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Previous studies have shown that ethnic minority caregivers have lower socioeconomic status, are more likely to receive informal social support, and often report worse health than their White counterparts (Pinquart & Sörensen, 2005). Although the positive effects of social support on caregiver emotional and psychological well-being have been well documented, the contextual mechanisms invoked to explain these effects remain contentious among minorities. Using a sample of 420 Black Family Caregivers (BFC) from the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC - Round 5) and guided by capital theory, the present study investigated the moderating effects of relationship status (RS) on the association of social support (SS) on positive affect (PA). Hierarchical regression analysis results revealed that both SS and RS were significant predictors of positive affect and the interaction term between SS and RS accounted for a significant portion of the variance in PA; indicating that RS moderated the association between SS and PA. Results also showed that the interaction effect was only significant among unmarried individuals. Among this group, high social support was associated with greater positive affect. Implications of the findings for minority caregivers will be addressed.

The goal of this study was to investigate predictive effects of baseline positive spousal support and previous depressive symptoms on depressive symptoms 8 years later in a sample of aging Hispanic individuals. Our analyses were based data from a sample of 264 Hispanic Americans drawn from the 8th and 12th waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Results indicate that previous depressive symptoms and positive spousal support were both significant predictors for the entire sample. The same was true for the men only sample while age and previous depressive symptoms were the significant predictors among women. Our findings underline the need address persistent depression among the aging Hispanics. They also highlight the need to empower spouses as a resource for addressing mental health among this group, especially for men. Among the women, our work calls attention to potential age-related factors that lead to increased depressive symptoms.

Although previous studies have extensively investigated the cross-sectional relationship between social engagement and depressive symptoms in late life, longitudinal studies have produced mixed results. Furthermore, studies on the associations between these two concepts among aging African Americans are few. Using a sample of 1688 older African Americans adults from waves 1 and 7 of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (60% women; Average age = 77 years), the present study investigates the longitudinal associations between social engagement (an index from scores on visiting friends and family, attending religious services, attending religious services, participating in group activities, and going out for enjoyment) and depressive symptoms across seven years. Structural equation modeling was used to test cross-lagged relationships between the variables. Findings suggest that social engagement at baseline significantly predicted subsequent depressive symptoms and social engagement. Depressive symptoms at baseline, however, were not significantly associated with subsequent social engagement. These findings suggest that low social engagement in older African Americans is directly associated with increased depressive symptoms over time, but not vice versa. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the barriers of social engagement for older African Americans and its effects on their mental health.