Age and gender differences in the reciprocal relationship between social connectedness and mental health

Purpose: To examine (i) reciprocal longitudinal associations between social connectedness and mental health, and (ii) how these associations vary by age and gender.

Methods: Three waves of nationally representative data were drawn from the HILDA survey (n = 11,523; 46% men). The five-item Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5) assessed symptoms of depression and anxiety. The Australian Community Participation Questionnaire provided measures of informal social connectedness, civic engagement and political participation. Multivariable adjusted cross-lagged panel regression models with random intercepts estimated bidirectional within-person associations between mental health and each of the three types of social connectedness. Multi-group analyses were used to quantify differences between men and women, and between three broad age groups (ages: 15-30; 31-50; 51+).

Results: Reliable cross-lagged associations between prior informal social connections and future mental health were only evident among adults aged 50 years and older (B = 0.101, 95% CI 0.04, 0.16). Overall, there was no significant association between prior civic engagement and improvements in mental health (p = 0.213) though there was weak evidence of an association for men (B = 0.051, 95% CI 0.01, 0.09). Similarly, there was no significant association in the overall sample between political participation and improvements for mental health (p = 0.337), though there was weak evidence that political participation was associated with a decline in mental health for women (B = - 0.045, CI - 0.09, 0.00) and those aged 31-50 (B = - 0.057, CI - 0.10, - 0.01). Conversely, prior mental health was associated with future informal social connectedness, civic engagement, and political participation.

Conclusion: Interventions promoting social connectedness to improve community mental health need to account for age- and gender-specific patterns, and recognise that poor mental health is a barrier to social participation.