Social Support and Happiness as Moderators of Depressive Symptoms Among the Elderly Men and Women (Published)
Old age is the period in one’s life when the body systems begin to shut down and health and vitality seem to be on decline. Decades of scientific research have not unveiled the causes of ageing and how to halt this phenomenon which is arguably one of the most complex of biological problem. It is in view of this that the study attempted to investigate the influence of social support and happiness the depressive symptoms among the elderly persons in Oyo state, Nigeria. Correlational research design was adopted. Validated tools of social support (r=0.86) happiness (r=0.78) and depressive symptoms (r=0.89) scales were used and analysed through multiple regression.Three hundred and sixty eight (368) participants were drawn using multi-stage sampling techniques. The main results showed that the combined and comparative contribution of social support and happiness to depressive Symptoms were significant {F (2.365) = 10.691)}. This means the two factors jointly accounted for a variation of about = 57.6%. In terms of magnitude of contribution, happiness made the most significant contribution {βeta = .392; < .05} to the prediction, while social support also made significant contribution {β = .186; < .05} to the prediction. Recommendations were made based on the results of the study to assist the elderly ones live healthy and productive lives through individual and community counselling services.
Keywords: Depressive Symptoms, Happiness, Social Support, elderly persons, moderators