IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v166y2016icp137-149.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

All in the family: The link between kin network bridging and cardiovascular risk among older adults

Author

Listed:
  • Goldman, Alyssa W.

Abstract

While considerable work has examined the association between social relationships and health, most of this research focuses on the relevance of social network composition and the quality of dyadic ties. In this study, I consider how the social network structure of ties among older adults' close family members may affect cardiovascular health in later life. Using data from 938 older adults that participated in Waves 1 and 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), I test whether older adults who occupy bridging positions among otherwise disconnected or poorly connected kin in their personal social network are more likely to present elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker for cardiovascular risk. Results indicate that occupying a bridging position among family members is significantly associated with elevated CRP. This effect is unique to bridging kin network members. These findings suggest that ties among one's closest kin may generate important resources and norms that influence older adults' health, such that bridging kin network members may compromise physical wellbeing. I discuss these results in the context of prior work on social support, family solidarity, and health in later life.

Suggested Citation

  • Goldman, Alyssa W., 2016. "All in the family: The link between kin network bridging and cardiovascular risk among older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 137-149.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:166:y:2016:i:c:p:137-149
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.035
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953616303963
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.07.035?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cornwell, Benjamin & Laumann, Edward O., 2015. "The health benefits of network growth: New evidence from a national survey of older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 94-106.
    2. Berkman, Lisa F. & Glass, Thomas & Brissette, Ian & Seeman, Teresa E., 2000. "From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 843-857, September.
    3. Umberson, Debra, 1992. "Gender, marital status and the social control of health behavior," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 907-917, April.
    4. Adena M. Galinsky & Linda J. Waite, 2014. "Sexual Activity and Psychological Health As Mediators of the Relationship Between Physical Health and Marital Quality," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 69(3), pages 482-492.
    5. Richard Suzman, 2009. "The National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project: An Introduction," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(suppl_1), pages 5-11.
    6. Oliver Huxhold & Martina Miche & Benjamin Schüz, 2014. "Editor's choice Benefits of Having Friends in Older Ages: Differential Effects of Informal Social Activities on Well-Being in Middle-Aged and Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 69(3), pages 366-375.
    7. Dima M. Qato & L. Philip Schumm & Michael Johnson & Andreea Mihai & Stacy Tessler Lindau, 2009. "Medication Data Collection and Coding in a Home-Based Survey of Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(suppl_1), pages 86-93.
    8. Silverstein, Merril & Bengtson, Vern L., 1994. "Does intergenerational social support influence the psychological well-being of older parents? The contingencies of declining health and widowhood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 943-957, April.
    9. Markus H. Schafer & Jonathan Koltai, 2015. "Does Embeddedness Protect? Personal Network Density and Vulnerability to Mistreatment Among Older American Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 70(4), pages 597-606.
    10. Katherine L. Fiori & Toni C. Antonucci & Kai S. Cortina, 2006. "Social Network Typologies and Mental Health Among Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(1), pages 25-32.
    11. Bearman, P.S. & Moody, J., 2004. "Suicide and Friendships among American Adolescents," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(1), pages 89-95.
    12. Mineau, Geraldine P. & Smith, Ken R. & Bean, Lee L., 2002. "Historical trends of survival among widows and widowers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 245-254, January.
    13. Seeman, Teresa E. & Berkman, Lisa F., 1988. "Structural characteristics of social networks and their relationship with social support in the elderly: Who provides support," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 26(7), pages 737-749, January.
