Background
Depressive symptoms are one of the most common mental health problems among older adults [
1]. Furthermore, it can significantly increase older adults’ risk of frailty [
2] and decrease their quality of life [
3]. China has the largest population of older adults in the world; specifically, by the end of 2021, its population aged 60 years and above reached 267.36 million, accounting for 18.9% of its total population [
4]. A systematic review and meta-analysis showed that the pooled overall prevalence of depressive symptoms among older adults in China was 20.0% [
5]. The high prevalence of depressive symptoms among older adults has significantly increased the degree of medical expenditure in the country [
6]. A study from China reported that there were about $42.67 per person of annual medical spending which is induced by depressive symptoms and depression [
7]. Therefore, exploring the determinants of depressive symptoms and reducing their prevalence are crucial for older adults’ mental health. Previous studies reported several determinants of depressive symptoms, such as chronic diseases [
8], educational level [
9], and sleep duration [
10].
In Chinese culture, living with aging parents and taking care of them is a primary moral principle for the younger generations [
11]. However, with social economic development, including reduced fertility, the migration of the younger labor force from less developed to more developed areas, and the younger generation’s preference to live independently after marriage [
12]—the living arrangements of older adults have changed rapidly in China. Recent years have seen the number of empty-nest older adults, which refers to those living alone or only with a spouse/partner owing to their children having already left home, increases rapidly [
12]. By 2030, empty-nest older adults will account for 90% of the total older adult population in the country [
13]. Therefore, the living arrangements of most older adults have shifted to either living alone, as a couple, or with children.
Previous studies have found that living arrangements are associated with older adults’ mental health outcomes, such as loneliness [
14], suicidal ideation [
15], and depressive symptoms [
16] and that a lack of family emotional support or financial support from children may be vital for the poor mental health of empty-nest older adults [
17,
18]. Accordingly, the mental health status of this population group has been concerned by many researchers. Studies found that empty-nest older adults are more likely to have depressive symptoms than non-empty-nest ones [
19‐
21]. Some other studies have explored the determinants of depressive symptoms among empty-nest older adults, such as sex, education level, and chronic diseases [
22,
23]. However, these studies did not divide the empty-nest older adults into those living alone or as part of a couple.
A previous study found that older adults living as a couple had better cognitive function than those living with children; the possible reason for this phenomenon could be related to these older adults having less burden related to caring for children or grandchildren and being able to enjoy their life as a couple [
24]. Therefore, older adults living as a couple may have a better mental health status than those living alone or with children, and the determinants of mental health may differ by their living arrangement. By further classifying empty-nest older adults into those living alone and those living as a couple and exploring the determinants of depressive symptoms among the three groups, i.e., those living alone, as a couple, or with children, those being most in need of mental health improvement can be identified and a scientific basis for targeted community interventions and relevant health policies can be provided.
In this study, we investigate both the prevalence and determinants of depressive symptoms among older adults according to three different kinds of living arrangements. To obtain knowledge on this topic may allow invested stakeholders to ensure more precise decision-making regarding the implementation of interventions for depressive symptoms in the older adult population.
Discussion
In this study, the prevalence of depressive symptoms and its determinants among older adults with different living arrangements were firstly compared. Our findings provide suggestions for interventions to improve the mental health of community-dwelling older adults.
Among the three evaluated groups, older adults living alone had the highest prevalence of depressive symptoms. One explanation is that older adults who live alone are more likely to suffer from loneliness [
44], and higher loneliness levels are associated with higher depressive symptoms [
45]. Another explanation is that the group of older adults living alone reported shorter sleep durations, a larger proportion of poor self-rated health, and poorer ADL than the two other groups. In our study, sleep duration, self-rated health, and ADL were the determinants of depressive symptoms among the three groups; this is consistent with evidence existed [
46‐
48].
Previous studies reported that empty-nest older adults (living alone and living as a couple) had a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms than older adults living with children [
22,
23]. However, we found that older adults living as a couple had a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms than those living with children. Along with the progress in society and improvement in their living standards, older adults usually prefer to enjoy their lives [
24]. Generally, unlike those living with children [
49], older adults living as a couple need not bear the burden of caring for their children; in the meantime, they need not experience higher levels of loneliness compared to those living alone. In addition, spouse support is crucial for older adults’ mental health [
50,
51]. In concordance with these prior findings, older adults living as a couple in our sample showed the lowest prevalence of depressive symptoms among the three groups.
