Your friends, my friends, and our family: Informal social participation and mental health through the lens of linked lives

"I Love You to Death": Social Networks and the Widowhood Effect on Mortality

Research on "the widowhood effect" shows that mortality rates are greater among people who have recently lost a spouse. There are several medical and psychological explanations for this (e.g., "broken heart syndrome") and sociological explanations that focus on spouses' shared social-environmental exposures. We expand on sociological perspectives by arguing that couples' social connections to others play a role in this phenomenon. Using panel data on 1,169 older adults from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, we find that mortality is associated with how well embedded one's spouse is in one's own social network. The widowhood effect is greater among those whose spouses were not well connected to one's other network members. We speculate that the loss of a less highly embedded spouse signals the loss of unique, valuable, nonredundant social resources from one's network. We discuss theoretical interpretations, alternative explanations, limitations, and directions for future research.

A bridge too far? Social network structure as a determinant of depression in later life

Existing research has documented various determinants of mental health related to individuals' social connections, but less is known about the role of the structural features of interpersonal networks. This is especially true in the case of bridging, which refers to ties to people who are otherwise disconnected from each other. By intersecting theories of social networks and gerontology, this study employs within- and between-person analysis with data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) to examine the association between social network bridging and depression in later life. The study finds that bridging, particularly between kin and non-kin members in the network, is associated with increased depressive symptoms in later life. This association is contingent on social support and strain respondents experienced, and it exhibits variations within individuals over time, especially among older adults in the youngest age cohort (57-64 years old included in NSHAP in 2005). In closing, the paper discusses the extent to which heterogeneous network structures may be one mechanism that shapes mental health trajectories in the context of later life-course experiences.

The impact of spouse health on social participation of older adults in China: Evidence from the CLHLS

BACKGROUND

China is dealing with a serious aging issue. Social participation is essential for active aging. The health status of spouses is intertwined with the trajectory of the social function of the elderly.

OBJECTIVES

This study examined the association between spouse health and social participation among older Chinese adults. The study also explored the mediating role of loneliness and anxiety between spousal health and social participation.

METHODS

The analytic sample included 6125 adults aged 60 years and above. Prospective data were obtained from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). First, we described basic socio-demographic information about the sample. Secondly, Spearman's correlation analysis was used to determine whether correlations existed between spousal health, loneliness, anxiety, and social participation. Finally, mediation analysis was run using the SPSS macro PROCESS program.

RESULTS

Spousal health, loneliness, anxiety, and social participation were significantly correlated (P < 0.01). Spousal health could not only have a direct positive impact on social participation in older adults (β = 0.239, 95 % CI: 0.120, 0.359), but also indirectly on social participation through three pathways: an independent mediating effect of loneliness (β = 0.020, 95 % CI: 0.009, 0.034), an independent mediating effect of anxiety (β = 0.018, 95%CI: 0.009, 0.032), and a chain mediating effect of loneliness and anxiety (β = 0.004, 95%CI: 0.002, 0.007).

CONCLUSION

This study suggests paying more attention to elderly couples and decreasing the negative consequences of changes in spousal health.

Depressive symptoms in older adult couples: Associations with dyadic physical health, social engagement, and close friends

Objective

The objective of this study was to examine associations between level of depressive symptoms in older adult spouse/partner couples and their physical health and social factors (social activity and number of close friends).

Methods

Using data from 116 community-dwelling couples (age 76.2 ± 8.5), we simultaneously analyzed associations between depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale, range 0-11) and dyadic physical health, engagement in social activities, and connectedness with close friends.

Results

Greater engagement in social activities was associated with fewer depressive symptoms in men, whereas more close friendships were associated with fewer depressive symptoms in women, controlling for partner effects, age, education, and cognitive function, with good model fit. Additionally, more disparate physical health within the couple (latent incongruence score) was associated with greater depressive symptoms in men.

Discussion

Less social activity and fewer close friends were associated with depressive symptoms in older adult couples, but may be distinctly influential depending on gender and in the context of the older adult couple's physical health.

Sound Feedback for Social Distance: The Case for Public Interventions during a Pandemic

Within the field of movement sensing and sound interaction research, multi-user systems have gradually gained interest as a means to facilitate an expressive non-verbal dialogue. When tied with studies grounded in psychology and choreographic theory, we consider the qualities of interaction that foster an elevated sense of social connectedness, non-contingent to occupying one’s personal space. Upon reflection of the newly adopted social distancing concept, we orchestrate a technological intervention, starting with interpersonal distance and sound at the core of interaction. Materialised as a set of sensory face-masks, a novel wearable system was developed and tested in the context of a live public performance from which we obtain the user’s individual perspectives and correlate this with patterns identified in the recorded data. We identify and discuss traits of the user’s behaviour that were accredited to the system’s influence and construct four fundamental design considerations for physically distanced sound interaction. The study concludes with essential technical reflections, accompanied by an adaptation for a pervasive sensory intervention that is finally deployed in an open public space.

Changing relationships between social contact, social support and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objectives

Given the longstanding consensus that social contact can promote older adult well-being, many have focused on how social contact changed during the pandemic. Less is known, however, about whether the link between social contact and health changed during the pandemic. This study sought to understand how associations between social contact, social support, and depressive symptoms changed during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods

Data from 2 waves of the Health and Retirement Study were used. Respondents reported both virtual and in-person social contact, as well as perceived positive and negative social support. Path models were used to estimate relationships between social contact, social support, and depressive symptoms. Bootstrapping was used to estimate the change in associations between 2016 and 2020.

Results

Estimates show that associations between positive social support and depressive symptoms, as well as between in-person social contact and depressive symptoms, attenuated during the pandemic. Virtual social contact played a relatively minor role in determining outcomes such as social support and depressive symptoms, compared to in-person social contact.

Discussion

Findings suggest that researchers and policymakers should not only focus on the changing quantity of social interactions when events such as the COVID-19 pandemic happen, but also the changing content and efficacy of the social interactions that remain.