Does psychological resilience mediate the impact of social support on geriatric depression? An exploratory study among Chinese older adults in Singapore

• A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 162 Chinese elderly in Singapore.
• A significant indirect effect of social support on geriatric depression was examined through the mediation of resilience.
• Influencing patterns of problem-solving and emotion regulation resilience were found to be identical in mediating social support.

Social support and resilience were considered to be two significant influential factors for depression in late life. The study aims to present a mediation model for understanding the interrelations among social support, resilience, and geriatric depression. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among 162 community-dwelling Chinese older adults in Singapore. Findings indicated a significant indirect effect of social support on geriatric depression through the mediation of resilience, by controlling demographic variables. Further, an identical influencing pattern between problem-solving resilience and emotion regulation resilience were found in the two individual models, suggesting a similar mediation role in linking social support and geriatric depression. These results extended and integrated earlier findings on the relationship of psychosocial factors and geriatric depression, and pointed out practical implications for future work on depression interventions.