IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v173y2017icp88-95.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social network types among older Korean adults: Associations with subjective health

Author

Listed:
  • Sohn, Sung Yun
  • Joo, Won-tak
  • Kim, Woo Jung
  • Kim, Se Joo
  • Youm, Yoosik
  • Kim, Hyeon Chang
  • Park, Yeong-Ran
  • Lee, Eun

Abstract

With population aging now a global phenomenon, the health of older adults is becoming an increasingly important issue. Because the Korean population is aging at an unprecedented rate, preparing for public health problems associated with old age is particularly salient in this country. As the physical and mental health of older adults is related to their social relationships, investigating the social networks of older adults and their relationship to health status is important for establishing public health policies. The aims of this study were to identify social network types among older adults in South Korea and to examine the relationship of these social network types with self-rated health and depression. Data from the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project were analyzed. Model-based clustering using finite normal mixture modeling was conducted to identify the social network types based on ten criterion variables of social relationships and activities: marital status, number of children, number of close relatives, number of friends, frequency of attendance at religious services, attendance at organized group meetings, in-degree centrality, out-degree centrality, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to examine associations between the identified social network types and self-rated health and depression. The model-based clustering analysis revealed that social networks clustered into five types: diverse, family, congregant, congregant-restricted, and restricted. Diverse or family social network types were significantly associated with more favorable subjective mental health, whereas the restricted network type was significantly associated with poorer ratings of mental and physical health. In addition, our analysis identified unique social network types related to religious activities. In summary, we developed a comprehensive social network typology for older Korean adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Sohn, Sung Yun & Joo, Won-tak & Kim, Woo Jung & Kim, Se Joo & Youm, Yoosik & Kim, Hyeon Chang & Park, Yeong-Ran & Lee, Eun, 2017. "Social network types among older Korean adults: Associations with subjective health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 88-95.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:173:y:2017:i:c:p:88-95
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.11.042
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795361630661X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.11.042?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. Bun Song Lee & Joseph M. Phillips, 1994. "The Impact Of Rural Outmigration On Region Of Origin In Korea," Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(1), pages 22-41, January.
    2. Aleksej Bukov & Ineke Maas & Thomas Lampert, 2002. "Social Participation in Very Old Age," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 57(6), pages 510-517.
    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. Anonymous, 2014. "Introduction to the Issue," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 1-2, May.
    5. 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.
    6. Kenzie Latham & Philippa J. Clarke & Greg Pavela, 2015. "Social Relationships, Gender, and Recovery From Mobility Limitation Among Older Americans," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 70(5), pages 769-781.
    7. Benjamin Cornwell & L. Philip Schumm & Edward O. Laumann & Jessica Graber, 2009. "Social Networks in the NSHAP Study: Rationale, Measurement, and Preliminary Findings," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(suppl_1), pages 47-55.
    8. Anonymous, 2014. "Introduction to the Issue," Journal of Wine Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(2), pages 109-110, August.
    9. Sheung-Tak Cheng & Coty K. L. Lee & Alfred C. M. Chan & Edward M. F. Leung & Jik-Joen Lee, 2009. "Social Network Types and Subjective Well-being in Chinese Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(6), pages 713-722.
    10. Nan Sook Park & Yuri Jang & Beom S. Lee & Jung Eun Ko & William E. Haley & David A. Chiriboga, 2015. "An Empirical Typology of Social Networks and Its Association With Physical and Mental Health: A Study With Older Korean Immigrants," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 70(1), pages 67-76.
    11. Carol Magai & Nathan S. Consedine & Arlene R. King & Michael Gillespie, 2003. "Physical Hardiness and Styles of Socioemotional Functioning in Later Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(5), pages 269-279.
    12. Noah J. Webster & Toni C. Antonucci & Kristine J. Ajrouch & Sawsan Abdulrahim, 2015. "Social Networks and Health Among Older Adults in Lebanon: The Mediating Role of Support and Trust," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 70(1), pages 155-166.
    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. Haosen Sun & Markus Schafer, 2022. "Close ties, near and far away: patterns and predictors of geographic network range among older Europeans," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 699-716, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Byoung-Jin Jeon & Kang-Hyun Park, 2022. "The Impact of Social Network Characteristics on Health among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Korea: Application of Social Network Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-9, March.
    4. Liping Ye & Xinping Zhang, 2019. "Social Network Types and Health among Older Adults in Rural China: The Mediating Role of Social Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, January.
    5. Kyung-Won Choi & Gyeong-Suk Jeon, 2021. "Social Network Types and Depressive Symptoms among Older Korean Men and Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-14, October.

