Table 3.
Overview of results: network size and depression
| Author | Depression measure | Social network measure | N a | Results b | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-sectional studies | |||||
| Antonucci et al., 1997 [82] | CES-D | Total Network Size (people who are important to them; network size: 0–3, 4–7, 8 or more people) | 3777 | + | Good |
| Becker et al., 2019 [83] | Euro-D | Total Network Size (up to 7 persons) | 52,513 | + | Poor |
| Bisconti & Bergeman, 1999 [84] | CES-D (20) |
Network size Family (number of family members who are met or talked to on the phone in a typical week) Friends (number of family members who are met or talked to on the phone in a typical week) |
232 |
0 0 |
Poor |
| Braam et al., 1997 [85] | CES-D (20) |
Total Network Size (Number of people named in the seven categories: persons living in the same household, children and children-in-law, other relatives, neighbors, people with whom one is working or studying, contacts in organizations and other contacts) |
2817 | + | Good |
| Cheng et al., 2014 [86] | GDS-4 | Total Network Size (Social convoy questionnaire, network members that are important) | 273 | + | Poor |
| Chi & Chou, 2001 [87] | CES-D (20) |
Relatives/Kin size Number of relatives seen once a month Number of relatives felt close to Number of friends seen once a month Number of friends felt close to |
1106 |
0 0 + 0 + |
Good |
| Cho et al., 2019 [88] | CES-D (10) | Total Network Size (number of close friends and close relatives: 0, 1–2, 3–5, 6–9, 10 +) | 2541 | 0 | Good |
| Domènech-Abella et al., 2017 [89] | CIDI 3.0 | Total Network Size (Berkman-Syme Social Network Index) | 3535 | + | Good |
| Dorrance Hall et al., 2019 [90] | CES-D (9) | Total Network Size (persons with whom they talk about important matters and regularly interact) | 2249 | + | Good |
| Ermer & Proulx, 2022 [91] | CES-D (11) | Total Network Size (Social network roster) | 865 | 0 | Fair |
| Fredriksen-Goldsen et al., 2013 [92] | CES-D (10) | Total Network Size (Interaction with friends, family members, colleagues, and neighbors in a typical month; calculated and summarized by quartiles) | 2439 | + | Good |
| Fuller-Iglesias et al., 2008 [93] | CES-D (20) | Total Network Size (Hierarchical mapping technique) | 99 | + | Poor |
| Goldberg et al., 1985 [94] | CES-D (20) |
Total Network Size (household members, friends, family members outside of the household in touch during 6 months before; household members and up to 10 friends and 10 family members) Number of confidants |
1104 |
0 + |
Good |
| Han et al., 2007 [95] | KDSKA | Family size/network (number of living parents, spouse, children, grandchildren, and other relatives) | 205 | 0 | Fair |
| Harada et al., 2023 [96] | GDS-15 |
Kin network (number of siblings, cousins, grandchildren or other relatives with whom respondent or respondent’s spouse interacts on a regular basis (except household members) Friends network (number of friends with whom respondent interacts on a regular basis) |
739 |
+ + |
Good |
| Jeon & Lubben, 2016 [97] | CES-D (20) |
Relatives/Kin size Non-kin network size (Total number of relatives/non-relatives participants talked to at least once a month) |
424 |
0 0 |
Fair |
| Lee & Chou, 2019 [98] | GDS-15 |
Friendship size Number of children Relatives/Kin size (Number of children, family members, and friends they felt close to) |
850 |
+ 0 + |
Good |
| Lee et al., 1996 [99] | CES-D (20) | Total Network Size (numbers of living parents, children, and friends) | 162 | + | Poor |
| Li et al., 2019 [100] | PHQ-9 | Total Network Size (up to 5 people with whom they discuss important things) | 3157 | + | Fair |
| Litwin & Levinsky, 2023 [101] | Euro-D | Total Network Size (up to 6 persons with whom they discuss personal matters; one additional person who was important for any reason) | 35,145 | + | Good |
| Litwin et al., 2015 [102] | Euro-D | Total Network Size (up to 6 persons with whom they discuss personal matters; one additional person who was important for any reason) | 25,245 | + | Good |
