In this study, we test the robustness of previous social network research and extend this work to determine if support quality is one mechanism by which network types predict mental health. Participants included 1,669 adults aged 60 or older from the Americans' Changing Lives study. Using cluster analysis, we found diverse, family, and friends network types, which is consistent with the work by Litwin from 2001. However, we found two types of restricted networks, rather than just one: a nonfamily network and a nonfriends network. Depressive symptomatology was highest for individuals in the nonfriends network and lowest for individuals in the diverse network. Positive support quality partially mediated the association between network type and depressive symptomatology. Results suggest that the absence of family in the context of friends is less detrimental than the absence of friends in the context of family, and that support quality is one mechanism through which network types affect mental health.

This paper examines the social support networks of older adults. Based upon the Kahn and Antonucci (1980) life course social support model, a national sample of adults aged 50 and older (N = 718) was interviewed, generating support networks consisting of an average of 8.9 members. The respondents were asked questions of the structural (e.g., age, sex, closeness, years known, proximity, and frequency of contact) and functional (number and type of supports provided and received) characteristics of their social networks. These characteristics and relationships are described in detail.

The convoy model has provided a useful framework in the study of aging, especially for understanding predictors and consequences of social relations across the life course.

This paper is designed to empirically investigate sex differences in social support. Several types of sex differences are examined, including quantity and quality of support, the relationship between quantitative and qualitative measures of support, the number and source of support provided and received, and the relative predictive power of quality and quantity of support on well-being. The data are taken from the Supports of the Elderly, a national survey of older people (Kahn and Antonucci, 1984). Included in the present study are 214 men and 166 women ranging in age from 50 to 95 who are married and have at least one child. The analyses reveal that women have larger networks and receive supports from multiple sources, while men tend to rely on their spouses exclusively. Men report greater satisfaction with marriage than women. Quantitative supports are more related to qualitative supports for women than for men. For both sexes, the quality of support rather than the quantity of support has significantly greater effects on well-being; both the quantity and quality of social support have a greater impact on the well-being of women compared to men.

It has long been known that despite well-documented improvements in longevity for most Americans, alarming disparities persist among racial groups and between the well-educated and those with less education. In this article we update estimates of the impact of race and education on past and present life expectancy, examine trends in disparities from 1990 through 2008, and place observed disparities in the context of a rapidly aging society that is emerging at a time of optimism about the next revolution in longevity. We found that in 2008 US adult men and women with fewer than twelve years of education had life expectancies not much better than those of all adults in the 1950s and 1960s. When race and education are combined, the disparity is even more striking. In 2008 white US men and women with 16 years or more of schooling had life expectancies far greater than black Americans with fewer than 12 years of education-14.2 years more for white men than black men, and 10.3 years more for white women than black women. These gaps have widened over time and have led to at least two "Americas," if not multiple others, in terms of life expectancy, demarcated by level of education and racial-group membership. The message for policy makers is clear: implement educational enhancements at young, middle, and older ages for people of all races, to reduce the large gap in health and longevity that persists today.