Differential Role of Social Connectedness in Geriatric Depression Among Southeast Asian Ethnic Groups

What Is the Purpose of this Study?

• • In a sample of Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian elders, this study sought to answer two questions: 1) Does social connectedness serve as a resilience factor against geriatric depression? 2) Are there differences between the Southeast Asian ethnic groups with regard to question #1?

What Is the Problem?

• • Southeast Asian refugees in the United States are at an increased risk for geriatric depression owing to the effects of pre- and post-migration stressors and limited social support systems.

• • There exists limited understanding in effective community-based interventions to buffer against geriatric depression for the Southeast Asian ethnic groups.

• • There exists little to no evidence as to whether or not social connectedness affects geriatric depression among the Southeast Asian ethnic groups differentially.

What Are the Findings?

• • Overall, Southeast Asian elders in this study seem to be at risk for depression and seem to have low social connectedness.

• • Elders who were married and those who spoke English seemed to be protected from depression.

• • When analyzing by ethnicity, differences were identified that would not have been noticed if Southeast Asians were analyzed as a single group.

• • For Vietnamese, depression was less common if elders had more social connections, were younger, or were married.

• • For Laotians, depression was less likely among elders who could speak English.

• • For Cambodians, elders who were younger adults at the time of immigration had higher rates of depression than those who were older at immigration.

Who Should Care Most?

• • The findings are important for community-based organizations and health care providers who serve Southeast Asian elders, as well as for public health and mental health researchers who focus on minority health and immigrant health.

• • Interventions against depression among Southeast Asian elders should take into account potential ethnicity-specific resiliency factors that were identified in this study.

• • Researchers should perform disaggregated data collection and analyses for Asian ethnic groups to understand differential effects of potential risk factors, resilience factors, and interventions.