1. Social support and depression and anxiety in Italian migrants in Australia
Fiona Stanaway
Sydney School of Public Health
University of Sydney, Australia

2. Background – social relationships and health
Strong links between social relationships and measures of health
Social support, particularly perceived measures of social support are strongly linked with mental health
Social support in older migrants
Older migrants are often assumed to have stronger social support networks than non-migrants. In contrast we found lower subjective social support in older Italian migrants.
Aim of the present study:
Does the lower subjective social support in older Italian migrant men in Australia lead to increased incidence of depressive and anxiety symptoms?

3. CHAMP – Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project
Cohort study of community dwelling men aged 70 years and over
Study area = several suburbs in inner western Sydney
Suburbs with large migrant populations – particularly Italian migrants

4. Duke Social Support Index (DSSI)
A social support scale validated for use in older people
Contains two subscales
Social interactions
Social support satisfaction / subjective social support
Higher scores for both subscales indicate greater social interactions or support
Italian migrants compared to Australian-born men
No main difference in social interactions
Italian migrants more likely to report lower subjective social support

5. Depressive and anxiety symptoms
Depressive symptoms
Measured with the 15 item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)
More than 5 symptoms = clinically important depressive symptoms
Anxiety symptoms
Measured with the Goldberg Anxiety Scale
Has 4 screening questions (need a score of 2/4 to continue) followed by 5 further questions
More than 5 symptoms = clinically important anxiety symptoms
Depressive and anxiety symptoms were measured at baseline, 2 and 5 year follow up in a self-completed questionnaire

6. Prevalence ratio for country of birth
Baseline comparison of social support, depressive and anxiety symptoms in Italian migrants vs Australian-born men in CHAMP
Measure
Prevalence ratio for country of birth
95% Confidence Interval
Low subjective social support
1.56
Depressive symptoms
1.75
Anxiety symptoms
1.78

7. Relative risk for country of birth
Incident depressive and anxiety symptoms in Italian migrants vs Australian-born men in CHAMP
Measure
Relative risk for country of birth
95% Confidence Interval
Depressive symptoms yr 2
0.94
Depressive symptoms yr 5
2.00
Anxiety symptoms yr 2
3.12
Anxiety symptoms yr 5
1.87
Combined symptoms yr 2
2.57
Combined symptoms yr 5
2.30

8. Adjusted analyses

9. Conclusion
Older male Italian migrants have increased incidence of depressive and anxiety symptoms compared to older Australian-born men
Poorer subjective social support is an important contributor to this difference in mental health but differences in socio-economic status (sole reliance on the old age pension) are also important

10. Any questions?