Social participation as a resource-preserving context in later life: social, cognitive and functional pathways to depressive symptoms among older adults in China

Abstract Background Successful ageing involves social engagement, psychological well-being, cognitive health and functional capacity. Social participation may be a modifiable community context for preserving these resources, but pathways linking participation to depressive symptoms remain insufficiently characterized. Aims To examine direct and indirect associations between social participation and depressive symptoms through social support, cognitive impairment and functional impairment in Chinese community-dwelling older adults. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 302 adults aged 61–90 years in Beijing, Hebei and Shanxi, China. Structured questionnaires assessed social participation, depressive symptoms, social support, cognitive impairment and functional impairment. Structural equation modeling tested theory-informed direct and indirect associations; bias-corrected bootstrap resampling with 5,000 samples estimated 95% confidence intervals. A post-hoc sensitivity analysis additionally adjusted for key sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. Results Social participation showed a small direct association with fewer depressive symptoms and indirect associations through social support, cognitive impairment and functional impairment. The total indirect association (-0.130) was slightly larger than the direct association (-0.125). Social support contributed the largest indirect association (estimate − 0.051, 95% confidence interval = -0.100 to -0.021), followed by functional impairment and cognitive impairment. A smaller exploratory serial indirect association through cognitive impairment and functional impairment was also observed (estimate = -0.006, 95% confidence interval = -0.019 to -0.001). Sensitivity analysis largely preserved the indirect pattern, although the direct and cognitive indirect associations were attenuated. Discussion The observed associations were consistent with a resource-based interpretation involving social support, cognitive impairment and functional impairment, but their cross-sectional design, generally modest magnitude and differential robustness to covariate adjustment require cautious interpretation. Conclusions Social participation was associated with fewer depressive symptoms through interconnected social, cognitive and functional processes. The findings support further investigation of participation-oriented approaches that consider these resources, while longitudinal and intervention studies are needed to clarify their temporal and causal relationships.