The Interplay of Personality Traits and Social Network Characteristics in the Subjective Well-Being of Older Adults

Litwin, Howard; Levinsky, Michal

doi:10.1177/01640275221113048

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…This trend is attributed, at least in part, to diminished contact with children and relatives. Other studies have shown that nancial or instrumental support for older adults is provided through social networks, primarily derived from close relationships with family and friends [23,25]. Given the ongoing increase in the number of small families and single-person households in South Korea, these ndings prompt a deeper exploration of tailored social interventions to support the mental health of older adults.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The implications of social relationships for depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults: Results from the Korea Community Health Survey

Lee,

Kim,

Lee

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Background Epidemiological findings have established a strong link between social relationships and mental health in older populations. However, a comprehensive exploration within diverse social contexts is warranted. This study aimed to identify the connections between social relationship and depressive symptoms among older adults in South Korea. Methods The 2017 and 2019 Korea Community Health Surveys were used to analyze 85,861 adults aged 65 years and older. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). A single question was used to measure gloom. Social contact, social activity, and perception of neighborhood served as variables related to social relationships. Associations were analyzed using hierarchical logistic regression. Results Among the participants, 5,632 (6.5%) experienced gloom and 3,770 (4.3%) had depressive symptoms. In the multivariate analyses, older adults with good social contact, social activity, and perception of neighborhood were less likely to be depressive. Additionally, participants were less likely to be depressed if they had a higher income, worked, slept longer hours, had higher education, consumed alcohol, and were physically active. Good social contact was robustly associated with fewer depressive symptoms in the lowest income subgroup. Discussion This study showed a close link between social relationships and depressive symptoms in older adults, highlighting the significance of social contact in low-income groups. A social context-based approach should be considered to prevent depression in older adults.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The implications of social relationships for depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults: Results from the Korea Community Health Survey

Lee,

Kim,

Lee

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…Furthermore, very few studies reported effect sizes. However, the studies that reported standardized coefficients almost exclusively identified small effect sizes across all structural social network aspects [ 41 , 43 , 47 , 51 – 56 , 58 , 59 , 61 , 63 – 66 , 85 – 87 , 93 , 96 , 99 , 101 , 102 , 104 , 112 , 120 , 121 , 123 , 125 , 126 , 128 , 129 , 133 , 137 , 139 , 140 , 147 , 153 , 159 ]. Although the studies covered a wide sample size range, there were no differences in the results.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association of social networks and depression in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review

Reiner,

Steinhoff

2024

Syst Rev

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Background and objective Depression is a globally prevalent mental condition, particularly among older adults. Previous research has identified that social networks have a buffering effect on depression. Existing systematic reviews have either limited their research to specific geographic areas or provided evidence from over a decade ago. The vast body of recent literature particularly from the last decade emphasizes the need for a comprehensive review. This systematic review aims to analyze the association of structural aspects of social networks and depression in older adults. Methods The electronic databases APA PsycINFO, ProQuest, PSYINDEX, PubMed, Scopus, SocINDEX, and Web of Science were searched from date of data base inception until 11 July 2023. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they reported on community-dwelling older adults (defined as a mean age of at least 60 years old), had an acceptable definition for depression, referred to the term social network in the abstract, and were published in English. Quality was appraised using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale for cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Outcome data were extracted independently from each study and analyzed by direction of the relationship, social network domain and cross-sectional or longitudinal study design. Results In total, 127 studies were included. The study categorizes structural network aspects into seven domains and finds that larger and more diverse networks, along with closer social ties, help mitigate depression. The literature on the relationships between depression and network density, homogeneity, and geographical proximity is scarce and inconclusive. Discussion and implications Despite inconsistent findings, this review highlights the importance of quantifying complex social relations of older adults. Limitations of this review include publication and language bias as well as the exclusion of qualitative research. Further research should use longitudinal approaches to further investigate the reciprocal relationship between social networks and depression. Following this review, interventions should promote the integration of older adults in larger and more diverse social settings. Other: This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Grant [454899704]. This systematic review was pre-registered. The review-protocol can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/6QDPK.

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“…Positive affect, however, decreased in middle adulthood, which is inconsistent with the prediction from neo-socioanalytic theory and the theory of dynamic integration. A possible explanation is that the size of people’s social networks—which is associated with SWB (e.g., Litwin & Levinsky, 2022)—steadily becomes smaller in middle adulthood (Wrzus, Hänel, et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The development of subjective well-being across the life span: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies.

Buecker,

Luhmann,

Haehner

et al. 2023

Psychological Bulletin

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How does subjective well-being (SWB) develop across the life span? Theories and previous empirical research suggest heterogeneous conclusions regarding this question. Therefore, in this meta-analysis, we synthesized the available longitudinal data on mean-level change in three SWB components: life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. The analyses were based on 443 unique samples with a total of 460,902 participants. Our results showed that life satisfaction decreased from age 9 to 16 (d = −0.56), increased slightly until age 70 (d = 0.16), and then decreased again until age 96 (i.e., the oldest age for which data on life satisfaction were available; d = −0.24). Positive affect declined from age 9 for almost the entire time until age 94 (d = −1.71). Negative affect showed small ups and downs between ages 9 and 22. After age 22, negative affect declined until age 60 (d = −0.92), after which it increased again until age 87 (d = 0.58). Average changes in positive and negative affect were stronger than in life satisfaction. The moderator analyses suggested that the pattern of mean-level changes held across gender, country, ethnicity, sample type, the measure of SWB, time frame of SWB measure, and birth cohort. In sum, we found a favorable developmental trajectory of SWB over large parts of life for life satisfaction and negative affect and decreases from childhood until late adulthood for positive affect. In late adulthood, SWB tended to worsen rather than improve. Consequently, interventions aimed at maintaining or enhancing SWB in older adults might be useful.

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The Interplay of Personality Traits and Social Network Characteristics in the Subjective Well-Being of Older Adults

Cited by 8 publications

References 56 publications

The implications of social relationships for depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults: Results from the Korea Community Health Survey

The implications of social relationships for depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults: Results from the Korea Community Health Survey

The association of social networks and depression in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review

The development of subjective well-being across the life span: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies.

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