The light and dark sides of social capital: Depressive symptoms among incarcerated older adults

Adrian J Archuleta, Stephanie Grace Prost and Seana Golder

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2020, vol. 66, issue 1, 23-33

Abstract: Background: Adults aged 55 or above represent a large and growing proportion of the US and international correctional populations and more physical and mental health problems than their non-incarcerated peers. Social capital represents the collective cognitive and network structure resources accessible through social relationships and may serve as a potential asset in carceral settings in the amelioration of depressive symptoms among older adults. Method: A sample of men drawn from a study of older adults in Kentucky prisons ( n = 91) was used to meet the following aims: (1) explore relationships among cognitive and structural facets of social capital, chronic health conditions and depressive symptoms and (2) identify the role of social capital (viz. trust) alongside chronic health conditions as a determinant of depressive symptoms. We hypothesized that each indicator of social capital would relate negatively to depressive symptoms and that trust would emerge as most strongly associated with depressive symptoms. Results: Bivariate correlations between depression and social capital variables related as we hypothesized. However, our hypotheses were only partially supported. Higher trust was correlated to fewer depressive symptoms ( r = .21, p

Keywords: Older adults; depression; health; social capital; prisoners; trust (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:66:y:2020:i:1:p:23-33

DOI: 10.1177/0020764019876670

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