Abstract

RIBEIRO, Pricila Cristina Correa; ALVES, Felipe Cordeiro  and  LOURENCO, Roberto Alves. Depressive symptoms associated with the expectation of social support in the elderly: Data from the FIBRA-RJ study. Psicol. clin. [online]. 2021, vol.33, n.2, pp. 379-396. ISSN 0103-5665.  http://dx.doi.org/10.33208/PC1980-5438v0033n02A09.

The progressive aging of the population and the social transformations resulting from this phenomenon have fostered studies that include social support as a relevant variable for understanding the determinants of mental health in old age. This study evaluated the association between the expectancy of social support and clinically significant depressive symptoms (CSDS) in community-dwelling older adults, controlling the clinical and sociodemographic variables involved in this interaction. A cross-sectional study using the database of the FIBRA-RJ Study that includes elderly (over 65 years old) clients of a private health care plan who resided in northern districts of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. Of the 776 participants, 66% were women; the mean age was 76.8 (σ=6.77) years, and the mean schooling was 10 (σ=5.077) years of studies. The prevalence of CSDS was 22%. People who expect assistance in the case of functional dependency showed lower rates of prevalence of CSDS than the group without such expectation (OR=1.976). The expectation of receiving support only from the formal caregiver was associated with CSDS (p<0.001). The findings reinforce the importance of psychosocial variables as a factor associated with mood disorders in the elderly.

Keywords : depression; social support; aging.

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