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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1559090
This article is part of the Research Topic Healthy ageing, social psychiatry of older adults and family caregivers View all 9 articles
Research on the Social Integration and Depression Risk of Middleaged and Elderly with Multiple Chronic Conditions in China
Provisionally accepted- Guilin Medical University, Guilin, China
Objective: The aging of the global population is intensifying, and the issue of depression among middle-aged and older individuals in China has garnered significant attention. Social integration is considered closely related to the risk of depression in patients with multiple chronic conditions (MCCs). This study aims to explore the relationship between different dimensions of social integration and depression in middle-aged and older individuals.Methods: This study utilized data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), including 2,901 middle-aged and older individuals with MCCs. Depression risk was assessed using a depression scale. Social integration was measured across three dimensions: economic integration, relational integration, and community integration. Statistical analyses were conducted using Logit and Tobit models to explore the relationship between social integration and depression among middle-aged and older individuals.Results: There was no significant association between overall social integration and the risk of depression, but economic integration and community integration were negatively correlated with the risk of depression, and relational integration was positively correlated with the risk of depression, and this relationship was heterogeneous among different demographic characteristics. Sensitivity analysis and subgroup analysis further confirmed the robustness of the results.consider the multi-dimensional characteristics of social integration. It is recommended to improve the economic status of the middle-aged and elderly, improve the quality of family and social interactions, and pay attention to the construction of the community environment. And further explore the interaction of each dimension and its applicability in different contexts.
Keywords: Multiple chronic conditions (MCCs), Social integration, Economic integration, Relational integration, Community Integration, Depression risk, Middle-aged and elderly people
Received: 11 Jan 2025; Accepted: 24 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Deng, Yang, Ouyang, Jiang, Zhu and Yang. 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:
Feng Yang, Guilin Medical University, Guilin, China
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