Nan Lu1, Changmin Peng2. 1. Department of Social Work, School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China, No. 59 Zhongguancun St., Haidian District, Beijing, China. Electronic address: nalv9728@ruc.edu.cn. 2. Department of Gerontology, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA 02125-3393, United States.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of cognitive social capital in the association between community-based structural social capital and depressive symptoms among older adults living in urban China. METHODS: Data were derived from a community survey conducted in Suzhou City, China, in late 2015 with 456 respondents aged 60 or older. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypothesis. RESULTS: The latent variables of cognitive and structural social capital were established. Cognitive social capital was found to have a mediation effect on the association between structural social capital and depressive symptoms, even after controlling for the respondents' sociodemographic characteristics, health status, and family variables. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the utility of social capital theory in urban Chinese contexts. A more comprehensive assessment tool to measure structural social capital should be built nationwide. Fostering cognitive social capital should play an important role in interventions aiming to enhance structural social capital among older adults. Policy and intervention implications are discussed.
OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of cognitive social capital in the association between community-based structural social capital and depressive symptoms among older adults living in urban China. METHODS: Data were derived from a community survey conducted in Suzhou City, China, in late 2015 with 456 respondents aged 60 or older. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypothesis. RESULTS: The latent variables of cognitive and structural social capital were established. Cognitive social capital was found to have a mediation effect on the association between structural social capital and depressive symptoms, even after controlling for the respondents' sociodemographic characteristics, health status, and family variables. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the utility of social capital theory in urban Chinese contexts. A more comprehensive assessment tool to measure structural social capital should be built nationwide. Fostering cognitive social capital should play an important role in interventions aiming to enhance structural social capital among older adults. Policy and intervention implications are discussed.
Authors: Lei He; Bin Yu; Jun Yu; Jun Xiong; Yuling Huang; Tian Xie; Qi Chai; Bo Gao; Shujuan Yang Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2021-12-11 Impact factor: 3.295