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The objectives of the study were to assess the existence of a correlation between levels of perceived social support and severity of anxiety symptoms in 73 elderly inmates, 33 males and 40 females, above the age of 65, of old age homes in Chennai. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet et al., 1988) and Geriatric Anxiety Scale - 10 (Mueller et al., 2015) were administered to measure social support and anxiety. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, significance tests, and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. Results revealed that the levels of perceived social support and severity of anxiety symptoms were negatively/inversely correlated (r = -.395, p = <.001). Significant gender differences in the levels of perceived social support were found, but gender differences in these verity of anxiety symptoms were not noticed. Based on the present findings, it may be concluded that the more an elderly individual perceives themselves to have good social support, the less intense anxiety symptoms they experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loneliness and depression are common problems significant in a portion of the elderly population. The study's aim was to understand the relationship between loneliness and depression among the 100 elderly, (42 females, and 58 males), ages varying from 60 years and above, both living (N-50) and not living in old-age homes (N=50) in Chennai. Depressive symptoms were measured using Geriatric Depression Scale: Short Form (GDS: SF) and loneliness, using UCLA-R Loneliness Scale. Results revealed that there is a strong relationship between loneliness and depression in the elderly, and the elderly who do not live in old age homes felt lonelier than the elderly who live in old age homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]