Effect of Tai Chi on Depressive Symptoms amongst Chinese Older Patients with Major Depression: The Role of Social Support

The objective of this study was to determine whether the effects of Tai Chi training on depressive symptoms in Chinese older patients with depression remained statistically significant after social support was controlled. Fourteen community-dwelling older patients from a psychogeriatric outpatient clinic were randomly assigned to either a 3-month Tai Chi intervention with 36 sessions or a wait-list control. Depression was assessed by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), whereas social support was measured by the Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS). By performing multiple regression analyses, we examined whether the effect of group assignment (Tai Chi and control groups) on five measures of depressive symptoms (i.e. the total scores of the CES-D scale, and scores of all its subscales including symptoms related to somatic, negative affect, interpersonal relation, and well-being) remained significant after controlling for age, gender, education, and LSNS. Results indicate that the beneficial impact of Tai Chi on five measures of depressive symptoms remained significant when we adjusted for age, gender, and education. On the other hand, the effect of our intervention disappeared when changes of social support were controlled for. Social support might be partly responsible for the effect of Tai Chi on depressive symptoms because practicing Tai Chi is a social activity in nature.