Influence of social participation on life satisfaction and depression among Chinese elderly: Social support as a mediator

Abstract This study explored the influences of social participation and the mediating effects of social support on the mental health of Chinese elderly based on data from the 2012 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS). The participants comprised 696 older adults in CLASS, including 340 (48.9%) male and 354 (50.9%) female. The mean age of the sample was 68 (standard deviation = 7.08). The results of structural equation modeling showed that social participation was significantly associated with the life satisfaction and depression of the elderly. A high level of social participation was associated with more social support and consequently predicted few depressive symptoms among older adults. However, social support was not significantly associated with life satisfaction of the elderly. Our findings provided cross‐cultural evidence for theories, and had significant implications for social work practice and social policy.