Social support as a protective factor against the effect of grief reactions on depression for bereaved single older adults.

This study tested the main effect model and the stress-buffering model of the mechanisms by which social support affects bereaved single older adults' depression. Data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (Wave 2; N = 621) were used to test a latent moderated structural equation model that explores the interaction between grief reactions and social support on bereaved single older adults' depression in the US. The findings provide evidence for the stress-buffering model (i.e., the relationship between grief reactions and depression, which was strongly positive when social support was low, turned negative when social support was high).