Financial strain, social relations, and psychological distress among older people: a cross-cultural analysis

OBJECTIVES: This article examines how financial strain and social relations may independently and jointly influence psychological distress among older people in four nations.

METHODS: Data from four Western Pacific nations (N = 3,277) are used to test additive and multiplicative models of the relationships between financial strain, social relations, and psychological distress.

RESULTS: Financial strain is associated with higher levels of psychological distress in three of the four nations. Interactive models of the effects of financial strain and social relations on distress were uncovered in three of the four nations, but the type of social relation influencing the strain-distress relationship varied. Subjective-health and IADLs were significant predictors of psychological distress in all four nations.

DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that although financial strain is quite likely to lead to psychological distress among elders, this can be mitigated, at least in part, by social relationships. Modernization was not associated with higher psychological distress.