Abstract
Population aging has become one of the most prominent population trends in China and worldwide. Given the retirement and physical limitation of the elderly, the neighborhood has gradually become the center of their daily lives and communication. Community cohesion plays an essential role in improving the elderly’s subjective wellbeing. However, most present studies on the concept and relationship between different dimensions of community cohesion are mainly in western countries. Meanwhile, most of the studies on the relationship between community cohesion and subjective wellbeing only focused on one aspect of community cohesion such as community interaction. To address this research gap, this study sampled 20 communities in Guangzhou, conducted a questionnaire survey on 969 elderly people, and explored the relationship between four aspects of community cohesion (community interaction, environmental satisfaction, belonging, and participation) and their associations with subjective wellbeing using the Structural Equation Model (SEM). In addition, we performed multi-group analysis to study the association differences among older individuals in communities with different socioeconomic types. We found that: (1) The conceptual relationship between different aspects of community cohesion among older adults is significant; (2) Community environmental satisfaction, interaction, and belonging associate with the elderly’s subjective wellbeing, whereas there is no significant association between community participation and subjective wellbeing; (3) Mental health is an important mediating factor connecting community cohesion and subjective wellbeing, whereas physical health is not. (4) The association pattern of older adults in communities with different socio-economic status are identical, whereas the association strengths are different. In high Socio-Economic Status Index (SESI) communities (communities where older adults with relatively high socioeconomic attributes gather, such as high income and education level), community belonging and participation are significantly associated with community environmental satisfaction and interaction, respectively. In low SESI communities (communities in which older adults with relatively low socioeconomic attributes gather, such as low income and education level), community interaction, belonging, and participation considerably link to community environmental satisfaction, interaction, and belonging, respectively. Regarding the association between community cohesion and subjective wellbeing, community interaction has stronger linkage with the elderly’s subjective wellbeing of in high-SESI aging community than low-SESI aging community. While community environmental satisfaction has stronger association with the elderly’s subjective wellbeing of the elderly in low-SESI aging community than high-SESI aging community. Therefore, it is sensible for community planning to focus on community environment improvement and vibrant community activities organization.
Highlights
Since the 1950s, aging has gradually become a worldwide population phenomenon.According to the United Nations, it is estimated that by 2050, there will be more older adults (60 years old and above) than adolescents and youth aged 10–24 in the world, and about 80% of the elderly in the world will live in developing countries [1]
By establishing a theoretical Structural Equation Model (SEM) on the basis of existing studies, the modified model was used to explore the interrelationships between four dimensions of community cohesion and its linkages between community and the subjective wellbeing of the elderly in 20 residential communities in Guangzhou, China
Because different from the elderly in Western countries, who tend to live in relatively smaller households, the elderly in China rely on strong family ties, which play an important role in maintaining their subjective wellbeing [11,121,122]
Summary
According to the United Nations, it is estimated that by 2050, there will be more older adults (60 years old and above) than adolescents and youth aged 10–24 in the world, and about 80% of the elderly in the world will live in developing countries [1]. According to the data from the National Bureau of Statistics in China, by the end of 2019, the number of older adults reached 253 million, accounting for 18.1% of its total population [3]. Family and community relationship networks have become the primary source of their daily recreational activities and social life [5]. Given that the distance between the elderly and their families limits the communication between them, the neighborhood has become an important place of their daily life and communication
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