Social participation and depression in old age: a fixed-effects analysis in 10 European countries

We examined whether changes in different forms of social participation were associated with changes in depressive symptoms in older Europeans. We used lagged individual fixed effects models based on data from 9,068 individuals aged 50+ in wave 1 (2004/05), wave 2 (2006/07) and wave 4 (2010/11) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Controlling for a wide set of confounders, increased participation in religious organizations predicted a decline in depressive symptoms four years later (β =-0.190 units, 95% confidence interval: -0.365, -0.016), while participation in political/community organizations was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms (β =0.222, 95% confidence interval: 0.018, 0.428). There were no significant differences between European regions in these associations. Our findings suggest that social participation is associated with depressive symptoms, but the direction and strength of the association depends on the type of social activity. Participation in religious organizations may offer benefits to mental health beyond those offered by other forms of social participation.