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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1441006
This article is part of the Research Topic International Perspectives on Older Adult Social Isolation and Loneliness View all 31 articles

The Association between Living Alone and Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults Population: evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 

Provisionally accepted
Hui Fang Hui Fang 1Yingxin Duan Yingxin Duan 1*Yinxin Hou Yinxin Hou 1*Haoran Chang Haoran Chang 1*Shanju Hu Shanju Hu 1*Ruyi Huang Ruyi Huang 1,2*
  • 1 School of Management, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
  • 2 School of Public Adiministration and Law, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, Anhui Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective The goal of this research was to reveal the association between living alone and depressive symptoms in older adults. It also aims to explore the mediating role of social activity and adult children's relationship satisfaction. Ultimately, the study seeks to add to the body of knowledge for lowering the risk of depression among older people and promoting positive aging.Methods Based on information from the 2020 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, the ordinary least square (OLS) regression model and propensity score matching (PSM) were used to investigate the association between living alone and depressive symptoms in older adults and to explore possible heterogeneity in different groups. Utilizing the SPSS PROCESS macro application, the mediation model was constructed. The significance of the mediation effect was investigated using the Bootstrap technique.The average level of depressive symptoms of older people living alone (10.55±6.962) was higher than that of older people who do not live alone (8.80±6.363). The baseline regression analysis revealed a significant connection between living alone and the depressive symptoms of older people (β=0.842,  This article has 6928words, 3 figures, and 10 tables. P<0.001). The association between living alone and the level of depressive symptoms was significantly higher in those aged 60-74 years (β=1.698, P<0.001) than in those aged 75 and older (β=0.953, P<0.05). The association between living alone and depressive symptoms was significantly higher in rural older adults (β=1.512, P<0.001) than in urban older adults (β= 1.141, P < 0.001). Between living alone and the level of depressive symptoms experienced by older people, there was a substantial mediation impact on social engagement and adult children's relationship satisfaction, which contributed to 2.91% and 13.62% of the overall effect.Conclusions For older age groups, living alone is associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. This effect is stronger in older adults aged 60-74 or rural areas. In older age groups, the association between living alone and depressive symptoms is mediated by social activity and adult children's relationship satisfaction.

    Keywords: depressive symptoms, Living alone, social activity, adult children's relationship satisfaction, older adults

    Received: 30 May 2024; Accepted: 27 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Fang, Duan, Hou, Chang, Hu and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Yingxin Duan, School of Management, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
    Yinxin Hou, School of Management, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
    Haoran Chang, School of Management, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
    Shanju Hu, School of Management, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China
    Ruyi Huang, School of Management, Shandong Second Medical University, Weifang, China

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