Direct and buffering effects of social support on depressive symptoms of the elderly with home help

The purpose of the present study was to examine the prevalence of depressiv e symptoms on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the effect of Life stressors or social support on depressive symptoms in 303 elderly people receiving social services at home. We conducted a que stionnaire survey six times with a 1-month interval. In the initial wave of questionnaires, 92 (31%) scored 16 points or above on the CES-D, indicativ e of a risk for depression. Before life stressors, subjects with low-level support showed significantly more severe depressive symptoms than those wit h high-level support. Subjects with low-level support were significantly mo re depressive after life stressors than they had been before, whereas those with middle- and high-level support showed no such difference. The former and latter results seem to suggest the direct and buffering effects of soci al support on depressive symptoms, respectively.