Sobel-Goodman Mediation Tests.

BackgroundUnder the context of active aging, older women face prominent mental health risks due to their dual vulnerability stemming from biological characteristics and social roles. Given the existing practical bottlenecks in current research namely, unclear mechanisms regarding how social participation alleviates geriatric depression and insufficient studies on population heterogeneity. It is important to analyze the impact of social participation on depressive symptoms of older women in China and to implement corresponding policy systems. Methods: Based on the 2018 health and old-age care tracking survey database in China, 3047 subjects older female were included (mean age = 69.46 years).Depressive symptoms were measured using the CESD-10 depression scale from the database, and 11 categories of social activity questionnaires were utilized to reflect the level of social participation. The impact of social participation on the depressive symptoms of older women in China was empirically analyzed using the common least squares (OLS) and two-stage least squares (2SLS) methods, and tested the endogenous and robustness of the subjects, the heterogeneity of age and urban-rural areas, and the mediating effect of self-rated health were tested using the sobel method. Results: Social participation improved the depressive symptoms of older women(β=-0.789, P