School of Social Work, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA.
Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Health Soc Care Community. 2022 Nov;30(6):e4909-e4919. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13903. Epub 2022 Jun 29.
Social isolation has been associated with poor mental health outcomes, particularly for older immigrants who do not have a protective social environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of social isolation (living alone, marginal family ties and marginal friend ties) with mental distress and to examine the moderating role of social cohesion (family cohesion and community cohesion). We hypothesised that social isolation and social cohesion would be directly associated with mental distress and that social cohesion would buffer the influence of social isolation on mental distress. Data were drawn from the Study of Older Korean Americans (SOKA), which included 2150 older Korean Americans aged 60 or over in multiple areas, collected during 2017-2018. A series of hierarchical regression models of mental distress examined the direct and interactive role of social isolation and social cohesion. Approximately one-third of the sample lived alone, 20% had marginal family ties and 27% had marginal friend ties. All three indicators of social isolation had a significant direct effect on mental health; however, living alone lost its statistical significance with the inclusion of social cohesion variables. Both indicators of family and community cohesion were significantly associated with lower levels of mental distress. In addition, family cohesion buffered the negative effects of marginal ties to family and friends on mental distress. The significant role of a positive social environment must be considered when addressing the needs of older immigrants who are socially isolated.
社会隔离与心理健康状况不佳有关，特别是对于那些没有保护性社会环境的老年移民。本研究旨在探讨社会隔离（独居、边缘家庭关系和边缘朋友关系）与精神困扰的关系，并检验社会凝聚力（家庭凝聚力和社区凝聚力）的调节作用。我们假设社会隔离和社会凝聚力与精神困扰直接相关，社会凝聚力将缓冲社会隔离对精神困扰的影响。数据来自于韩国老年人研究（SOKA），该研究包括 2017 年至 2018 年期间在多个地区的 2150 名 60 岁或以上的韩国老年人。一系列精神困扰的分层回归模型检验了社会隔离和社会凝聚力的直接和交互作用。大约三分之一的样本独居，20%的人家庭关系边缘，27%的人朋友关系边缘。社会隔离的三个指标都对心理健康有显著的直接影响；然而，随着社会凝聚力变量的纳入，独居的统计显著性丧失。家庭和社区凝聚力的两个指标都与较低水平的精神困扰显著相关。此外，家庭凝聚力缓冲了家庭和朋友边缘关系对精神困扰的负面影响。在满足社会隔离的老年移民的需求时，必须考虑积极的社会环境的重要作用。
