Influences of socioeconomic status, social network, and competence on subjective well-being in later life: A meta-analysis.

Abstract

Meta-analysis is used to synthesize findings from 286 empirical studies on the association of socioeconomic status (SES), social network, and competence with subjective well-being (SWB) in the elderly. All three aspects of life circumstances are positively associated with SWB. Income is correlated more strongly with well-being than is education. The quality of social contacts shows stronger associations with SWB than does the quantity of social contacts. Whereas having contact with friends is more strongly related to SWB than having contact with adult children, there are higher associations between life satisfaction and quality of contact with adult children when compared with quality of friendships. Moderating influences of gender and age on the effects of SES, social network, and competence on SWB are also investigated.

Welfare state regimes and differences in self-perceived health in Europe: A multilevel analysis

“…At this level, social inequalities in health have mainly been approached by means of occupational class (Kunst & Mackenbach, 1994;Kunst et al, 2005), educational attainment (Cavelaars et al, 1998b;Silventoinen & Lahelma, 2002) and income (Adler et al, 1994;Cavelaars et al, 1998a;Fritzell, Nermo, & Lundberg, 2004;Marmot, 2002;Subramanian & Kawach, 2006a;Subramanian & Kawachi, 2004;Wagstaff & van Doorslaer, 2000), all regarded as indicators of socioeconomic status (SES). We have also seen that social network (social contacts with one or several persons) and social support (quality of social interactions) appear to make individuals feel healthier, live longer, feel better and cope with difficulties due to chronic diseases and acute difficulties (Berkman, 1985;House, Landis, & Umberson, 1988;Pinquart & Sorensen, 2000;Wilkinson, 1999aWilkinson, , 1999b.…”

Physical activity intervention in older adults: does a participating partner make a difference?

“…Social integration refers to the structure and quantity of social relationships, such as the size and density of networks, the frequency of interaction, or the existence of a partner (Berkman et al 2000). Various aspects of social integration were found to have a protective effect on older adults' quality of life, health, and mortality (Bosworth and Schaie 1997;Cohen 2004;Pinquart and Sörensen 2000;Seeman et al 1993). However, it is welldocumented that social network size diminishes with increasing age, and that this process is partially selfmotivated: Due to motivational changes in the face of constrained time left in life, having close, emotionally gratifying relationships becomes more salient than having a large social network.…”

Health disparities in Europe’s ageing population: the role of social network

“…While prior research has provided empirical evidence on the effect of social network on health among older Europeans [37], our unique contribution lies in the role of education and gender on such an association. We speculate that this could be explained by reverse causality [13,37,38], suggesting that people with lower health status are more likely than their healthier counterparts to need and seek help from their social networks. This effect is more highlighted among the lower-educated elderly in Northern Europe in the current analysis because they demand more resources than do higher-educated individuals, and also because they have the resources to do so thanks to the welfare regimes there.…”

“…Another argument could be the fact that not all social contacts support and foster well-being. Social networks can sometimes be perceived as emotionally demanding and thus become stressful, unwanted and unpleasant and may, potentially, result in worse health [13]. …”

“…Previous studies have also shown that the impact of intergenerational contacts varies across socioeconomic groups and that, for instance, family ties are denser among the less educated and partly compensate for a lack of other resources, even in countries with strong public welfare institutions [12]. Moreover, a great body of research has revealed large gender differences in relation to both subjective health and the importance of social networks [9,13,14]. Hence, we explore the extent to which social network satisfaction – across genders, socioeconomic position (level in the educational hierarchy), and countries with different welfare models – is associated with the subjective well-being of people aged 50+ in the 16 countries participating in SHARE.…”