Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T16:03:09.480Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social networks and subjective wellbeing among older Europeans: does age make a difference?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 July 2012

HOWARD LITWIN  and
KIMBERLY J. STOECKEL
HOWARD LITWIN*
Affiliation:
Paul Baerwald School of Social Work & Social Welfare, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. Israel Gerontological Data Center, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel.
KIMBERLY J. STOECKEL
Affiliation:
Israel Gerontological Data Center, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel.
*
Address for correspondence: Howard Litwin, Israel Gerontological Data Center, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905-IL, Israel. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This inquiry examined whether social networks are associated with wellbeing among older-old people in the same way that they are among younger-old persons. The study focused on family respondents, aged 60 and older, from the second wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (N=14,728). The statistical analysis regressed two wellbeing measures (the CASP quality of life scale and life satisfaction) on a range of social network variables from three domains: family structure and interaction, social exchange and social engagement. In addition, the inquiry viewed these associations through the lens of age-based interaction terms, controlling for background characteristics, health status and region. The analysis revealed that the associations between subjective wellbeing and social network vary according to age. Among younger-old respondents, aged 60–79, more significant associations were found between social network variables and wellbeing outcomes in comparison to older-old respondents, aged 80 or older. Differences between age groups also emerged with the direction of the associations between social network variables and subjective wellbeing. The study results reveal that social networks do matter in very old age, but not in the same way as among younger-old persons. This finding is one indication of the differences that may emerge between third-age adults and those approaching the fourth age.

