Social networks and mental health among older Europeans: are there age effects?

Abstract

This study examined different components of personal social networks-structure, interaction, and quality-and the extent to which each is related to mental health among a 65+ sample ( = 26,784) taken from the fourth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe. The first aim of the study was to determine which network components had the strongest associations with the number of depressive symptoms, measured on the EURO-D scale. Secondly, the study considered if and how age impacted the associations between social network and depression, using interaction terms that paired age category (age 65-79; age 80+) with the score on each network component. Hierarchical OLS regressions revealed that social network quality and network structure were both negatively related to the number of depressive symptoms. The association between network size (structure) and depression was even greater among those 80+. Age differences were also found for network interaction. More frequent contact with the network was related to a greater extent of depressive symptoms, but only among respondents aged 80 and older. Closer geographic proximity was related to having fewer depressive symptoms, but only among respondents aged 65-79. The findings imply that the association between meaningful personal relationships and depression in late life is nuanced by both network characteristics and by age.

Understanding the value of social networks in life satisfaction of elderly people: a comparative study of 16 European countries using SHARE data

“…The positive effect of networks of family and friends on satisfaction with life of older adults has been shown by many previous studies [1, 4, 5, 8–10, 20, 29, 63]. However, certain characteristics of the social network, like the size and composition, and the satisfaction with life may be codetermined (i.e., while a larger and consolidated network may increase satisfaction with life, people with higher life satisfaction may be more extravert and able to develop a wider and diverse social network) and therefore an endogenous relationship may be present.…”

“…Burt also found that happiness is increased with the size of the discussion network [11] and Baldassare et al reached to similar conclusions using an elderly sample of respondents [12]. Social support, social interactions and the size of the social network have also been linked to other domains of well-being such as the general health status [13–20], mortality [21–27] and mental health [28, 29]. In fact, such links seem logical as Diener and Suh show that that there is a high correlation between life satisfaction and a social index that includes cost of living, ecology, health, culture and entertainment, freedom and infrastructure indicators [30].…”

Number of children and social contacts among older people: the moderating role of filial norms and social policies

“…Previous research has shown that healthy and “successful” ageing is determined in part by social embeddedness and social contact levels (Litwin et al 2015 ; Sirven and Debrand 2008 ). But because of ongoing demographic processes like higher childlessness rates and the trend towards smaller families, the number of close family members with whom older people can interact socially has declined (Frejka 2008 ).…”

“…While our study provides a number of interesting insights, it also has some limitations. The social contact frequency levels of older people may be influenced by the characteristics of the members of their social networks (Litwin et al 2015 ). Unfortunately, the socio-demographic characteristics of all the individuals in the social environment of the older people are not included in our data.…”

The association of mobility limitation and social networks in relation to late-life activity

“…It has been found, for instance, that the nature of the association between social network and wellbeing varies among people as a function of illness or disability ( e.g. Litwin, Stoeckel and Schwartz 2015). In addition, frequency of contact with the social network is positively associated with various wellbeing outcome measures among well older adults, but not necessarily associated (or even negatively associated) among older adults with disability (Litwin and Stoeckel 2013 a , 2013 b ).…”