Association between Personal Social Capital and Loneliness among Widowed Older People

Abstract

To explore the association between the personal social capital and loneliness among the widowed older adults in China. Data from 1497 widowed older adults were extracted from China’s Health-Related Quality of Life Survey for Older Adults 2018. The Chinese version of the Personal Social Capital Scale (PSCS-16) was used to evaluate the participants’ status of bonding and bridging social capital (BOC and BRC). Loneliness was assessed by the short-form UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8). Multiple linear regression models were established to examine the relationship between social capital and loneliness. The BOC and BRC of rural widowed older people were significantly lower than those of widowed older people in urban areas, while loneliness of rural widowed older people was higher than that of widowed older people in urban areas. The result of the final model showed that loneliness of rural participants was significantly associated with both BOC (B = 0.141, p = 0.001) and BRC (B = −0.116, p = 0.003). The loneliness of the urban widowed sample had no association with both BOC and BRC (p > 0.05). These findings suggested that more social support and compassionate care should be provided to enrich the personal social capital and thus to reduce loneliness of widowed older adults, especially those in rural areas.

Association between social capital and loneliness among older adults: a cross-sectional study in Anhui Province, China

“…A previous study has evidenced that determining the risk factors of loneliness is of importance to prevent loneliness [12]. Some factors such as females [11], advanced age [13], low level of educational attainment, and socioeconomic status [14], residing in rural areas [15] have been identified as having a greater odds of developing loneliness in later life. Additional factors including physical inactivity, living alone, retirement, and loss of companions or friends were associated with a higher risk of loneliness among older individuals [16][17][18][19].…”

Association between social capital and loneliness among older adults: A cross-sectional study in Anhui Province, China

“…Subjects were asked to respond to each item with answers ranging from 1 = "never", 2 = "seldom", 3 = "usually", 4 = "often", and 5 = "more often", where each number indicated the associated score accordingly. The score ranges for each dimension were obtained by summarizing answers to each item as follows; social participation (4-20), social support (4-20), social connection (3-15), trust (3-15), cohesion , reciprocity (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). A higher score denoted a better social capital.…”

“…In a study conducted in 14 European countries, social capital, including regular social participation was linked to a decreased experience of loneliness and a reduction in the impact of loneliness in low-income families [14]. A prior study found that social capital (bonding social capital and bridging social capital) was associated with loneliness among rural widowed older people in China [15].…”

“…A previous study has evidenced that determining the risk factors of loneliness is of importance to prevent loneliness [12]. Some factors such as females [11], advanced age [13], low level of educational attainment, and socioeconomic status [14], residing in rural areas [15] have been identi ed as having a greater odds of developing loneliness in later life. Additional factors including physical inactivity, living alone, retirement, and loss of companions or friends were associated with a higher risk of loneliness among older individuals [16][17][18][19].…”

“…As mentioned above, loneliness in later life was exposed to a myriad of factors, including a low level of social capital [11,[13][14][15]19]. Despite that these factors had been well explored in many studies, whether these factors and social capital interact to impact loneliness remains to be con rmed by further studies.…”