Howard Litwin

Social Networks and Well-being: A Comparison of Older People in Mediterranean and Non-Mediterranean Countries

OBJECTIVES This study examined whether the social networks of older persons in Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean countries were appreciably different and whether they functioned in similar ways in relation to well-being outcomes. METHODS The sample included family household respondents aged 60 years and older from the first wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe in 5 Mediterranean (n = 3,583) and 7 non-Mediterranean (n = 5,471) countries. Region was regressed separately by gender on variables from 4 network domains: structure and interaction, exchange, engagement and relationship quality, and controlling for background and health characteristics. In addition, 2 well-being outcomes-depressive symptoms and perceived income inadequacy-were regressed on the study variables, including regional social network interaction terms. RESULTS The results revealed differences across the 2 regional settings in each of the realms of social network, above and beyond the differences that exist in background characteristics and health status. The findings also showed that the social network variables had different effects on the well-being outcomes in the respective settings. DISCUSSION The findings underscore that the social network phenomenon is contextually bound. The social networks of older people should be seen within their unique regional milieu and in relation to the values and social norms that prevail in different sets of societies.

Perceived Income Adequacy Among Older Adults in 12 Countries: Findings From the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

PURPOSE To validate a survey research measure of subjective income, as measured by perceived income adequacy, in an international context. DESIGN AND METHODS The study population comprised persons aged 50 years and older in 12 countries from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (n = 28,939). Perceived difficulty in making ends meet was regressed on sociodemographic variables, economic indicators, health status measures, and expectations regarding ones financial future. Country differences were also controlled. RESULTS The findings confirm a multidimensional explanation of perceived income adequacy but also point to the primacy of objective economic indicators in predicting household financial distress. Respondents aged 80 years and older report less financial difficulty. Poor health status and pessimistic financial expectations also predict greater household financial distress but to a lesser degree. IMPLICATIONS Self-rated economic status is a robust indicator of financial capacity in older age and can be used by practitioners to gain meaningful information. However, practitioners should keep in mind that the oldest-old may underestimate financial difficulties.

Social Networks, Social Support, and Self-Ratings of Health among the Elderly:

Social networks and the support they may provide have been shown to be important determinants of the health of the elderly. This study compares structural and support aspects of those networks in their relationship with self-latings of health among 200 elderly residents of the city of Jerusalem. Perceived social support was found to be a more important predictor of health than were measures of network structure. Further, the relation between support and health was a function of the relation between support and both psychological state and functional status.

Social Networks and Self-Rated Health A Cross-Cultural Examination Among Older Israelis

Objective: This article examines the relationship of social network and self-rated health among different cultural groups. Methods: This study examined associations between network structure, interaction, support and social engagement and self-rated health, controlling for sociodemographic background and psychobiological pathways among veteran Jewish-Israelis (n = 2,043), Arab-Israelis (n = 609), and new immigrants from the former Soviet Union (n = 751). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed. Results: Three different patterns emerged. The association of social network and self-rated health among the majority veteran Jewish culture in Israel was similar to that found in Western societies. Among Arab-Israelis, self-rated health was explained by more traditional, familial, and communal network dynamics. The characteristic association between social network and self-rated health among the new immigrants was explained by migration-induced factors. Discussion: The findings demonstrate that social networks impact health differently in different cultural groups and under conditions of social change, such as migration in later-life.

The social networks of elderly immigrants: An analytic typology

Abstract A study of 259 elderly Russian Jewish immigrants in Israel distinguished four different social network types by means of cluster analysis of the structural and interactional characteristics of their networks. The derived network types are termed (1) the kin network, (2) the family intensive network, (3) the friend focused network, and (4) the diffuse tie network. Analysis also confirmed that these network types are not artifacts of sociodemographic differences among respondents. The typology significantly distinguished between levels of perceived available social support, as reported by respondents on four separate measures: emotional, instrumental, and affirmational support, and advocacy assistance.

