| Title |
Social networks and mental health among older Europeans: are there age effects?
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
European Journal of Ageing, June 2015
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10433-015-0347-y |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Howard Litwin, Kimberly J. Stoeckel, Ella Schwartz |
| Abstract |
This study examined different components of personal social networks-structure, interaction, and quality-and the extent to which each is related to mental health among a 65+ sample (n = 26,784) taken from the fourth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe. The first aim of the study was to determine which network components had the strongest associations with the number of depressive symptoms, measured on the EURO-D scale. Secondly, the study considered if and how age impacted the associations between social network and depression, using interaction terms that paired age category (age 65-79; age 80+) with the score on each network component. Hierarchical OLS regressions revealed that social network quality and network structure were both negatively related to the number of depressive symptoms. The association between network size (structure) and depression was even greater among those 80+. Age differences were also found for network interaction. More frequent contact with the network was related to a greater extent of depressive symptoms, but only among respondents aged 80 and older. Closer geographic proximity was related to having fewer depressive symptoms, but only among respondents aged 65-79. The findings imply that the association between meaningful personal relationships and depression in late life is nuanced by both network characteristics and by age. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 4 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 2 | 50% |
| Spain | 1 | 25% |
| Hungary | 1 | 25% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 3 | 75% |
| Scientists | 1 | 25% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 58 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 58 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 11 | 19% |
| Student > Master | 9 | 16% |
| Researcher | 6 | 10% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 6 | 10% |
| Professor > Associate Professor | 3 | 5% |
| Other | 7 | 12% |
| Unknown | 16 | 28% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Social Sciences | 20 | 34% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 7 | 12% |
| Psychology | 5 | 9% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 3 | 5% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 5 | 9% |
| Unknown | 17 | 29% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 9. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 September 2020.
All research outputs
#3,740,528
of 23,613,071 outputs
Outputs from European Journal of Ageing
#87
of 339 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#42,563
of 240,613 outputs
Outputs of similar age from European Journal of Ageing
#2
of 9 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,613,071 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 84th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 339 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.7. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 74% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 240,613 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 82% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 9 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 7 of them.