The Role of Chronic Disease Numbers in the Relationship Between Living Alone and Depression: A Four-Way Decomposition Analysis in a Cross-Sectional Study of Older Adults

The number of chronic diseases plays a partial mediating role between living alone and depression. Although chronic diseases do mediate the relationship between living alone and depression to some extent, the majority of the effect is directly attributable to the state of living alone. These findings highlight the significant impact of living alone on depression in older adults and suggest that mental health interventions targeting older adults living alone should focus on enhancing social support and emotional care to effectively reduce the risk of depression.