IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i2p815-d722943.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Association between Social Participation and Loneliness of the Chinese Older Adults over Time—The Mediating Effect of Social Support

Author

Listed:
  • Lijuan Zhao

    (School of Sociology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China)

  • Lin Wu

    (School of Sociology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China)

Abstract

Based on activity theory, this paper employed data from the 2013, 2015, and 2018 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey, and adopted Hierarchical Linear Modeling and longitudinal mediation analysis to explore the temporal variation characteristics of loneliness and the influence of social participation on loneliness in Chinese Older Adults, as well as the mechanism of them. The study found that loneliness among older adults overall was at a moderate level from 2013 to 2018 and increased over time, which may be related to decreasing social participation from year to year. Decreased social participation was associated with increased loneliness over time (β = −0.060, p < 0.001) and lower social support (β = 0.109, p < 0.001), which was associated with more loneliness (β = −0.098, p < 0.001). In addition, social support played a significant mediating role in the realization of social participation in alleviating loneliness. Social participation can not only directly reduce loneliness, but also reduce loneliness by increasing social support.

Suggested Citation

  • Lijuan Zhao & Lin Wu, 2022. "The Association between Social Participation and Loneliness of the Chinese Older Adults over Time—The Mediating Effect of Social Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:2:p:815-:d:722943
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/2/815/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/2/815/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kexin Yu & Shinyi Wu & Iris Chi & Deborah Carr, 2021. "Internet Use and Loneliness of Older Adults Over Time: The Mediating Effect of Social Contact [The relation between social network site usage and loneliness and mental health in community-dwelling ," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(3), pages 541-550.
    2. Ye Luo & Linda J. Waite, 2014. "Loneliness and Mortality Among Older Adults in China," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 69(4), pages 633-645.
    3. 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.
    4. Hui-Chuan Hsu, 2020. "Typologies of Loneliness, Isolation and Living Alone Are Associated with Psychological Well-Being among Older Adults in Taipei: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Laura Coll-Planas & Dolors Rodríguez-Arjona & Mariona Pons-Vigués & Fredrica Nyqvist & Teresa Puig & Rosa Monteserín, 2021. "“Not Alone in Loneliness”: A Qualitative Evaluation of a Program Promoting Social Capital among Lonely Older People in Primary Health Care," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-19, May.
    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. Hongfeng Zhang & Peng Cheng & Lu Huang, 2023. "The Impact of the Medical Insurance System on the Health of Older Adults in Urban China: Analysis Based on Three-Period Panel Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Shan Lu & Wonseok Oh & Ryozo Ooka & Lijun Wang, 2022. "Effects of Environmental Features in Small Public Urban Green Spaces on Older Adults’ Mental Restoration: Evidence from Tokyo," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-22, April.
    3. Chi Zhang & Yinan Zhao & Xi Chen & Xiaoyang Li & Qingcai Liu & Ruotong Peng & Yifei Chen & Hui Feng, 2023. "Trajectories of Social Participation and Its Predictors in Older Adults: Based on the CLHLS Cohorts from 2002 to 2018," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-11, February.
    4. Shishuai Fan & Yifan Yang, 2022. "How Does Internet Use Improve Mental Health among Middle-Aged and Elderly People in Rural Areas in China? A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), 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. Susan Ka Yee Chow & Florence M. F. Wong & Edward Kwok Yiu Choi, 2021. "Loneliness in Old Age, the Related Factors, and Its Association with Demographics and Districts of Residence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-14, September.
    2. Lijian Wang & Liu Yang & Xiaodong Di & Xiuliang Dai, 2020. "Family Support, Multidimensional Health, and Living Satisfaction among the Elderly: A Case from Shaanxi Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Xiangjing Zhang & Wusi Zhou & Biya Jiang, 2022. "Patterns of Living Lost? Measuring Community Participation and Other Influences on the Health of Older Migrants in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-15, April.
    4. Nikoloski, Zlatko & Zhang, Anwen & Hopkin, Gareth & Mossialos, Elias, 2019. "Self-reported symptoms of depression among Chinese rural-to-urban migrants and left-behind family members," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100854, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Borja Rivero Jiménez & David Conde-Caballero & Lorenzo Mariano Juárez, 2022. "Technological Utopias: Loneliness and Rural Contexts in Western Iberia," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-15, April.
    6. Jinfeng Zhang, 2019. "How Community Participation Promotes the Relocation Adjustment of Older Women: A Moderated Mediation Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 637-655, June.
    7. Chin-Chen Liu & Yi-Tung Lin & Kung-Chuan Cheng & Hsueh-Hsing Pan & Chou-Ping Chiou, 2022. "Predictors of Depression Level among Community-Dwelling Elderly Persons," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-9, August.
    8. Zheng Xie & Adrienne N Poon & Zhijun Wu & Weiyan Jian & Kit Yee Chan, 2015. "Is Occupation a Good Predictor of Self-Rated Health in China?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    9. Puxiang Ren & Jakob Emiliussen & Regina Christiansen & Søren Engelsen & Søren Harnow Klausen, 2022. "Filial Piety, Generativity and Older Adults’ Wellbeing and Loneliness in Denmark and China," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 3069-3090, October.
    10. Samuelson Appau & Sefa Awaworyi Churchill & Russell Smyth & Quanda Zhang, 2022. "Social Capital Inequality and Subjective Wellbeing of Older Chinese," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 541-563, April.
    11. Miao, Jia & Wu, Xiaogang & Sun, Xiulin, 2019. "Neighborhood, social cohesion, and the Elderly's depression in Shanghai," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 134-143.
    12. Haiyang Lu & Peishan Tong & Rong Zhu, 2020. "Longitudinal Evidence on Social Trust and Happiness in China: Causal Effects and Mechanisms," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 1841-1858, June.
    13. Moira Mckniff & Stephanie M. Simone & Tania Giovannetti, 2023. "Age, Loneliness, and Social Media Use in Adults during COVID-19: A Latent Profile Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(11), pages 1-12, May.
    14. Natasja Schutter & Tjalling J. Holwerda & Hannie C. Comijs & Max L. Stek & Jaap Peen & Jack J. M. Dekker, 2022. "Loneliness, social network size and mortality in older adults: a meta-analysis," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1057-1076, December.
    15. Shulin Lai & Yuquan Zhou & Yuan Yuan, 2021. "Associations between Community Cohesion and Subjective Wellbeing of the Elderly in Guangzhou, China—A Cross-Sectional Study Based on the Structural Equation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-23, January.
    16. Qian Jin & Philip Pearce & Hui Hu, 2018. "The Study on the Satisfaction of the Elderly People Living with Their Children," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 1159-1172, December.
    17. Wang, Kun & Gu, Danan, 2023. "Reciprocal associations between social media use and self-perception of aging among older adults: Do men and women differ?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    18. Jiao Zhang & Lingzhong Xu & Jiajia Li & Long Sun & Gan Ding & Wenzhe Qin & Qian Wang & Jing Zhu & Zihang Yu & Su Xie, 2018. "Loneliness and Health Service Utilization among the Rural Elderly in Shandong, China: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-11, July.
    19. Kieran Walsh & Thomas Scharf & Norah Keating, 2017. "Social exclusion of older persons: a scoping review and conceptual framework," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 81-98, March.
    20. Hui You & Yao Wang & Lily Dongxia Xiao & Li Liu, 2022. "Prevalence of and Factors Associated with Negative Psychological Symptoms among Elderly Widows Living Alone in a Chinese Remote Sample: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, December.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:2:p:815-:d:722943. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.