| Liu et al., 2016 [33] | CES-D (9) | Friendship size/network (friends in local community: none or few, some or quite a few, a lot) | 529 | + | Poor |
| Miller & Lago, 1990 [34] | GDS-15 | Total Network Size (hierarchical mapping technique) | 53 | 0 | Poor |
| Minicuci et al., 2002 [103] | CES-D (20) |
Number of relatives with close contact Number of close friends |
2398 |
0 0 |
Good |
| Palinkas et al., 1990 [64] | BDI (18) |
Friendship network size Relatives/Kin size |
1615 |
+ 0 |
Poor |
| Pavlidis et al., 2023 [104] | Euro-D |
Small network (1–2 members) vs. large network (3 + members) (up to 6 persons with whom they discuss personal matters; one additional person who was important for any reason) |
60,918 | 0 | Fair |
| Pilehvari et al., 2023 [105] | CES-D (20) | Number of people in social network | 1170 | 0 | Good |
| Sonnenberg et al., 2013 [106] | CES-D (20) | Total Network Size (people in important and regular contact) | 2823 | + | Good |
| Vicente & Guadalupe, 2022 [107] | GDS-15 | Total Network Size | 612 | 0 | Poor |
| Longitudinal studies | |||||
| Bisschop et al., 2004 [108] | CES-D (20) | Total Network Size (people in important and frequent contact, except partner) | 2278 | 0 | Good |
| Bui, 2020 [19] | CES-D (11) |
Total Network Size Confidant size/network |
2200 |
0 0 |
Good |
| Chao, 2011 [109] | CES-D (10) |
Number of children/Children network Relatives/Kin size Friendship Size (Contacted at least once a week) |
4049 |
+ + + |
Good |
| Coleman et al., 2022 [110] | GDS-5 |
Overall network size (number of people in network) Effective size (number of non-overlapping groups with which a person interacts) |
113 |
0 0 |
Good |
| Hajek & König, 2016 [111] | CES-D (15) | Number of important people regular in contact | 2201 | 0 | Good |
| Harlow et al., 1991 [112] | CES-D (20) |
Total Network Size Family Size Friendship size/network Confident Size (Number of friends and family members outside of the household with whom the respondent had been in touch during the 6 months before interview and total size of the network which additionally included family and friends who lived with the respondent) |
545 |
+ 0 + + |
Fair |
| Holwerda et al., 2023 [113] | CES-D (10) | Number of network members (≥ 18 years) with whom respondent had important/frequent contact | 899 | 0 | Good |
| Kuchibhatla et al., 2012 [78] | CES-D (20) | Total Network Size (summarizing seven variables on number of relatives and close friends) | 3973 | + | Good |
| Oxman et al., 1992 [114] | CES-D (20) |
Number of close relatives phoning/writing yearly Number of close friends phoning/writing yearly Relatives/Kin size Number of children/Children seen weekly |
1962 |
0 0 0 + |
Poor |
| Reynolds et al., 2020 [38] | CES-D | Number of important people regular in contact | 3005 | 0 | Good |
| Santini et al., 2021 [115] | Euro-D | Total Network Size (number of close relations in the social network; up to 7 persons) | 38,300 | + | Fair |
| Schwartz & Litwin, 2017 [116] | Euro-D | Total Network Size (up to 7 persons with whom they discuss important matters) | 14,101 | 0 | Good |
| Stringa et al., 2020 [117] | CES-D | Total Network Size (people in important and regular contact) | 2279 | + | Fair |
| Tang et al., 2023 [118] | PHQ-9 | Total number of network members with whom respondent could discuss important things | 1970 | 0 | Good |
| Werneck et al., 2023 [119] | Euro-D | Network size (number of people in network) | 10,569 | + | Good |
an: Sample size, baseline sample was used in longitudinal studies
bResults: 0 indicates no sig. relationship (p ≥ 0.05), + indicates sig. relationship (p < 0.05)
Depression measures: BDI Beck Depression Inventory, CES-D Centre of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, CIDI Composite International Diagnostic Interview, EURO-D EURO geriatric depression scale, GDS Geriatric Depression Scale, KDSKA Kim Depression Scale for Korean Americans, MADRS Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, PHQ-9 Patient Health Questionnaire