Social Support Moderates the Impact of Marital Transitions on Depression for Older Adult Women

Abstract Given the rapid growth of older Americans and the increased incidence of divorce among this population, it is paramount to identify negative health outcomes following marital transition and investigate the potential protective role of social support. Our study aims to identify relationships between change in depression and marital transitions, test whether social support moderates this association, and to examine variation by gender. The sample included 3,705 participants from the Health and Retirement Study, who reported being married or partnered in 2012. Changes in marital status were measured between 2012 and 2014 (remained married/partnered (reference), divorced/separated, and widowed). Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression short form (CESD-8). Three types of social support from family, friends, and children were assessed: social support, social strain, and social contact. Autoregressive multiple regression was used to examine the relationship between change in depression, marital transitions, social support, and gender. Widowhood and social strain were independently associated with an increase in CESD-8 scores between 2012 and 2014. Significant interactions between social support and social strain, and separation/divorce were identified, and the relationship between social support, depression, and divorce varied by gender. Change in depression was positively associated with social support for separated/divorced females, but not separated/divorced males. These results indicate that social support may modify the influence of divorce on changes in depression among recently divorced older females. These findings can help mental health service providers more effectively target older adults at the greatest risk of depression after experiencing a marital transition.

2. TCU,Fort Worth,Texas,United States,3. University of Texas at Tyler,Tyler,Texas,United States The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis has impacted the daily routines of students, people living with dementia, and their care partners.Social distancing results in fewer interpersonal interactions and enjoyable activities which makes life more challenging for those living with dementia.The purposes of this multiple case study were to understand how nursing students, people with dementia, and care partners (a) describe online visits between nursing students and people with dementia during stay-at-home directives in response to  the perceived visit benefits.Nursing students participated in online visits to socially engage with their mentor (person living with dementia).During the visits it was anticipated that care partners would enjoy a brief respite.After 12 visits, investigators completed one-to-one online interviews with students (n = 10), care partners (n = 8) and mentors (n = 8).All cases reported a positive experience, perceptions of the conversations, improved social connection and meaning and purpose, mentor's enhanced cognition and planned future connections.Relationships were formed between students, people with dementia, and care partners during online visits, an activity that might be implemented outside of a crisis to prevent social isolation across generations.Future efforts to engage people with dementia in residential facilities should be formally integrated into the care plan and staff dedicated to help with technology assigned.

OLDER ADULT'S MARITAL STATUS, SUPPORT EXCHANGES AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN EVERYDAY LIFE
Yee To Ng, 1 and Karen Fingerman, 2 1.University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States, 2. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States Social support exchanges are an integral part of older adults' well-being.Yet, we know little about how older adults' marital status may influence their support exchanges with different social partners in everyday life, and whether the effect of support exchanges on daily well-being vary by marital status.Adults aged 65+ (N = 278) completed an initial interview about their background and close social networks; then, participants reported whether they provided or received support from their close social partners and rated their psychological well-being for 5 to 6 days.Multilevel logistic models revealed that married older adults were more likely to provide or receive daily support from their close partners than widowed or divorced older adults.However, with respect to specific non-spousal ties, married older adults were less likely to provide support to siblings, friends or others (acquaintances, neighbors) compared to divorced older adults.Although married older adults were more likely to receive support from children than divorced older adults, they were less likely to receive support from siblings and friends compared to widowed or divorced older adults.Furthermore, receiving support from other familial ties (grandchild, other relatives) was associated with reduced daily well-being for widowed older adults whereas married older adults were able to maintain their daily well-being in such situation.Findings highlight the central role siblings and friends play in unmarried older adults' daily support networks and suggest that receiving support could have differential impact on daily well-being depending on older adults' marital status.Emmanuelle Tognoli, 1 Alice Wead, 2 Joseph McKinley, 1  Christopher Beetle, 1 and Christine Williams, 1 1 . Florida Atlantic University,Boca Raton,Florida,United States,2. Florida Atlantic University,BOCA RATON,Florida,United States Social interactions of all sorts (e.g.conversing, playing tennis, singing, strolling, etc.) rely on information flows between participants.The process of aging, however, can alter individuals' sensorial, motor, cognitive and affective functioning in ways that may compromise their affinity for social interactions.For instance, hearing deficits or cognitive difficulties associated with word retrieval may contribute to disengagement from conversation and other forms of social interaction, which can lead to social retreat of the affected individuals.Strategies for mitigating such effects must take into account not only individuals' own functional capacities, but also those of their partners in varying social contexts.Indeed, varied social contexts and diversity in partners can offer a beneficial balance of relational effort and comfort.For example, instead of comfortably strolling exclusively with partners of comparable cognitive and motor capabilities, strolling with faster partners can improve social engagement and long-term prospects for a wider range of social interactions.This work reviews an array of possible changes in individual abilities arising from both normal healthy aging and complications due to medical conditions, with an emphasis on their impact on interactions in varying social contexts and diverse groups of social partners.We incorporate theoretical models to explore a wide range of potential mitigation strategies, both for affected individuals and for other members of the social groups surrounding them.Our work focuses on healthy social aging over the long term, which is known to protect physical wellbeing, cognition and brain function.Given the rapid growth of older Americans and the increased incidence of divorce among this population, it is paramount to identify negative health outcomes following marital transition and investigate the potential protective role of social support.Our study aims to identify relationships between change in depression and marital transitions, test whether social support moderates this association, and to examine variation by gender.The sample included 3,705 participants from the Health and Retirement Study, who reported being married or partnered in 2012.Changes in marital status were measured between 2012 and 2014 (remained married/partnered (reference), divorced/separated, and widowed).Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression short form (CESD-8).Three types of social support from family, friends, and children were assessed: social support, social strain, and social contact.Autoregressive multiple regression was used to examine the relationship between change in depression, marital transitions, social support, and gender.Widowhood and social strain were independently associated with an increase in CESD-8 scores between 2012 and 2014.Significant interactions between social support and social strain, and separation/divorce were identified, and the relationship between social support, depression, and divorce varied by gender.Change in depression was positively associated with social support for separated/divorced females, but not separated/divorced males.These results indicate that social support may modify the influence of divorce on changes in depression among recently divorced older females.These findings can help mental health service providers more effectively target older adults at the greatest risk of depression after experiencing a marital transition.

