Social network and mental health of Chinese immigrants in affordable senior housing during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods study

Abstract

Objective

Chinese immigrant older adults who live in affordable housing are at high risk of experiencing social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, which can affect their mental health. Using a triangulation mixed-methods approach, this study describes Chinese immigrant older adults’ social network, mental health status, and their associations during the pandemic.

Methods

Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 26 Chinese immigrant older adults from June to August 2021. The structure and characteristics of participants’ social networks were assessed with a name-generating approach. Mental health status was self-reported with Geriatric Depression Scale and UCLA loneliness scale.

Results

This sample (mean age = 78.12, 69.23% female), on average, had 5.08 social ties in their network, and 58% were family ties. Participants reported decreased social contact, family and friends interaction patterns specific to immigrants, and constantly being in a low mood and bored. Having closer relationships with others and maintaining the same or higher contact frequency after COVID-19 onset was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Resilience from religious beliefs, neighbors as role models, and wisdom learned from past experiences were reported.

Conclusion

Knowledge built in this study can inform respondence to future crises like the COVID-19 pandemic in affordable housing settings serving older immigrant populations.

Keywords:

• Migration and aging
• social relationships
• loneliness
• depression
• resilience

Acknowledgments

We thank Luyan Yang, Charlene Li, Coco Yang & Lily Kung for helping the research team recruit participants and collect data. We appreciate Graham DiGuiseppi for providing feedback on the social network analysis methodology. Lastly, we thank our participants for sharing their knowledge and lived experiences with us.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study is supported by National Institute on Aging (NIA) under grants F99AG068492 and K00AG068492.