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Social network type and subjective well-being in a national sample of older Americans
- Authors:
- LITWIN Howard, SHIOVITZ-EZRA Sharon
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 51(3), June 2011, pp.379-388.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Using a sample of 1,462 people aged 65 years and older from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, a survey examining health and interpersonal connections among older Americans, this study looked at social networks and well-being. It examined associations between network types and 3 selected well-being indicators: loneliness, anxiety, and happiness. Cluster analysis was used to derive 5 social network types: diverse, friend, congregants, family, and restricted. The article describes the analysis and the results. Social network type was found to be associated with each of the well-being indicators. The authors conclude that the findings confirmed that networks with a wider range of social ties were related to better well-being in terms of less loneliness, less anxiety, and greater happiness.
Network type and mortality risk in later life
- Authors:
- LITWIN Howard, SHIOVITZ-EZRA Sharon
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 46(6), December 2006, pp.735-743.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
The purpose of this study was to examine the association of baseline network type and 7-year mortality risk in later life. The authors executed secondary analysis of all-cause mortality in Israel using data from a 1997 national survey of adults aged 60 and older (N = 5,055) that was linked to records from the National Death Registry up to 2004. Six network types - diverse, friend focused, neighbour focused, family focused, community–clan, and restricted - were then considered in the analysis, controlling for population group, sociodemographic background, and health factors. Network types were associated with mortality in the 70-79 and 80 and older age groups. Respondents located in diverse and friend-focused network types, and to a lesser degree those located in community–clan network types, had a lower risk of mortality compared to individuals belonging to restricted networks. It is concluded that gerontological practitioners should address older adults' social networks in their assessments of clients. The parameters used to derive network types in this study can serve toward the development of practical network type inventories. Moreover, practitioners should tailor the interventions they implement to the different network types in which their elderly clients are embedded.
The association between activity and wellbeing in later life: what really matters?
- Authors:
- LITWIN Howard, SHIOVITZ-EZRA Sharon
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 26(2), March 2006, pp.225-242.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This paper reports a study of the complex associations between older people's participation in activities and their wellbeing in later life using data from a national sample of 1,334 Jewish-Israeli retirees. Confirmatory factor analysis substantiated a division of the activities into solitary, formal and informal categories, as postulated by activity theory. The outcome measure, the latent construct wellbeing, was compiled from scores on the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), a global measure of life satisfaction, and a measure of satisfaction with the use of time. The analysis also examined the influence of socio-economic status, health status and the quality of inter-personal relationships. ‘Social relationship quality’, also a latent construct, was a composite of measures of satisfaction with children, friends and neighbours and a self-rated loneliness scale. Path analysis using structural equation modelling was employed. The results showed that when the quality of social relationships was taken into account, the amount of activity had no independent effect on the respondents' wellbeing. Moreover, it was social relationship quality, a facet of informal activity that has generally been neglected in activity research, that emerged as the most influential variable in the association between activity and wellbeing. Thus, the findings provide empirical backing for the assertion that the quality of social ties matters more than activity participation per se as predictors of a good old age.