Social Support from Adult Children,Parent–Child Relationship,Emotion Regulation Strategy,and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Older Adults

Abstract

We examined the association between social support from adult children (SSAC) and depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults, as well as the moderated mediation mechanism with the parent–child relationship as a mediator and with emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) as moderators. With a cross-sectional design, 356 Chinese older adults completed our questionnaire survey. Results revealed the negative association between SSAC and depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults, and the parent–child relationship mediated this association. In addition, the indirect effect of SSAC on depressive symptoms through the parent–child relationship depended on emotion regulation strategies. Specifically, the parent–child relationship mediated the association between SSAC and depressive symptoms only for older adults with less cognitive reappraisal or more expressive suppression. Our study highlighted the complementary role of family and individual factors in ameliorating older adults’ depressive symptoms.

Keywords

social support from adult children depressive symptoms parent–child relationship emotion regulation strategy older adults

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