The association between community environment and depression among Chinese older adults: an age-stratified analysis of the dual mediation pathways of aging anxiety and social adaptation stress

Introduction: With the accelerating pace of population aging in China, depression among older adults has emerged as a significant public health challenge. Existing research has yet to fully elucidate the underlying processes linking community environment to depression among older adults, particularly from an age-differentiated perspective. Methods: To address this gap, this study constructed an integrated model positing aging anxiety and social adaptation stress as mediators and age as a moderator, aiming to systematically examine the pathways associated with the relationship between community environment and depression among older adults and their heterogeneity across age groups. Using valid data from 10,562 respondents in the 2023 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS 2023), the analysis was conducted via structural equation modeling. Results: The findings indicate: first, a significant negative correlation exists between community environment and depression; second, both aging anxiety and social adaptation stress exhibit significant indirect associations in this relationship, with the indirect effect of social adaptation stress being stronger. More importantly, the association between community environment and depression is stronger for older-old adults and is primarily linked to the pathway involving aging anxiety. In contrast, its association with depression in younger-old adults is channeled to a larger extent through social adaptation stress. Discussion: This study unveils the pattern of dual pathways and differential patterns related to age that characterize the relationship between community environment and depression among older adults. The findings provide empirical evidence and theoretical support for future efforts to build age friendly communities and implement stratified healthy aging policies.