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Age and gender differences in the reciprocal relationship between social connectedness and mental health

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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To examine (i) reciprocal longitudinal associations between social connectedness and mental health, and (ii) how these associations vary by age and gender.

Methods

Three waves of nationally representative data were drawn from the HILDA survey (n = 11,523; 46% men). The five-item Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) assessed symptoms of depression and anxiety. The Australian Community Participation Questionnaire provided measures of informal social connectedness, civic engagement and political participation. Multivariable adjusted cross-lagged panel regression models with random intercepts estimated bidirectional within-person associations between mental health and each of the three types of social connectedness. Multi-group analyses were used to quantify differences between men and women, and between three broad age groups (ages: 15–30; 31–50; 51+).

Results

Reliable cross-lagged associations between prior informal social connections and future mental health were only evident among adults aged 50 years and older (B = 0.101, 95% CI 0.04, 0.16). Overall, there was no significant association between prior civic engagement and improvements in mental health (p = 0.213) though there was weak evidence of an association for men (B = 0.051, 95% CI 0.01, 0.09). Similarly, there was no significant association in the overall sample between political participation and improvements for mental health (p = 0.337), though there was weak evidence that political participation was associated with a decline in mental health for women (B = − 0.045, CI − 0.09, 0.00) and those aged 31–50 (B = − 0.057, CI − 0.10, − 0.01). Conversely, prior mental health was associated with future informal social connectedness, civic engagement, and political participation.

Conclusion

Interventions promoting social connectedness to improve community mental health need to account for age- and gender-specific patterns, and recognise that poor mental health is a barrier to social participation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, Australia

    Kim M. Kiely

  2. School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia

    Kim M. Kiely

  3. UNSW Ageing Futures Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Kim M. Kiely

  4. Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Georgina Sutherland & Nicola J. Reavley

  5. Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Peter Butterworth

  6. Melbourne Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Peter Butterworth

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  1. Kim M. Kiely
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  2. Georgina Sutherland
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  4. Nicola J. Reavley
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Correspondence to Kim M. Kiely.

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Kiely, K.M., Sutherland, G., Butterworth, P. et al. Age and gender differences in the reciprocal relationship between social connectedness and mental health. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 56, 1069–1081 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01960-3

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