Influence of social participation on life satisfaction and depression among Chinese elderly: Social support as a mediator

Abstract

This study explored the influences of social participation and the mediating effects of social support on the mental health of Chinese elderly based on data from the 2012 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS). The participants comprised 696 older adults in CLASS, including 340 (48.9%) male and 354 (50.9%) female. The mean age of the sample was 68 (standard deviation = 7.08). The results of structural equation modeling showed that social participation was significantly associated with the life satisfaction and depression of the elderly. A high level of social participation was associated with more social support and consequently predicted few depressive symptoms among older adults. However, social support was not significantly associated with life satisfaction of the elderly. Our findings provided cross‐cultural evidence for theories, and had significant implications for social work practice and social policy.

Sense of Community Mediating Between Age-Friendly Characteristics and Life Satisfaction of Community-Dwelling Older Adults

“…The present study enhances our understanding of how social participation and community/health support services contribute to the life satisfaction of older adults through the mediating effects of sense of community. The importance of social participation on life satisfaction has also been documented by Li et al (2018) in China. At the same time, the happiness of older adults has been found to relate to the quality of services that enable resident to age in place (Hogan et al, 2016).…”

Active Aging Program in Nursing Homes: Effects on Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

“…This effect is mediated by social support (Li, Jiang, Li, & Zhang, 2018); higher social participation promotes higher social support, which in turn results in higher life satisfaction (Li et al, 2018). Taking all this into consideration, it was expected for the scores in psychological well-being scales and life satisfaction to increase within the experimental group after participating in this type of activities.…”

Social Participation among the Elderly: Moderated Mediation Model of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

“…Existing studies on social participation among the elderly have mostly examined its consequences (Tomioka, Kurumatani, & Hosoi, 2016;Li, Jiang, Li, & Zhang, 2017;Tomioka, Kurumatani, & Hosoi, 2017). These studies come mostly from the medical science (Cacioppo, Catherine, Decety, Monteleone, & Nusbaum, 2009;Cotton et al, 2013;Luo, Hawkley, Waite, & Cacioppo, 2012) or social science fields (Baarsen, 2002;Fry & Debats, 2002;Şar, Göktürk, Tura, & Kazaz, 2012) and consider social participation as an independent variable that leads to various health-related outcome variables (Cornwell & Waite, 2009;Luo et al, 2012) or psychological wellness (Tiikkainen & Heikkinen, 2005).…”