Perceptions of neighborhood environment and loneliness among older Chinese adults: the mediator role of cognitive and structural social capital

Abstract

Objective

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of social capital in the association between perceived physical neighborhood environment and loneliness among older adults in urban China.

Method

Data were derived from face-to-face interviews with people (n = 472) aged 60 or older in urban communities of Shanghai, China, in 2020. Loneliness was measured by the 6-item De Jong Gierveld Scale. A multiple mediator model was adopted to examine the research hypotheses.

Results

Cognitive social capital played a full mediation role in the association between perceived community health care (β = −.061, p < .05), safety (β = −.168, p < .001), recreational services (β = −.058, p < .05), and loneliness. Structural social capital was associated with loneliness (β = −.102, p < .05), whereas its mediator effect was not significant. Perceived transportation convenience had neither a direct nor an indirect effect on loneliness among older adults.

Conclusion

Findings indicate that older adults’ perceptions of healthcare services, safety, and recreational resources could help alleviate their loneliness via fostering cognitive social capital. Interventions improving older adults’ perceptions of community health care, safety, and recreation, and their social capital level could help reduce the prevalence of loneliness.

Keywords:

• Physical neighborhood environment
• cognitive social capital
• structural social capital
• loneliness
• older adults

Ethics approval

Ethics approval has been obtained from the Ethics Committee of the University of Hong Kong (Reference No. EA200113).

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Declaration of contribution of authors

Shan Mao contributed to statistical analysis, original draft preparation and writing, and revision. Vivian W. Q. Lou made contribution to study design, supervision, paper revision. Nan Lu contributed to study design, project administration and supervision, and paper revision.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by fund for building world-class universities (disciplines) of Renmin University of China.