Can being neighborly reduce depression in older adults?

In a Health & Social Care in the Community study of 10,105 older adults in China examined in 2011, 2013, and 2015, living in neighbourhoods with a higher level of neighbourhood social participation was related to lower rates of depression.

Higher level of neighbourhood social participation is related to more time spent on physical activities and a higher frequency of contact with neighbours and with own children.

"We highlight the importance of social participation—both at the individual and neighbourhood levels—in improving older people's mental health and discuss ways in which the government could encourage older people to participate in neighbourhood affairs in China," said corresponding author Zhixin Feng, Ph.D., of the University of Southampton, in the UK.