Social support among older adults understood through structural equation modeling

ABSTRACT Objectives: to analyze factors associated, directly and indirectly, with lower social support of older adults, according to sex. Methods: a cross-sectional study, with 941 older adults from a health micro-region in Minas Gerais. Descriptive and trajectory analyzes were carried out (p<0...

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Main Authors: Débora Aparecida Silva de Jesus, Nayara Gomes Nunes Oliveira, Neilzo Nunes Oliveira, Alisson Fernandes Bolina, Gianna Fiori Marchiori, Darlene Mara dos Santos Tavares
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem 2022-10-01
Series:Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem
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Online Access:http://revodonto.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-71672022000700219&lng=en&tlng=en
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Summary:ABSTRACT Objectives: to analyze factors associated, directly and indirectly, with lower social support of older adults, according to sex. Methods: a cross-sectional study, with 941 older adults from a health micro-region in Minas Gerais. Descriptive and trajectory analyzes were carried out (p<0.05). Results: in groups of women and men, direct and significant associations were observed between a smaller social network (p<0.001;p<0.001), single-person housing (p=0.046;p<0.001), greater number of depressive symptoms (p<0.001;p=0.010) and lower participation in advanced activities (p<0.001;p=0.005) with lower social support. In women, younger age was directly and significantly associated with outcome (p<0.001). In men, older age, mediated by lower participation in advanced activities, was indirectly associated with outcome. Conclusions: men and women showed less social support associated with social network, housing arrangement, depressive symptoms and participation in advanced activities. Understanding the context of social support among older adults makes it possible to establish more effective measures to improve care.
ISSN:1984-0446