Social Capital and Mental Health among Older Adults in Indonesia: A Multilevel Approach

Abstract

In the social epidemiology field, social capital plays an important role as a determinant of a population's mental health. Despite the vast number of studies on this issue, few have been conducted among the aging Indonesian population. This study is intended to investigate this association using a multilevel approach on a sample of 2,496 older adults. The data come from the 5th wave of the Indonesian Family Life Survey. The results revealed that taking into account cluster-specific random effects, social trust at the individual level predicted decreased depression among older adults only before adjusting for control variables. Neighborhood safety emerged as the only indicator of social capital that predicted reduced depression of elders after adjusting for control variables. In addition, high levels of poverty at the community level were associated with increased depression, and having completed senior high school, being healthy, and doing physical activity frequently were consistently associated with reduced depression across all models. In conclusion, living in a safe community with reduced levels of poverty might be protective factors against depression for older adults.