ArticleTrends in psychiatry and psychotherapy
Depressive symptoms in older adults: the role of physical activity and social support.
Article in Trends in psychiatry and psychotherapy. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Domain-specific physical activity and mental health: an updated systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis in a combined sample of 3.3 million people.British journal of sports medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Physical activity and mental health: a systematic review and best-evidence synthesis of mediation and moderation studies.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Pooled it
- Level of Depression and Associated Risk Factors Among the Elderly People Residing in Old Age Home in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study Conducted in 2025.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Unveiling the Digital Phenotype of Physical Activity Behavior in Community-Dwelling Older Adults Using Machine Learning.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Sport Participation and Happiness Among Veteran Footballers: The Mediating Role of Social Capital.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The association of social support with functional status and physical activity in patients with coronary heart disease from The Heart and Soul study.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Article
- Impact of hearing aid use on depression and quality of life in older patients with age-related hearing loss: A focus on social relationships.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Managing depression in the elderly: real-world clinical considerations and perspectives.International clinical psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Linking cardiometabolic multimorbidity to depressive symptoms in the oldest-old: results from a cross-sectional study in Germany.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The impact of exercise self-efficacy on depression in firefighters: mediating effect of basic psychological needs and moderating effect of perceived social support.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Dyadic Coping in Aging: Linking Self-Perceptions of Aging to Depression.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Effects of Social Support Provided by Disabled Older Adults to Others on Their Own Depressive Symptoms: A Moderated Mediation Model.Psychology research and behavior management · 2024Article
- Late-life depression: Epidemiology, phenotype, pathogenesis and treatment before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Review
- Technology Affordance in an Information and Communication Technology Delivered Group Psychotherapy and Exercise Program for Older People With Depressive Symptoms: A Multiple Triangulation Qualitative Study.Innovation in aging · 2023Article
- Factors Associated with Physical Activity in a Diverse Older Population.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Twenty-One Reasons for Implementing the Act-Belong-Commit-'ABCs of Mental Health' Campaign.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the role of social support in the association between physical activity (PA) in its various domains and depressive symptoms in older adults.
methodsThis was a cross-sectional study involving 399 older adults seen at basic health units in the municipality of Recife, state of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. Linear regression was implemented using the forward method to assess the association between PA and its domains and depressive symptoms, as well as to test the possible moderating component of social support in this association.
resultsOf the total sample, 17.6% reported not practicing PA; 6.7% presented depressive symptoms, with a mean score of 1.59 points. A total of 18.6% of the older adults assessed reported not having social support. Older adults who did not practice total, transportation or domestic PA showed increased scores of depressive symptoms when compared to older adults who practiced PA in these domains. Older adults with social support also had fewer depressive symptoms. Practicing domestic, leisure and total PA, and/or having social support, decreased depressive symptoms in older adults. Having social support or practicing PA decreased depressive symptoms in older adults in a similar way.
conclusionsOlder adults with social support and who practiced PA, especially domestic and total PA, presented the lowest scores of depressive symptoms. The data showed the importance of providing elements to strengthen social support and PA practice in older adults living in poor communities as a strategy to prevent and reduce depressive symptoms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.