STRESS-BUFFERING FACTORS OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION ON DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS OVER TIME IN LATE-LIFE
Emily Kinkade, 1 and Heather Fuller, 2 1. North Dakota State University,Fargo,North United States,2. North Dakota State university,Fargo,North Dakota,United States The negative impacts of stress on older adults' well-being are well documented, and social integration is posited as protective against such detrimental effects.Previous research illustrates the stress-buffering effect of social relationships on both physical and mental health, such as depressive symptoms, in older adults.The purpose of this study was to expand on prior findings by investigating the longitudinal stress-buffering effect of various dimensions of social integration on depressive symptoms among an older sample.Four waves of data were drawn from the Social Integration and Aging Study, including 416 older adults (ages 60-100).Subscales of the Social Integration in Later Life Scale measuring frequency and satisfaction with social ties and community interaction were used to assess distinct dimensions of social integration.Multilevel modeling demonstrated that two facets of social integration-satisfaction with social ties and frequency of community interactionmoderated the relationship between perceived stress and trajectories of depressive symptoms over time.Participants who reported high levels of stress reported fewer depressive symptoms if they had high satisfaction with social ties and high frequency of community involvement.Interestingly, frequency of contact with social ties and satisfaction with community interaction did not similarly buffer negative effects for depressive symptoms.These findings indicate the value of remaining actively engaged in the community and maintaining meaningful relationships as older adults age.Future research should investigate programs to foster relationships and engagement between older adults and their communities, with particular consideration of populations at a greater risk for isolation.

THE EFFECT OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY ON THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF OLDER KOREAN ADULTS
Meeryoung Kim, 1 and Linda Park, 2 1. Daegu University,Daegu,Republic of Korea,Madison,Wisconsin,United States Maintaining interpersonal relationships and social activities are important as you get older.Activity theory indicates that social activities and human relations are important factors for older adults' physical and mental health.However, the effects between the quantity and quality of interpersonal relationships and social activities will be different.This study compared which of the effects has a greater impact between interpersonal and social activities on physical and mental health.This study used the 6th additional wave (2016) and 7th wave (2017) of the Korean Retirement and Income Study.The subjects of this study were older adults who are aged 65 and older and the sample size was 2,152.Multiple regression was used for data analysis.Demographic variables were controlled.Independent variables were interpersonal relationships, social activities, satisfaction with interpersonal relationships, and satisfaction with social activities.Dependent variables were physical health and mental health, with depressive symptoms used as a proxy for mental health.βs was used to determine the relative influence on dependent variables.Interpersonal relationships, satisfaction with interpersonal relationships, and satisfaction with social activities significantly influenced physical health.Among them, interpersonal satisfaction was found to be the most influential factor on physical health.In addition, interpersonal satisfaction was found to be the most influential factor on mental health than interpersonal relationships.Satisfaction with social activities only affected physical health.The implications of this study were that the quality of interpersonal relationships and social activities of older adults affected physical and mental health more than quantity.

UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY ANXIETY BY THE INTERACTION BETWEEN SOCIAL SUPPORT AND EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT
Susanna Joo, 1 Changmin Lee, 2 YoonMyung Kim, 2 Chang Oh Kim, 3 Yun Mook Lim, 2 and Hey Jung Jun, 2 1. Yonsei University, Republic of Korea,2. Yonsei University,Seoul,Seoult'ukpyolsi,Republic of Korea,3. Severance Hospital,Yonsei University College of Medicine,Seoul,Seoult'ukpyolsi,Republic of Korea The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction effects of social support from family and educational contexts on technology anxiety among Korean older adults.We collected data by online recruiting in February 2021, and the sample was Korean older adults without dementia (N=310; 65-89 years old).The dependent variable was technology anxiety, which meant the expected degree of worry under the assumption that a wearable robot for exercise was used.Independent variables were four types of social support (emotional, instrumental, physical, and financial support) provided by family members, such as spouse, children, or siblings.The moderating Julia Tucker, 1 Nicholas Bishop, 2 Kaipeng Wang, 3 and Farya Phillips, 4 1.University of Texas at Austin, New Braunfels, Texas, United States, 2. Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, United States, 3. University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, United States, 4. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States