Social Capital and Mental Health among Older Adults Living in Urban China in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic.

Qian Sun,Nan Lu

doi:10.3390/ijerph17217947

Abstract

Although social capital has been found to be an important social determinant of mental health in later life, research on social capital in the context of COVID-19 and the interplay among subdimensions of social capital is lacking. The present study examined the mediating role of cognitive social capital on the relationship between structural social capital and mental health among older adults in urban China in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from the Yangpu district in Shanghai, China, in July–August 2020. A quota sampling approach was used to recruit 472 respondents aged 60 years and older from 23 communities in the Yangpu district. Mental health was measured by depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Cognitive social capital was assessed through trust and reciprocity, and structural social capital was assessed through organization memberships, and COVID-19 related volunteering and citizenship activity. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediation model. The results show that cognitive social capital had a full mediation effect on the association between structural social capital and mental health indicators (life satisfaction: b = 0.122, SD = 0.029, p < 0.001; depressive symptoms: b = −0.343, SD = 0.119, p < 0.01). The findings indicate that social capital can play an important role in sustaining and improving mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Policy and intervention implications are discussed.

Highlights

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has had significant impacts on the health of the world’s older population [1,2,3]
We argue that the promotion of structural social capital could be a more practical approach to develop social capital in the community
The findings show that high cognitive social capital was associated with high levels of trust and reciprocity, whereas high structural social capital was reflected by memberships in organizations and frequent participation in COVID-19-related volunteering and citizenship activities [28,48]

Summary

Introduction

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has had significant impacts on the health of the world’s older population [1,2,3]. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the mental health of older populations [1,2,4]. Preventive strategies regarding COVID-19 often involve lockdowns of communities and social distancing, which could lead to social isolation, loneliness, and inadequate access to health resources [1,2,4,5]. Older adults encounter a range of psychosocial stressors due to the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., anxiety and uncertainty), and have greater difficulty accessing social and medical resources and continuing their social participation

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