Relationship between Individual Social Capital and Cognitive Function among Older Adults by Gender: A Cross-Sectional Study

2020

IJERPH

While social capital is recognized as an important protective determinant of cognitive function in later life, there is a lack of research examining the potential moderators and mediators in the mechanisms linking social capital to cognitive function. This study investigated the moderating role of education on the relationship between social capital and cognitive function among older adults in urban Chinese communities. Data were derived from a community survey conducted in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, in late 2015. A quota sampling method was applied to recruit respondents aged 60 years or older from 16 communities in the Gusu district. The final analytic sample size was 446. Multiple group analysis was applied to test the proposed model. The results show that cognitive social capital was significantly associated with cognitive function in the high education group only. Structural social capital was not significantly associated with cognitive function. The findings highlight the important role of social capital in influencing cognitive function in later life. Social capital interventions could be particularly useful as a preventive approach to help older adults sustain their cognitive function levels. Policy and intervention implications are discussed.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Does Education Moderate the Relationship between Social Capital and Cognitive Function among Older Adults? Evidence from Suzhou City, China

Zhang

Lü

2020

IJERPH

“…For each domain of social capital, answers to varied items were summarized to get an overall score, and a higher score indicates a better social capital status. In data analysis, we dichotomized the scores of each dimension social capital into two categories by taking the median value as the cut-off [30,31], including social participation(high (≥6) and low (<6)), social support(high (≥13) and low (<13)), social connection (high (≥12) and low (<12)), trust (high (≥13) and low (<13)), cohesion(high (≥20) and low (<20)), and reciprocity(high (≥11) and low (<11)). The Cronbach's α of the questionnaire was 0.919.…”

Section: Measurement Of Social Capitalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between Individual Social Capital and Functional Ability among Older People in Anhui Province, China

Bai

Shao

et al. 2020

IJERPH

This study aimed to explore the relationship between individual social capital and functional ability, with a focus on whether there is an interactive relationship that exists among social capital related to functional ability among older people in Anhui province, China. We conducted a cross-sectional study with a multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling method from July to September 2017. Data were collected through questionnaire including demographic characteristics, individual social capital status, and functional capability status. Binary logistic regression analysis model and classification and regression tree model (CART) were utilized. Overall, this study included 1810 elderly people, 43% of whom had functional disability. After the adjustment, subjects with lower social participation (AOR = 1.60; 95% CI: 1.26–2.03) and lower social connection (AOR = 1.74; 95% CI: 1.34–2.25) had an increased risk of functional disability. However, social support (AOR = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.57–0.94) was inversely related to functional ability. We also observed interactive relationship of social capital associated with functional ability, which indicated that special attention and efforts should be paid to older adults with less educational attainment, with multimorbidity, with advanced age, and with lower level of social participation, cohesion for the purpose of maintaining sound functional ability. Our findings may be of salient relevance for devising more targeted and effective interventions to prevent the onset of functional limitations among community-dwelling older adults.

“…A higher score denoted a better social capital. During analysis, binary variables (high and low level) were generated by dichotomizing each dimension into two categories according to their relative median value, which was in accordance with other studies [23,37].…”

Section: Measurement Of Social Capitalmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Bai

Shao

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background Although the relationship between social capital and loneliness in later life has been widely researched in western countries, this evidence is largely lacking in China. We aimed to examine the association between social capital and experienced loneliness in Anhui Province, China. Methods Data were collected from a cross-sectional study using a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling strategy. Data on demographic characteristics, socioeconomic factors, social capital, and loneliness in 1810 older adults (aged 60 years and older) were used for analysis. Binary logistic regression models and a classification and regression tree model were performed. Results Our results indicated that social capital in terms of social participation (AOR = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.10–1.74), social connection (AOR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.18–1.93), and reciprocity (AOR = 1.47; 95% CI: 1.13–1.90) were associated with loneliness. We noted the interactive effect of different social capital dimensions on loneliness, suggesting that the risk for suffering loneliness was greatest in older people limited in functional ability, with less trust, less social connection, and less social participation. Conclusions Our findings show that social capital is associated with loneliness in older adults. This implies that social capital, especially in terms of trust, social connection, and social participation may be significant for alleviating loneliness among older adults.