Environment profiles, social participation patterns, depressive symptoms and quality of life of disabled older adults: a longitudinal investigation

Abstract

Objectives: This study used the World Health Organization’s healthy ageing framework to explore longitudinal influences of environment profiles and social participation (SP) patterns on depressive symptoms (DSs) and on quality of life (QOL). Methods: Data were collected from a sample of community-dwelling older adults in Taiwan in 2018 (T1; N = 1,314) and a follow-up survey in 2020 (T2; N = 831). Latent class analysis was conducted to obtain environment and SP profiles. Multilevel modeling was carried out to explicate the hypothesized associations. Results: Three unique environment profiles, labeled as Highly- (Highly-FE), Moderately- (Moderately-FE) and Weakly-Facilitative Environment (Weakly-FE), were identified from T1 data. The three SP classes that were obtained from T1 and T2 data denoted High-, Moderate- and Low-SP. Participants in the ‘Highly-FE’ class were more likely to belong to the ‘High-SP’ and ‘Moderate-SP’ subgroups and exhibited significantly fewer DSs and better QOL. The associations were confirmed both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Conclusion: Interventions should be developed to promote or maintain preferred SP to maximize the current and future mental health and subjective well-being of disabled older adults.