    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. Sónia Guadalupe & Henrique Testa Vicente, 2022. "Types of Personal Social Networks of Older Adults in Portugal," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 445-466, April.
    2. Howard Litwin & Michal Levinsky & Ella Schwartz, 2020. "Network type, transition patterns and well-being among older Europeans," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 241-250, June.
    3. Torres, Zaira & Oliver, Amparo & Tomás, José M. & Kondo, Naoki, 2024. "Exploring social network typologies and their impact on health and mental well-being in older adults: Evidence from JAGES," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    4. Angelina Wilson & Marie P. Wissing & Lusilda Schutte, 2019. "“We Help each Other”: Relational Patterns among Older Individuals in South African Samples," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(5), pages 1373-1392, November.
    5. CHEN, Helen S.Y., 2020. "Designing Sustainable Humanitarian Supply Chains," OSF Preprints m82ar, Center for Open Science.
    6. Eunae Yoo & Elliot Rabinovich & Bin Gu, 2020. "The Growth of Follower Networks on Social Media Platforms for Humanitarian Operations," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(12), pages 2696-2715, December.
    7. Ya Sun & Gongyuan Wang & Haiying Feng, 2021. "Linguistic Studies on Social Media: A Bibliometric Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(3), pages 21582440211, September.
    8. Winskell, Kate & Sabben, Gaëlle, 2016. "Sexual stigma and symbolic violence experienced, enacted, and counteracted in young Africans’ writing about same-sex attraction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 143-150.
    9. Shisong Jiang, 2021. "“When Paradigms Are Out of Place”: Embracing Eclecticism in Legal Scholarship by Academic Turns," Laws, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, October.
    10. Houshmand Masoumi, 2021. "Residential Location Choice in Istanbul, Tehran, and Cairo: The Importance of Commuting to Work," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-18, May.
    11. Tanja Lepistö & Tiina Mäkitalo-Keinonen & Tiina Valjakka, 0. "Opportunity recognition in a hub-governed network – insights from garage services," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-24.
    12. Holbig, Heike, 2015. "The Plasticity of Regions: A Social Sciences–Cultural Studies Dialogue on Asia-Related Area Studies," GIGA Working Papers 267, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    13. Wagner, Sebastian & Brandt, Tobias & Neumann, Dirk, 2016. "In free float: Developing Business Analytics support for carsharing providers," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 59(PA), pages 4-14.
    14. 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.
    15. Peterson K. Ozili, 2020. "Does competence of central bank governors influence financial stability?," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-20, December.
    16. Andrea Pieroni & Roman Hovsepyan & Ajmal K. Manduzai & Renata Sõukand, 2021. "Wild food plants traditionally gathered in central Armenia: archaic ingredients or future sustainable foods?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 2358-2381, February.
    17. Willems, Kim & Smolders, Annelien & Brengman, Malaika & Luyten, Kris & Schöning, Johannes, 2017. "The path-to-purchase is paved with digital opportunities: An inventory of shopper-oriented retail technologies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 228-242.
    18. Jean, Ruey Jer “Bryan” & Kim, Daekwan & Bello, Daniel C., 2017. "Relationship-based product innovations: Evidence from the global supply chain," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 127-140.
    19. Kassens-Noor, Eva & Cai, Meng & Kotval-Karamchandani, Zeenat & Decaminada, Travis, 2021. "Autonomous vehicles and mobility for people with special needs," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 385-397.
    20. Simeone, Luca & Secundo, Giustina & Schiuma, Giovanni, 2017. "Adopting a design approach to translate needs and interests of stakeholders in academic entrepreneurship: The MIT Senseable City Lab case," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 64, pages 58-67.

    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:173:y:2017:i:c:p:88-95. 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.