To understand the quality of life of the elderly in Dongguan during the COVID-19 period, to explore the influence path of social support and social support behavior on the quality of life of the elderly, and to provide a reference basis for social support to improve the quality of life of the elderly.

From September to December 2020, face-to-face interview-type questionnaires were administered to older adults in six communities in Dongguan City using whole-cluster random sampling, and the Social Support Assessment Scale (SSA), Social Support Behaviour Scale (SS-B), and the Brief Health Questionnaire (SF-36) were used to assess older adults’ social support, social support behaviours, and quality of life. The t-test and one-way ANOVA were used for statistical analysis of variance, and Spearman’s correlation analysis and Model 1 in the PROCESS 4.0 macro program were used for path analysis.

A total of 1 130 valid questionnaires (94.17%) were collected, with a mean age (78.85±9.04) years, 72.2% female and 27.8% male. Social support (r=0.16, P<0.01) and social support behaviors (r=0.14, P<0.01) were positively correlated with quality of life, while social support (r=0.11, P<0.01) and social support behaviors (r=0.14, P<0.01) were positively correlated with mental health. Social support behaviors had a positive predictive effect on quality of life (β=0.069, P<0.01) and mental health (β=0.119, P<0.01). The relationship between social support behavior and quality of life (β=-0.004, P<0.001) and mental health (β=-0.005, P<0.001), the boundary values of the regulatory effect were 10.270 and 7.145, respectively, and the regulatory effect below the critical value was significant.

Improving social support in the elderly can help improve the quality of life of the elderly, especially the elderly population with a low level of social support behavior.