Age, gender, social contacts, and psychological distress: findings from the 45 and up study
Age, gender, social contacts, and psychological distress: findings from the 45 and up study
OBJECTIVE: The study examined the relationships between social contact types and psychological distress among mid-older adults.
METHOD: Self-completed data from 236,490 Australian adults aged 45+ years.
RESULTS: There was a consistent relationship between increased frequency in phone contacts, social visits, and social group contacts and reduced risk of psychological distress adjusted for demographic and health factors. However, stratified analyses by age showed, with one exception, that no significant associations were found between social group contact frequency and risk of psychological distress for those aged 85 years and older. Furthermore, significant interaction terms revealed that women experience a steeper reduction in risk than men at age 65 to 74 years and 75 to 84 years compared with those aged 45 to 64 years.
DISCUSSION: Social contacts have age and gender differential effects on psychological distress of mid-older Australian adults. Interventions addressing social interaction need to be sensitive to gender and age differences.
921-943
Phongsavan, P.
849cfa02-c039-4ded-b26e-121470672068
Grunseit, A.C.
6ee3160c-615f-41db-b480-55c54c971a61
Bauman, A.
767b0882-5d3b-489a-aa21-9b12b8806739
Broom, D.
955daabd-1717-4d5f-bf73-d68e5905aa7a
Byles, J.
d88697a2-f5be-4ec6-9677-d7397f772986
Clarke, J.
643a8e18-a61d-4fe6-a389-4016ac63c918
Redman, S.
d6e038ac-bb6e-4156-b337-c9af698f3b32
Nutbeam, D.
352dc808-9160-42e7-8b52-b8cac02ad486
September 2013
Phongsavan, P.
849cfa02-c039-4ded-b26e-121470672068
Grunseit, A.C.
6ee3160c-615f-41db-b480-55c54c971a61
Bauman, A.
767b0882-5d3b-489a-aa21-9b12b8806739
Broom, D.
955daabd-1717-4d5f-bf73-d68e5905aa7a
Byles, J.
d88697a2-f5be-4ec6-9677-d7397f772986
Clarke, J.
643a8e18-a61d-4fe6-a389-4016ac63c918
Redman, S.
d6e038ac-bb6e-4156-b337-c9af698f3b32
Nutbeam, D.
352dc808-9160-42e7-8b52-b8cac02ad486
Phongsavan, P., Grunseit, A.C., Bauman, A., Broom, D., Byles, J., Clarke, J., Redman, S. and Nutbeam, D.
(2013)
Age, gender, social contacts, and psychological distress: findings from the 45 and up study.
Journal of Aging and Health, 25 (6), .
(doi:10.1177/0898264313497510).
(PMID:23945763)
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The study examined the relationships between social contact types and psychological distress among mid-older adults.
METHOD: Self-completed data from 236,490 Australian adults aged 45+ years.
RESULTS: There was a consistent relationship between increased frequency in phone contacts, social visits, and social group contacts and reduced risk of psychological distress adjusted for demographic and health factors. However, stratified analyses by age showed, with one exception, that no significant associations were found between social group contact frequency and risk of psychological distress for those aged 85 years and older. Furthermore, significant interaction terms revealed that women experience a steeper reduction in risk than men at age 65 to 74 years and 75 to 84 years compared with those aged 45 to 64 years.
DISCUSSION: Social contacts have age and gender differential effects on psychological distress of mid-older Australian adults. Interventions addressing social interaction need to be sensitive to gender and age differences.
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Published date: September 2013
Organisations:
Faculty of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences
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Local EPrints ID: 359817
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/359817
ISSN: 0898-2643
PURE UUID: 45c30e0e-fa41-47d6-a2e9-786fac093fe3
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Date deposited: 13 Nov 2013 14:36
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 15:29
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Author:
P. Phongsavan
Author:
A.C. Grunseit
Author:
A. Bauman
Author:
D. Broom
Author:
J. Byles
Author:
J. Clarke
Author:
S. Redman
Author:
D. Nutbeam
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