Community Social Capital, Family Social Capital, and Self-Rated Health among Older Rural Chinese Adults: Empirical Evidence from Rural Northeastern China.

Nan Lu,Shicun Xu,Jingyue Zhang

doi:10.3390/ijerph18115516

Nan Lu, Shicun Xu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18115516

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Abstract

This study investigated the relationships among community social capital, family social capital, and self-rated health of older adults in rural China. Data came from a community survey in Jilin Province, China, in 2019. Using a quota sampling method, 458 respondents aged 60 years or older were recruited. Two-step structural equation modeling was adopted to examine the proposed hypotheses. The relationships between community-based structural social capital, family social capital and self-rated health were statistically significant, whereas the relationship between community-based cognitive social capital and self-rated health was statistically nonsignificant. In order to enhance healthy aging, social capital policies and interventions should be developed to promote not only family social capital indicators (e.g., quality of family relationship and support) but also older adults’ structural social capital indicators (e.g., social participation and volunteering) in rural Chinese contexts.

Highlights

Community-based structural social capital is significantly associated with Self-rated health (SRH) of older adults in rural China, when family social capital is controlled
Community-based cognitive social capital is significantly associated with SRH of older adults in rural China, when family social capital is controlled
The present study simultaneously tested the relationships among community social capital, family social capital, and SRH in older age in rural Chinese community contexts

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The proportion of older population has grown rapidly in China. The number of adults aged 65 years old or older reached 180 million in 2020, which represents around 13% of the Chinese population [1]. This process of population aging is expected to continue in the few decades, especially in terms of oldest-old adults, those aged 80 years or older.

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