The study showed that those participants who met with their loved ones thrice or more every week reported of having fewer signs of depression compared to the participants who met with their family or close friends once a month or even less.
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By contrast, those who met up with family and friends at least three times a week had the lowest level of depressive symptoms, with rates of 6.5 per cent.
Alan Teo, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University, lead study author, together with other researchers, used data from a University of Michigan longitudinal study called Health and Retirement Survey.
In the study group, those who were ages 50 to 69 had the most benefit when their friends came to their homes, while those over 70 had better outcomes with family interactions.
The experts haphazardly splited up 316 at-risk teenagers often, along with former depressive series with only their work on it keeping one mum or dad having existing or before depressive attacks, into two sections between 2003 and 2006.
An unrelated study of elderly patients in Hong Kong found that though strong social bonds did play a role in combating depression, ultimately material aid and instrumental support were more important in preventing depression.
Lack of face-to-face contact with friends and family increases depression risk for older adults, says study.
Face-to-face contact a few times a week helps alleviate the chances of depression.
The findings were published online today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
And in conclusion, Dr. Teo notes, “Most previous studies – including mine in [2013] – have not been able to specify whether the social contact is occurring in-person or by other means”.
Researchers have found that face-to-face socializing is more effective at guarding against depression in older adults in comparison to phone calls or e-mails.
The findings by a United States research team dent the argument that electronic wizardry and social media makes it easier than ever to keep up relationships.
“What we didn’t know is whether it matters how you stay connected with friends and family”, he added. However, the study adjusted for potential confounding factors including pre-existing depression.
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Doctors should therefore consider “encouraging face-to-face social interactions as a preventive strategy for depression”, they say. It could be the characteristics of the person at baseline – such as their personality and underlying physical and mental health – could influence both how much social contact they have and their subsequent risk of depression. It is reportedly the first major study to look at how different types of social interaction affect mental health over a period of time.
