life satisfaction in older people individuals with ADL impairments may effectively reduce or prevent the onset of depressive symptoms.</p></sec>