    14. Yang, Yang Claire & Schorpp, Kristen & Harris, Kathleen Mullan, 2014. "Social support, social strain and inflammation: Evidence from a national longitudinal study of U.S. adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 124-135.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qu, Tianyao, 2024. "A bridge too far? Social network structure as a determinant of depression in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    2. Zongyu Liu & Liangyu Zhao & Shuzhen Wang & Yubo Gao & Liguo Zhang, 2022. "The Association between Occupational Stress and Mental Health among Chinese Soccer Referees in the Early Stage of Reopening Soccer Matches during the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak: A Moderated Mediation ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Jianliang Nie & Bohan Chen & Yini Liao & Yufeng Wu & Dan Li, 2023. "The Characteristics and the Influencing Factors of Rural Elders’ Social Networks: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-13, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qu, Tianyao, 2024. "A bridge too far? Social network structure as a determinant of depression in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    2. Goldman, Alyssa W. & Cornwell, Benjamin, 2015. "Social network bridging potential and the use of complementary and alternative medicine in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 69-80.
    3. Shiovitz-Ezra, Sharon & Litwin, Howard, 2012. "Social network type and health-related behaviors: Evidence from an American national survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 901-904.
    4. Liping Ye & Xinping Zhang, 2021. "The association mechanism between social network types and health‐related behaviours among the elderly in rural Hubei Province, China," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 826-846, May.
    5. Espinosa, Javier & Evans, William N., 2008. "Heightened mortality after the death of a spouse: Marriage protection or marriage selection?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1326-1342, September.
    6. Lakon, Cynthia M. & Ennett, Susan T. & Norton, Edward C., 2006. "Mechanisms through which drug, sex partner, and friendship network characteristics relate to risky needle use among high risk youth and young adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(9), pages 2489-2499, November.
    7. Child, Stephanie T. & Lawton, Leora E., 2020. "Personal networks and associations with psychological distress among young and older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    8. Huijun Liu & Shuzhuo Li & Qunying Xiao & M. Feldman, 2014. "Social Support and Psychological Well-Being Under Social Change in Urban and Rural China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 979-996, November.
    9. Mobasseri, Sanaz & Stein, Daniel H. & Carney, Dana R., 2022. "The accurate judgment of social network characteristics in the lab and field using thin slices of the behavioral stream," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    10. Perkins, Jessica M. & Subramanian, S.V. & Christakis, Nicholas A., 2015. "Social networks and health: A systematic review of sociocentric network studies in low- and middle-income countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 60-78.
    11. Silvana Miceli & Laura Maniscalco & Domenica Matranga, 2019. "Social networks and social activities promote cognitive functioning in both concurrent and prospective time: evidence from the SHARE survey," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 145-154, June.
    12. Min-Ah Lee, 2016. "Social relationships, depressive symptoms and suicidality in Korea: Examining mediating and moderating effects in men and women," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(1), pages 67-75, February.
    13. Heather Booth & Pilar Rioseco & Heather Crawford, 2014. "What can reverse causation tell us about demographic differences in the social network and social support determinants of self-rated health in later life?," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 12(1), pages 23-52.
    14. Wang, Wei-Pang & Wu, Li-Hsueh & Zhang, Wei & Tsay, Ruey-Ming, 2019. "Culturally-specific productive engagement and self-rated health among Taiwanese older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 79-86.
    15. Shor, Eran & Roelfs, David J., 2015. "Social contact frequency and all-cause mortality: A meta-analysis and meta-regression," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 76-86.
    16. Naoki Masuda & Issei Kurahashi & Hiroko Onari, 2013. "Suicide Ideation of Individuals in Online Social Networks," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(4), pages 1-8, April.
    17. Kim, Harris Hyun-Soo, 2015. "School context, friendship ties and adolescent mental health: A multilevel analysis of the Korean Youth Panel Survey (KYPS)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 209-216.
    18. Huijun Liu & Shuzhuo Li & Marc Feldman, 2013. "Gender in Marriage and Life Satisfaction Under Gender Imbalance in China: The Role of Intergenerational Support and SES," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 915-933, December.
    19. Khaksar, Seyed Mohammad Sadegh & Khosla, Rajiv & Chu, Mei Tai & Shahmehr, Fatemeh S., 2016. "Service Innovation Using Social Robot to Reduce Social Vulnerability among Older People in Residential Care Facilities," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 113(PB), pages 438-453.
    20. Zhen Zhang & Jianxin Zhang, 2015. "Social Participation and Subjective Well-Being Among Retirees in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 143-160, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:166:y:2016:i:c:p:137-149. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.