Association Between Social Engagement Frequency and the Risk of Depression in South Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom: Multinational Evidence From Longitudinal Studies of Aging

Jaehyeong Cho, Tae Hyeon Kim, Jiyeon Oh, Sooji Lee, Kyeongeun Kim, Jaeyu Park, Hyesu Jo, Yi Deun Jeong, Seoyoung Park, Yejun Son, Nicola Veronese, Guillermo F López Sánchez, Louis Jacob, Selin Woo, Dong Keon Yon and Lee Smith

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2025, vol. 80, issue 6, 1032-1042

Abstract: BackgroundAlthough a greater social engagement is often associated with a reduced risk of depression, longitudinal studies that account for diverse social structures and cultural contexts among middle-aged or older are limited.MethodsThis study utilized cohort data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (n = 11,174; 2006–2020) in South Korea (KR), the Health and Retirement Study (n = 42,405; 2004–2019) in the United States, and the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (n = 28,624; 2002–2019) in the United Kingdom, including a total of 29,378 individuals from the population aged ≥45 years. Social engagement frequency was categorized into infrequent, intermediate, and frequent, with changes classified as unchanged, increased, or decreased. The primary outcome was the onset of depression, assessed using the CES-D scale. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using a Cox proportional hazards regression model.ResultsIn the KR cohort, increased social engagement significantly reduced depression risk only in the infrequent group (KR: HR, 0.20 [95% CI: 0.14–0.28]). However, decreased social engagement elevated depression risk in both the intermediate group (KR: 6.92 [3.73–12.83]; United States: 1.44 [1.16–1.79]) and the frequent group (KR: 1.50 [1.30–1.74]; United States: 1.24 [1.13–1.38]). Conversely, in the UK cohort, increased social engagement raised depression risk in the infrequent group (UK: 1.35 [1.01–1.79]) and intermediate group (UK: 1.63 [1.17–2.27]), whereas decreased engagement lowered depression risk only in the frequent group (UK: 0.80 [0.71–0.90]).DiscussionWe observed notable national variations in the association between social engagement and depression risk, influenced by cultural and political differences.

Keywords: Cultural variability; Depression; Mental health; Middle-aged and older adults; Social engagement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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