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Modelling social support, life events, competence, and depression in the context of age and sex
Author(s) -
Dean Alfred,
Ensel Walter M.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(198210)10:4<392::aid-jcop2290100409>3.0.co;2-2
Subject(s) - psychology , social competence , developmental psychology , social support , competence (human resources) , life course approach , clinical psychology , social psychology , social change , economics , economic growth
As part of a longitudinal study, life events, social support, and personal competence are examined in terms of their ability to explain depressive symptomatology in three empirically discerned age groups of males and females. The major findings point to the centrality of social support in the epidemiology of depression in all age‐sex groupings. While support was found to be the most significant predictor of depression in all groups, the magnitude of its contribution was found to vary by age and sex. The effects of life events and personal competence, on the other hand, were found to vary across age and sex. They also indirectly affected depression via social support. While some evidence was found for interaction effects among the antecedent variables, these contributions were modest. The ability of the model variables to explain depression decreased over age for both males and females. A theoretical framework is presented in which the role of social support and the functions of personal competence and life events are conceptualized as being socially structured. The implications of these and other findings are discussed.