An Empirical Typology of Social Networks and Its Association With Physical and Mental Health: A Study With Older Korean Immigrants

Abstract

Notably, no distinct network solely composed of friends was identified in the present sample of older immigrants; this may reflect the disruptions in social convoys caused by immigration. The findings of this study promote our understanding of the unique patterns of social connectedness in older immigrants.

Moving backwards, moving forward: the experiences of older Filipino migrants adjusting to life in New Zealand

“…This is supported by Park and Kim (2013), who describe older migrants’ experience of disconnection from previous life routines back in their country of origin as part of the adjustment process. Similar migrant experiences have also been noted by Park et al (2015), who refer to the “broken social convoy effect”, suggesting one of the many social vulnerabilities encountered by older migrants in their host societies, compounded by their age-related changes and life experiences (Ciobanu et al, 2017). Over time, the older Filipino migrants interviewed in the present study felt that they had adjusted to the challenges of living in a new country and had learnt to appreciate and enjoy living in New Zealand; this was referred to as “moving forward”.…”

“…These health complexities are experienced by older migrants more acutely than by younger migrants (Khoo, 2012). Nikolova and Graham (2015) noted that migration to developed economies, while increasing subjective well-being for the younger population groups, often meant that older migrants experience an interrupted social connectedness, referred to as a “broken social convoy” (Park et al, 2015). …”

Inter-generational contact from a network perspective

“…One of the primary applications of using network data and network structures to model inter-generational exchanges within families is to identify typologies of multi-generational family systems (Park et al, 2013; Litwin and Stoeckel, 2013; Litwin and Shiovitz-Ezra, 2011). A family system with a mixture of upward and downward skipped-generation structures may be very different from a system where only upward or downward structures prevail, for example.…”

“…This is in contrast to alternative approaches that may rely on assumptions about inter-generational relationships by indirect observations, such as inferring that resources flow from grandparents to their grandchildren based only on observing grandparent-headed multi-generational households (Casper and Bryson, 1998). Moreover, aggregating these patterns to family (or network) level statistics facilitates comparative analysis of the prevalence of different patterns of exchange within and between families (Park et al, 2013). …”

Emotional Confidants in Ethnic Communities

“…Most of the current generation of older Korean Americans are foreign-born and tend to hold traditional beliefs and values (Jang, Chiriboga, Allen, Kwak, & Haley, 2010). They also have a restricted boundary of social interactions and a high reliance on ethnic-oriented resources (Park et al, 2015). Using older Korean Americans as a target, the aims of the study were (a) to identify people who are more likely to be nominated as emotional confidants by age peers in the ethnic community and (b) to examine factors contributing to the likelihood of being a more frequently endorsed confidant.…”