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

Abstract

BackgroundNetworks of family and friends are a source of support and are generally associated with higher life satisfaction values among older adults. On the other hand, older adults who are satisfied with their life may be more able to develop and maintain a wider social network. For this reason, the causal link between size and composition of the social networks and satisfaction with life is yet to be explored. This paper investigates the effect of the ‘size’, (number of family and friends, and network) and the ‘composition’ (the proportion of friends over total number of persons) of the social network on life satisfaction among older adults (50+). Moreover, we also investigate the patterns of this relation between different European countries.MethodData from the 4th wave of Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and an instrumental variable approach are used to estimate the extent of the relation between life satisfaction and size and composition of social networks.ResultsRespondents in Western and Northern European (WNE) countries report larger networks than respondents in Eastern and Southern European (ESE) countries. However, the positive relationship between network size and life satisfaction is consistent across countries. On the other hand, the share of friends in the network appears to be generally negatively related to satisfaction with life, though results are not statistically significant for all countries.ConclusionsApparently, a larger personal network is important for older adults (50+) to be more satisfied with life. Our results suggest that this relation is particularly positive if the network is comprised of family members.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12877-016-0362-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Satisfaction with Social Support Received from Social Relationships in Cases of Chronic Pain: The Influence of Personal Network Characteristics in Terms of Structure, Composition and Functional Content

“…These characteristics highlight the importance of the age of the alter on the ability to offer support (children and older people as non-providers) or the geographical proximity of the alter, which is considered key, especially for the provision of instrumental or tangible support [47][48][49]. Regarding the type of tie with the ego, our results add to the existing literature, which underlines the significant role of the family and friends in the provision of social support [50]. Nonetheless, it is necessary to consider that, although family roles represent 76.8% of the most satisfactory relationships, they also represent 55.8% of the total number of relationships in the profile identified as the most unsatisfied with the social support received.…”

“In the mood for ageing”: determinants of subjective well-being in older men and women of the population-based KORA-Age study

“…This encouraging finding suggests that increasing age is not inevitably associated with a decline in mood and quality of life [34–36]. Surprisingly, this holds true even for the very-old as recently shown by Wettstein et al [16]: In their study population of 124 participants (mean age at baseline: 90.56 years, SD: ±2.92), a majority expressed remarkably high levels of eudaimonic and hedonic well-being with scores above the theoretical scale midpoints.…”

Close-Person Spill-Overs in End-of-Life Care: Using Hierarchical Mapping to Identify Whose Outcomes to Include in Economic Evaluations

“…On average 8.9 individuals were included across their whole close-person network. In contrast, a survey of older people across Europe found networks to be much smaller, with just 2.5 people being included on average within their social network [31]. Networks are not static through life, however, and it is unknown whether social networks change within the end of life context, when co-morbidities and disease progression could conceivably influence social networks.…”

“…Prospective participants were identified and recruited at the hospice by a research nurse. Snowball sampling [31] involved asking participants to pass on an information sheet to all those who they thought might be interested in participating. Snowball sampling [32] also had the potential advantage of enabling exploration of how the perceptions of networks varied within clusters.…”