Latent Class Typologies for Emotional Support Among Midlife and Aging Americans: Evidence from the National Health and Human Nutrition Examination Survey

Using data from 40-year-old and older respondents in the 2007–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Study, this study sought to identify variations in emotional support networks among midlife and older adults and examine how those variations were related to depressive symptoms and to perceptions of inadequate support. Latent class analyses were used to identify six typologies of emotional support networks. Typologies were labeled, and multinomial logistic regression was used to examine how membership in typologies was related to variations in depressive symptoms and perceived adequacy of emotional support. The findings indicate that when the focus is emotional support, social support from spouses is related to fewer depressive symptoms and less perceived need for increased emotional support. The results of this study suggest that access to family members, especially spouses, for emotional support is related to fewer depressive symptoms and a decreased probability of reporting inadequate social support. Overall, this study suggests that emotional support networks that include family members, especially spouses, are supportive of older persons’ quality of life.