The inter-relationship between formal and informal care: a study in France and Israel

ABSTRACT This study examined whether formal care services delivered to frail older peoples homes in France and Israel substitute for or complement informal support. The two countries have comparable family welfare systems but many historical, cultural and religious differences. Data for the respondents aged 75 or more years at the first wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were analysed. Regressions were examined of three patterns of care from outside the household: informal support only, formal support only and both formal and informal care, with the predictor variables including whether informal help was provided by a family member living in the household. The results revealed that about one-half of the respondents received no help at all (France 51%, Israel 55%), about one-tenth received care from a household member (France 8%, Israel 10%), and one-third were helped by informal carers from outside the household (France 34%, Israel 33%). More French respondents (35%) received formal care services at home than Israelis (27%). Most predictors of the care patterns were similar in the two countries. The analysis showed that complementarity is a common outcome of the co-existence of formal and informal care, and that mixed provision occurs more frequently in situations of greater need. It is also shown that spouse care-givers had less formal home-care supports than either co-resident children or other family care-givers. Even so, spouses, children and other family care-givers all had considerable support from formal home-delivered care.

Subjective well-being among the old-old: the role of health, personality and social support.

The purpose of this study was to devise and test a path model that explains how background variables, physical capacity, and psychosocial resources (locus of control and social network supportiveness) affect three well-being outcome measures—self-rated health, mental health, and life satisfaction—among the old-old in Israel. A sample of European-born persons aged seventy-five and over, drawn randomly from the population registry in the greater Tel Aviv area, was administered a structured questionnaire in personal interviews (N = 194). The findings confirm that the relationship between background variables, physical capacity and well-being is differentially mediated by the psychosocial resources, with different variable combinations predicting each of the respective facets of well-being. Moreover, the relative strength of the relationships between locus of control and social network supportiveness and well-being indicate that among the old-old, personality factors may be more consequential than social resources for ones well-being.

Cumulative adversity and depressive symptoms among older adults in Israel: the differential roles of self-oriented versus other-oriented events of potential trauma.

BackgroundThe study examined the association between cumulative adversity and current depressive symptoms in a national sample of Israelis aged 50+. Referring to cumulative adversity as exposure to potentially traumatic events along life, the study distinguished between events primarily inflicted upon the self (self-oriented adversity) versus upon another person (other-oriented adversity).MethodData were drawn from the Israeli component of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). During 2005–2006, 1710 Jews and Arabs completed an inventory of potentially traumatic events and two measures of depressive symptoms: the European Depression scale (Euro-D) and the Adapted Center for Epidemiological Studies—Depression scale (ACES-D). The Euro-D is more detailed in querying cognitions and motivations while the ACES-D is more detailed in querying feelings and social alienation.ResultsIn line with the hypothesis, self-oriented adversity had a positive association with depressive symptoms whereas other-oriented adversity had either no association or an inverse association with depressive symptoms. Sociodemographic characteristics and perceived health were controlled in the multivariate regressions.ConclusionsThe differential association of self- versus other-oriented adversity with depressive symptoms may be explained in terms of social commitments that are inherent in other-oriented adversity and incompatible with depressive symptoms. The study points to the variations in the symptom compositions represented by the Euro-D and ACES-D, with the latter better capturing the difference between self- and other-oriented adversities.

The network shifts of elderly immigrants: The case of Soviet Jews in Israel

This article analyzes the network dynamics of 259 Sovietimmigrants, aged 62–92, who arrived in Israel during the recent waveof mass immigration. The study uses a Quick Cluster procedure withstructural network characteristics as criterion variables to identifyfour primary network types among the study population: (1) kin network,(2) family-intensive network, (3) friend-focused network, and (4) diffuse-tie network. The pattern of shifts from pre-immigration network type to post-immigration network type reveals that the primary shifts werefrom the non-familial based network types to the familial-based types,and within the familial types from a wider kin network to a morerestricted family-intensive network. These shifts reflect a move fromnetworks of choice to networks of necessity on the part of many olderimmigrants.

Social network type and health-related behaviors: Evidence from an American national survey

This study examined the association between social network type and engagement in physical activity, alcohol abuse and use of complementary and alternative medicine by older Americans. Data from the National Social Life, Health & Aging Project were employed. Multivariate logistic regressions conducted separately for each health behavior showed that older people embedded in less resourceful network types were at greater risk for alcohol abuse, physical inactivity and less use of complementary and alternative medicine, net of the effects of sociodemographic characteristics, health, and the quality of the social relationships. The study underscores the importance of the construct of social network type for understanding healthy lifestyle in late life.