A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE ROLE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS ON DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS. (11th November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Park, N; Jang, Y; Chung, S; Chiriboga, D
• Is Part Of: Innovation in aging. Volume 2(2018)Supplement 1
• Page Start: 667
• Page End: 667
• Publication Date: 2018-11-11
• Subjects: Aging -- Periodicals; Gerontology -- Periodicals; 612.67
• DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igy023.2485
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2399-5300

Abstract

Abstract: Based on the broken convoy variant of social convoy model (Kahn & Antonucci, 1980; Park et al., 2015), this study examined the role of family and friend networks and other personal and cultural resources on depressive symptoms in three groups of Koreans/Korean Americans. Data were drawn from the surveys with older Koreans (n = 403) and Korean Americans in the New York City metropolitan area (high Korean density area; n = 420) and west central Florida (low Korean density area; n = 672). It was hypothesized that different social contexts such as ethnic population density would predict depressive symptoms for the Korean and Korean American samples. Multiple regression models estimated the effects of socio-demographic characteristics (age > 75, female, living alone, perceived financial status, and fair/poor rating of health), social network (family network and friend network), and immigration-related characteristics for the two Korean American samples (the length of stay in the U.S. and acculturation). For older Koreans, neither family network nor friend network were associated with depressive symptoms but living alone and low perceived financial status were. For both Korean American samples, smaller family network, fair/poor rating of health, and lower levels of acculturation were associated with greater depressive symptoms. Additionally, lower perceived financial status for the New York sample and living alone for the Florida sample were linked with depressive symptoms. The results suggest that differential roles of social network, personal and cultural resources should be considered when working with older ethnic population in different social and environmental contexts.