Associations among social support, income, and symptoms of depression in an educated sample: the UNC Alumni Heart Study.

It has been suggested that the inverse association between social support and depression may be stronger in persons with lower income. This study tested the support x income hypothesis in a sample of 2,472 individuals enrolled in the UNC Alumni Heart Study. The income was examined as a moderator of the relation between support and self-reported ratings of symptoms of depression. The appraisal subscale of the Interpersonal Support Evaluation Scale, household income level, and their interaction were modeled as predictors of depression ratings. The support x income interaction term was significantly associated with symptoms of depression, F (2, 2471)=4.71, p=.007. Social support was more strongly associated inversely with depression ratings in persons with lower income as compared to those with higher income. The present results extend previous work regarding the moderating effect of income to a sample of relatively high education and income level.