Keywords

older-oldSHAREexchangeengagementCASPlife satisfaction
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 33 , Issue 7 , October 2013 , pp. 1263 - 1281
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Antonucci, T. C. and Akiyama, H. 1987. Social networks in adult life and a preliminary examination of the convoy model. Journals of Gerontology, 42, 5, 519–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beel-Bates, C. A., Ingersoll-Dayton, B. and Nelson, E. 2007. Deference as a form of reciprocity among residents in assisted living. Research on Aging, 29, 6, 626–43.Google Scholar
Berg, A. I., Hoffman, L., Hassing, L. B., McClearn, G. E. and Johansson, B. 2009. What matters, and what matters most, for change in life satisfaction in the oldest-old? A study over 6 years among individuals 80+. Aging & Mental Health, 13, 2, 191–201.Google Scholar
Berkman, L. F., Glass, T., Brissette, I. and Seeman, T. E. 2000. From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. Social Science & Medicine, 51, 6, 843–57.Google Scholar
Bond, J. and Corner, L. 2006. The future of well-being: quality of life of older people in the 21st century. In Vincent, J. A., Phillipson, C. and Downs, M. (eds), The Futures of Old Age. Sage, London, 154–60.Google Scholar
Börsch-Supan, A., Hank, K. and Jürges, H. 2005. A new comprehensive and international view on ageing: introducing the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. European Journal of Ageing, 2, 4, 245–53.Google Scholar
Börsch-Supan, A. and Jürges, H. (eds) 2005. The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe: Methodology. Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging, Mannheim, Germany.Google Scholar
Bowling, A. 2009. The psychometric properties of the Older People's Quality of Life Questionnaire, compared with the CASP-19 and the WHOQOL-OLD. Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research, Article ID 298950, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, X. and Silverstein, M. 2000. Intergenerational social support and the psychological well-being of older parents in China. Research on Aging, 22, 1, 43–65.Google Scholar
Choi, N. G. 2003. Coresidence between unmarried aging parents and their adult children: who moved in with whom and why? Research on Aging, 25, 4, 384–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cornwell, B., Schumm, L. P., Laumann, E. O. and Graber, J. 2009. Social networks in the NSHAP study: rationale, measurement and preliminary findings. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 64B, supplement 1, i47–55.Google Scholar
Cornwell, E. Y. and Waite, L. J. 2009. Social disconnectedness, perceived isolation, and health among older adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 50, 1, 31–48.Google Scholar
de Leon, C. F. M., Gold, D. T., Glass, T. A., Kaplan, L. and George, L. K. 2001. Disability as a function of social networks and support in elderly African Americans and Whites: the Duke EPESE 1986–1992. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 56, 3, S179–90.Google Scholar
Dodge, H. H., Kita, Y., Takechi, H., Hayakawa, T., Ganguli, M. and Ueshima, H. 2008. Healthy cognitive aging and leisure activities among the oldest old in Japan: Takashima study. Journals of Gerontology: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 63, 11, 1193–200.Google ScholarPubMed
Everard, K. M., Lach, H. W., Fisher, E. B. and Baum, M. C. 2000. Relationship of activity and social support to the functional health of older adults. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 55, 4, S208–12.Google Scholar
Fiori, K. L., Antonucci, T. C. and Cortina, K. S. 2006. Social network typologies and mental health among older adults. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 61, 1, P25–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fritzell, J. and Lennartsson, C. 2005. Financial transfers between generations in Sweden. Ageing & Society, 25, 3, 397–414.Google Scholar
George, L. K. 2010. Still happy after all these years: research frontiers on subjective well-being in later life. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 65, 3, S331–9.Google Scholar
Gilleard, C. and Higgs, P. 2010. Aging without agency: theorizing the fourth age. Aging & Mental Health, 14, 2, 121–8.Google Scholar
Gray, A. 2009. The social capital of older people. Ageing & Society, 29, 1, 5–31.Google Scholar
Grundy, E. 2005. Reciprocity in relationships: socio-economic and health influences on intergenerational exchanges between third age parents and their adult children in Great Britain. British Journal of Sociology, 56, 2, 233–55.Google Scholar
Guilley, E., Pin, S., Spini, D., d'Epinay, C. L., Herrmann, F. and Michel, J. P. 2005. Association between social relationships and survival of Swiss octogenarians: a five-year prospective, population-based study. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 17, 5, 419–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ha, J. H. 2010. The effects of positive and negative support from children on widowed older adults’ psychological adjustment: a longitudinal analysis. Gerontologist, 50, 4, 471–81.Google Scholar
Herrmann, F. R., Michel, J. P. and Robine, J. M. 2010. Worldwide decline in the oldest old support ratio. European Geriatric Medicine, 1, 1, 3–8.Google Scholar
Horgas, A. L., Wilms, H. U. and Baltes, M. M. 1998. Daily life in very old age: everyday activities as expression of successful living. Gerontologist, 38, 5, 556–68.Google Scholar
Hyde, M., Wiggins, R. D., Higgs, P. and Blane, D. B. 2003. A measure of quality of life in early old age: the theory, development and properties of a needs satisfaction model (CASP-19). Aging & Mental Health, 7, 3, 186–94.Google Scholar
Jakobsson, U., Hallberg, I. R. and Westergren, A. 2004. Overall and health related quality of life among the oldest old in pain. Quality of Life Research, 13, 1, 125–36.Google Scholar
Johnson, C. L. and Troll, L. 1992. Family functioning in late late life. Journals of Gerontology, 47, 2, S66–72.Google Scholar
Jopp, D., Rott, C. and Oswald, F. 2008. Valuation of life in old and very old age: the role of sociodemographic, social, and health resources for positive adaptation. Gerontologist, 48, 5, 646–58.Google Scholar
Keller-Cohen, D., Fiori, K., Toler, A. and Bybee, D. 2006. Social relations, language and cognition in the ‘oldest old’. Ageing & Society, 26, 4, 585–605.Google Scholar
Lang, F. R., Staudinger, U. M. and Carstensen, L. L. 1998. Perspectives on socioemotional selectivity in late life: how personality and social context do (and do not) make a difference. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 53, 1, P21–30.Google Scholar
Lennartsson, C. and Silverstein, M. 2001. Does engagement with life enhance survival of elderly people in Sweden? The role of social and leisure activities. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 56, 6, S335–42.Google Scholar
Liang, J., Krause, N. M. and Bennett, J. M. 2001. Social exchange and well-being: is giving better than receiving? Psychology and Aging, 16, 3, 511–23.Google Scholar
Litwin, H. and Shiovitz-Ezra, S. 2006. The association between activity and well-being in later-life: what really matters? Ageing & Society, 26, 2, 225–42.Google Scholar
Litwin, H., Vogel, C., Künemund, H. and Kohli, M. 2008. The balance of intergenerational exchange: correlates of net transfers in Germany and Israel. European Journal of Ageing, 5, 2, 91–102.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCamish-Svensson, C., Samuelsson, G., Hagberg, B., Svensson, T. and Dehlin, O. 1999. Social relationships and health as predictors of life satisfaction in advanced old age: results from a Swedish longitudinal study. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 48, 4, 301–24.Google Scholar
Mechakra-Tahiri, S., Zuzunegui, M. V., Preville, M. and Dube, M. 2009. Social relationships and depression among people 65 years and over living in rural and urban areas of Quebec. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24, 11, 1226–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merz, E. M. and Huxhold, O. 2010. Wellbeing depends on social relationship characteristics: comparing different types and providers of support to older adults. Ageing & Society, 30, 5, 843–57.Google Scholar
Newsom, J. T., Rook, K. S., Nishishiba, M., Sorkin, D. H. and Mahan, T. L. 2005. Understanding the relative importance of positive and negative social exchanges: examining specific domains and appraisals. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 60, 6, P304–12.Google Scholar
Perry, C. M. and Johnson, C. L. 1994. Families and support networks among African-American oldest-old. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 38, 1, 41–50.Google Scholar
Rowe, J. W. and Kahn, R. L. 1997. Successful aging. Gerontologist, 37, 4, 433–40.Google Scholar
Silverstein, M. and Parker, M. G. 2002. Leisure activities and quality of life among the oldest old in Sweden. Research on Aging, 24, 5, 528–47.Google Scholar
Sun, R. J. and Liu, Y. Z. 2006. Mortality of the oldest old in China: the role of social and solitary customary activities. Journal of Aging and Health, 18, 1, 37–55.Google Scholar
Taylor, D. 2011. Wellbeing and welfare: a psychosocial analysis of being well and doing well enough. Journal of Social Policy, 40, 4, 777–94.Google Scholar
Wiggins, R. D., Netuveli, G., Hyde, M., Higgs, P. and Blane, D. 2008. The evaluation of a self-enumerated scale of quality of life (CASP-19) in the context of research on ageing: a combination of exploratory and confirmatory approaches. Social Indicators Research, 89, 1, 61–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zunzunegui, M. V., Alvarado, B. E., Del Ser, T. and Otero, A. 2003. Social networks, social integration, and social engagement determine cognitive decline in community-dwelling Spanish older adults. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 58, 2, S93–100.Google Scholar
Zunzunegui, M. V., Beland, F. and Otero, A. 2001. Support from children, living arrangements, self-rated health and depressive symptoms of older people in Spain. International Journal of Epidemiology, 30, 5, 1090–9.Google Scholar