“Strength of Weak Ties,” Neighborhood Ethnic Heterogeneity, and Depressive Symptoms among Adults: A Multilevel Analysis of Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) 2012

The Impact of Loneliness and Social Anxiety on Casual Social Contacts

Introduction In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness and social isolation have become major public health crises. Loneliness has reached epidemic levels and negatively impacts both health and quality of life. "Casual contacts" is a developing line of research that may hold promise in stemming the current crisis. Casual contacts refer to interactions and relationships with people who are neither family nor friends. Our objectives are to (a) document the impact of casual contacts on community-based adults (Studies 1 and 2) and (b) study the impact of loneliness (Studies 1 and 2) and social anxiety (Study 2) on responses to casual contact. Based on prior studies, we expect to find that casual contacts have a generally positive impact on mood. However, the association of both loneliness and social anxiety with hypervigilance to social threat leads to the broad hypothesis that individuals with each of these conditions would be more likely to respond negatively to casual contacts than would others without those conditions. Method This correlational research recruited convenience samples of English-speaking adults living in the United States, using the online platform Survey Monkey. There were no selection criteria beyond (a) language and location and (b) the sample being generally balanced for age and gender. Partial correlation and analysis of covariance were used to examine the association of loneliness and social anxiety with feeling worse after casual contacts, while controlling for age, gender, household size, household income, and size of town. Because the current study examines a novel area, individual differences that affect how people experience casual contacts, we ran two studies enabling us to examine whether the results replicated. In total, we surveyed 546 community-dwelling adults about their casual contacts, 174 in Study 1 and 372 in Study 2. Data cleaning was used to minimize/eliminate meaningless and random answers resulting in a final total study sample of 393 participants: 123 in Study 1 and 270 in Study 2. Results The results indicate that casual contacts are common, with fewer than 4% having neither verbal nor electronic contact with an acquaintance weekly, and typically have a positive impact (Study 1 and Study 2). Nevertheless, a significant minority of casual contacts result in negative experiences, which is more probable among respondents who were lonely (Study 1 and Study 2) and/or had higher levels of social anxiety (Study 2). Exploratory analyses showed that both loneliness and social anxiety are linked to feeling worse for longer periods of time after casual contacts and that positive feelings tend to dissipate more rapidly for those with higher loneliness scores (Study 2).  Conclusions These results indicate that clinicians developing interventions that involve casual contacts must consider how to do so safely and effectively for those with a higher degree of loneliness and/or social anxiety.

Economic development, weak ties, and depression: Evidence from China

OBJECTIVES

Weak ties are becoming mainstream in daily relationships and play an essential role in the improvement of individuals' mental health. Despite growing concerns on depression, inclusion of weak ties is limited. To address the gap, this study empirically shed light on the role of weak ties on individual depression in the context of economic development.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study was conducted based on 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) with a sample of 16,545 individuals. A moderated mediation model is constructed to evaluate the impact of economic development (GDP) on the degrees of depression, the mediating effect of weak ties, and the moderating effect of residents' residence types (living in urban or rural areas).

RESULTS

Economic development exerts a significant direct impact on depression (β=-1.027, p<0.001). Weak ties are significantly negatively correlated with depression (β=-0.574, p<0.001), and act as a mediator between economic development and local individual depression. In addition, the residence type plays a moderating role between economic development and weak ties (β=0.193, p<0.001). That is, living in urban areas would introduce the higher the level of weak ties.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher economic development is largely conducive to alleviating the degrees of depression, weak ties play a mediating role in economic development and depression, and residence types have a positive moderating effect on the economic development and weak ties.

Associations between Community Parks and Social Interactions in Master-Planned Estates in Sydney, Australia

There have been growing concerns regarding increased social isolation in Australia, many of which are currently being exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Feelings of social isolation may increase the risk of mental issues in people. New Urbanism hypothesizes that neighborhood communal spaces can influence social interaction between residents and, in turn, can promote community sustainability. This study investigated the associations between community parks and social interactions in master-planned estates (MPEs) in Sydney, Australia. Data were obtained from a resident survey conducted in two MPEs in the inner west area of Sydney: Breakfast Point and Liberty Grove (n = 192). Hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) models were used to analyze the relationship between community park use and social interaction. This study found that the factors ‘frequency of community park use’, ‘rest spaces satisfaction’, and ‘pedestrian connectivity with surroundings’ are significantly and positively associated with social interaction between residents in the MPE context. The findings of this study highlight the importance of the community parks in creating social sustainability in MPEs, particularly in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

Three-year effects of neighborhood social network intervention on mental and physical health of older adults

OBJECTIVES

Although neighborhood is considered to be a crucial source of social network to promote health among older adults, current findings are mostly derived from observational study designs. This study examined whether participations in event-based community programs could increase neighborhood social network and whether such increase could lead to desirable changes in mental and physical health among older adults.

METHOD

This study employed quasi-experimental design. A baseline questionnaire survey was sent to residents of Tsurukabuto community aged 60 years or more (n = 1769); 1,068 responded. Community events were implemented approximately once a month for three years. Then, a three-year follow-up survey questionnaire was sent to the respondents of the baseline survey. The total number of respondents in the latter survey was 662; of the total, 173 participated in the intervention. Strong and weak ties with neighbors, mental well-being (Ikigai-9), health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) were measured in the surveys.

RESULTS

The path analysis revealed that intervention participation was significantly associated with changes in strong ties (standardized path coefficient = 0.12) and changes in strong ties were associated with those in Ikigai-9 scores (standardized path coefficient = 0.15). The total and indirect effects of intervention participation on Ikigai-9 scores were significant. Significant intervention effects were not observed for HRQOL and IADL scores.

CONCLUSION

This study found that participation in our event-based intervention could indirectly and positively influence older adults' mental well-being through their strong ties with their neighbors.

Social Cohesion, Neighborhood Collective Efficacy, and Adolescent Subjective Well-being in Urban and Rural Taiwan

This study investigates the association between neighborhood social cohesion, collective efficacy, and adolescent subjective well-being in a nationally representative sample of Taiwanese youth. The study represents a first to adapt and test a developmental ecological model within a Chinese cultural context. Data came from the Taiwan Youth Project, which assessed representative samples of seventh graders (n = 2,690) and ninth graders (n = 2,851) from both urban and rural counties. The analytic sample included 4,988 adolescents (M age = 14.4, SD = 1.14; 50% female) in Taiwan. A path analysis estimated the direct and indirect effects of social cohesion on adolescent well-being. The results suggest that neighbors can affect young people's well-being by reinforcing their perception of safety and enhancing their self-esteem. Comparisons between youth from urban and rural areas demonstrate a general similarity in the developmental processes, though the perception of safety is less of a concern in rural areas. Findings emphasize universal aspects of neighborhood collective efficacy and developmental-ecological models, as well as allude to culturally specific dimensions in a Chinese-based context.