Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Open University, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Aging Ment Health. 2020 Dec;24(12):2034-2042. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2019.1650887. Epub 2019 Aug 7.
The current study aims to add to the limited empirical research of possible benefits of personal social capital for the well-being of elderly. A validated personal social capital scale, measuring both and social capital in a general population, was adjusted to fit the characteristics of the social environment of elderly, to explore the association between social capital and well-being of elderly, as well as the mediating role of loneliness.
A sample of 328 Dutch adults, varying in age from 65 to 90 years ( = 72.07; = 4.90) filled out an online questionnaire including the adapted personal social capital scale for elderly (PSCSE), as well as validated scales measuring social, emotional, and psychological well-being and loneliness. Relevant other (demographic) variables were included for testing construct and criterion validity.
CFA analysis revealed the subdimensions bonding and bridging social capital with reliability scores of respectively = .88 and = .87, and = .89 for the total scale. Regression analyses confirmed construct and criterion validity. Subsequently, significant positive associations between bondin social capital and respectively social, emotional and psychological well-being were found. These associations were mediated by . social capital was only found to be significantly associated with well-being, not mediated by loneliness.
Our findings have enhanced our understanding of the association between social capital and mental well-being of elderly and indicate that bonding personal social capital in particular may be considered an ingredient for positive aging.
本研究旨在补充有关个人社会资本对老年人福祉可能有益的有限实证研究。采用经过验证的个人社会资本量表，测量一般人群中的 和 社会资本，对其进行调整以适应老年人社会环境的特点，探讨社会资本与老年人福祉之间的关系，以及孤独感的中介作用。
本研究采用线上问卷调查的方式，调查了 328 名年龄在 65 至 90 岁之间的荷兰成年人（ = 72.07； = 4.90），调查内容包括适用于老年人的个人社会资本量表（PSCSE）以及测量社会、情感和心理幸福感和孤独感的经过验证的量表。同时纳入了相关的其他（人口统计学）变量，以检验结构和效标效度。
验证性因素分析显示，具有可靠性得分分别为 = .88 和 = .87 的两个亚维度（结合和桥接社会资本），以及总量表的 = .89。回归分析证实了结构和效标效度。随后，发现结合社会资本与社会、情感和心理幸福感之间存在显著正相关。这种相关性是由 介导的。而 社会资本仅与 幸福感显著相关，并不受孤独感的影响。
本研究结果增强了我们对社会资本与老年人心理健康之间关系的理解，并表明结合个人社会资本尤其可以被视为积极老龄化的一个因素。