According to previous studies [
48,
52,
53], the evidence on the relationship between age and depressive symptoms among older adults remains mixed. We found that being ≥ 80 years old was the sole protective factor for depressive symptoms among older adults living with children. Several studies from Asia revealed that fewer older adults were reliant on their children for their daily living, and the net flow of inter-generational support is usually downward, namely from old to the young [
49,
54]. Therefore, as older adults’ physical strength gradually decreases with age, the stress of supporting their children or grandchildren could also decrease, potentially having a protective effect on their mental health.
Our findings showed that women were more likely to have depressive symptoms than men among older adults living as a couple and with children, but not among those living alone. In traditional Chinese culture, women usually play a caregiver role and undertake more personal care tasks than men [
55]. This care burden may increase depressive symptoms among women [
56]. By contrast, as female older adults living alone need not to care for others, they may not experience care-related stress.
Our results also showed that, among older adults living alone, those living in rural areas were more likely to have depressive symptoms than their urban counterparts. Previous studies also showed a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms among rural than urban older adults owing to the gap in economic development, health service resources, and social welfare between rural and urban areas [
57,
58]. In addition, family support, especially spousal support, is crucial to older adults’ mental health [
50]. Thus, low levels of both social welfare and family support may be associated with vulnerability to depression among rural older adults living alone.
Our data showed that education levels were negatively associated with the occurrence of depressive symptoms among older adults living as a couple and with children. This is consistent with the results of previous studies [
9,
59]. However, we found that only the middle school education level was a protective factor for depressive symptoms among those living alone, while the highest educational backgrounds (high school or above) were not. A possible explanation for this phenomenon is the high proportion of women with a lower socioeconomic condition among the older adults living alone in our sample. Cermakova [
60] found that women or individuals with a poor socioeconomic condition may not gain a large mental health benefit from education. Several studies revealed that older adults living alone have poorer socioeconomic conditions than those living with others [
61,
62]. In this study, 57.9% of older adults were women and 83.5% lived in rural areas. Therefore, the relationship between education levels and depressive symptoms among older adults living alone needs to be further investigated in future study.
Previous studies showed an association between smoking and depressive symptoms, but their findings are mixed [
63,
64]. In our study, no smoking was negatively associated with depressive symptoms only among older adults living with children. In this group, as older adults usually live with their children as well as their grandchildren, they may have been greatly concerned about the harmful effects of smoking on the health of the younger generations [
65]. This could have, in turn, led them to choose to quit smoking [
66], potentially leading to a high risk of developing depressive symptoms [
67]. In addition, current smokers reported lower levels of family harmony than non-smokers in prior research [
68], and social isolation from family members was associated with more depressive symptoms [
69].
Previous findings have shown that those who suffer from chronic diseases have a high risk of depressive symptoms [
70,
71]. However, in this study, chronic diseases were associated with the occurrence of depressive symptoms only among older adults living as a couple and with children. As older adults with chronic diseases often need more care, chronic diseases impose a burden on older adults, their families, and society [
72,
73]. Then, when older adults living with family members contract chronic diseases, they usually receive more care from their family members than those living alone [
24]. However, from the viewpoint of older adults, they often feel fear of being a burden to their families [
74]. The guilt of perceiving oneself as a burden could lead older adults to have more depressive symptoms [
75]. As older adults who live alone often take care of themselves or request the care of professional caregivers, they may show less guilt in terms of increasing family members’ burden. This may be the mechanism behind our results for this population; however, this finding remains to be further assessed in future research.
We also found that participation in economic activities was a risk factor of depressive symptoms among older adults living alone. Compared with the groups of older adults living as a couple and with children, those living alone may tend to have less financial support, which results in them experiencing more stress from economic pressures and participating in economic activities passively, which in turn impacts their mental health negatively [
76].
This study has several limitations. First, as it is a cross-sectional study, the causal relationship between depressive symptoms and its determinants could not be determined. Second, as a survey based on self-reporting, there is a risk of recall bias and inaccurate answers from participants. Third, the CES-D 10 was used to assess depressive symptoms; however, it serves only as a screening tool and cannot be used to diagnose depression [
48]. Fourth, this study did not include older adults changed starting their current living arrangement less than 11 months prior to the survey. As such, the short-term effects of living arrangement on depressive symptoms need to be considered in future study [
16]. Fifth, due to different reasons for living alone (such as never married or bereavement) may affect older adults’ depressive symptom status, which also need to be considered in future research. Finally, nearly 80% of the sample in this study were rural Chinese older adults, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to all older adults.
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