Social support not always better

Recent findings by researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School (Duke-NUS) are challenging the conventional belief that more social support is always better. Rather, it is more likely to be a “mixed blessing”.

The novel study was published in the journal Social Science and Medicine in February and is the first to show the simultaneous negative and positive effects of social support among the elderly in Singapore.  

Assistant Professor Rahul Malhotra and Research Assistant Shannon Ang, both from the Centre for Ageing Research and Education (CARE) at Duke-NUS, analysed data collected from surveys administered to 2,766 adults aged 62 to 97 who were a part of the Panel of Health and Aging in Singaporean Elderly.

While providing the elderly with social support such as money, food, clothing and assistance in household chores did reduce their depressive symptoms, it also made them feel like they had lost control of their lives, being dependent on others. This was particularly true for women. This reduction in one’s sense of self-control increased the depressive symptoms, counteracting the positive effect of receiving social support.

Asst Prof Malhotra, Head of Research at CARE, said that it is important for policy-makers to consider both the positive and negative effects when crafting policies to provide support to the elderly. “We need to think of ways in which we can help older adults without increasing their sense of dependence,” he said.

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