Neighborhood Social Cohesion Associates with Loneliness Differently among Older People According to Subjective Social Status.
OBJECTIVES
To examine whether neighborhood social cohesion can alleviate the negative impact of low subjective social status on feelings of loneliness.


DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.


SETTING
Community, Hong Kong.


PARTICIPANTS
Older people who participated in a cohort study on osteoporosis and general health in Hong Kong (MrOs study).


METHODS
Data were sourced from the 14-year follow-up data of the MrOs study. Loneliness was measured using the 6-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Neighborhood social cohesion was measured by the Hong Kong version of Neighborhood Cohesion Instrument. Linear regression models were used to examine the associations between neighborhood social cohesion and loneliness, controlled for age, sex, marital status, educational level, lifestyle, number of diseases, and maximum lifetime income. The analyses were stratified by subjective social status as measured by a 10-rung self-anchoring scale.


RESULTS
1,037 participants with a mean age of 83 years were included in the study, of whom 72%, 83%, and 64% were classified as at risk of overall loneliness, emotional loneliness, and social loneliness, respectively. Those who were classified as at risk of overall loneliness reported lower subjective social status and had lower levels of neighborhood social cohesion. Linear regression models showed that higher levels of neighborhood social cohesion were associated with lower levels of overall and social loneliness. Stratified analyses showed that the associations between neighborhood social cohesion and loneliness vary across subjective social status groups. Among those with low/middle social status ranking, higher levels of neighborhood social cohesion were associated with lower overall (low-ranking B=-0.111, p=0.001; middle-ranking B=-0.057, p=0.026) and social (low-ranking B=-0.093, p<0.001; middle-ranking B=-0.073, p<0.001) loneliness scores. Among those with high ranking, higher levels of neighborhood social cohesion were associated with lower overall (B=-0.099, p=0.041) and emotional (B=-0.056, p=0.017) loneliness scores, but the associations became insignificant when controlling for maximum lifetime income.


CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
Neighborhood social cohesion may operate differently in different social ranking groups. Interventions to alleviate feelings of loneliness should be subjective social status specific.
['Yu|R|R|', 'Leung|G|G|', 'Chan|J|J|', 'Yip|B H K|BHK|', 'Wong|S|S|', 'Kwok|T|T|', 'Woo|J|J|']
D000367:Age Factors D000369:Aged, 80 and over D015331:Cohort Studies D003299:Cooperative Behavior D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D006723:Hong Kong D006801:Humans D008132:Loneliness D008297:Male D012929:Psychological Distance D012111:Residence Characteristics
social cohesion loneliness social status Ageing socioeconomic status