Community support, social isolation and older adults’ life satisfaction: evidence from a national survey in China

Abstract

Objectives

Despite the recognized importance of community social service and community built facility for enhancing older adults’ life satisfaction, the mechanisms underlying their relationship have not been thoroughly examined. This study aims to complement the existing knowledge by investigating the mediating role of social disconnectedness and loneliness in the association between community support and life satisfaction among older adults.

Methods

Using data from the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, the study analyzes responses from 9,874 Chinese older adults (mean age = 71.30 years, SD = 7.30). We conducted descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation to explore the variables. This study also used Mplus 8.0 to conduct a path analysis model that evaluated both the direct and indirect effects of community social service and built facility on life satisfaction. Social disconnectedness and loneliness were included as mediating variables in this model.

Results

The present study results show that both community social service and community built facility are positively associated with life satisfaction among older adults, and community social service is more imporatant for enhancing the life satisfaction. In addition, these associations are mediated by social disconnectedness and loneliness.

Conclusion

Our research suggests that strengthening community social service programs and improving the built environment can reduce social disconnectedness and loneliness among older adults, ultimately enhancing their life satisfaction. Specifically, policymakers can invest in targeted interventions to enhance social connectedness and reduce loneliness, with the goal of improving the overall well-being of older adults.

Keywords:

• Community support
• social disconnectedness
• loneliness
• life satisfaction
• older adults

Acknowledgments

Data used in this study were from 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS) collected by the National Survey Research Center at Renmin University of China (NSRC). The authors appreciate the assistance in providing data of 2018 CLASS.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Submission declaration

The authors declare that this paper has not been published previously and it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.