The Relationship between Social Support and Diet Quality in Middle-aged and Older Adults in the U.S.

Abstract Household entrepreneurship is a basic unit of entrepreneurial activity, and a crucial aspect of connecting personal and social wellbeing. This study examines the relationship between the proportion of elderly family members and household entrepreneurship. This study also assesses the mediating effect of the middle-aged generation's support to their parents and the moderating effect of the parents’ support with respect to the proportion of elderly family members and entrepreneurship. We use data from the China Family Panel Studies. We adopt the instrumental variable method to deal with endogeneity, robustness and credibility of the estimation results. The results show that a higher proportion of elderly family members impedes household entrepreneurship. Moreover, the financial and instrumental support provided by the middle-aged generation to their parents significantly mediates the relationship between the proportion of elderly family members and household entrepreneurship. In turn, parents’ financial support to the middle-aged generation moderates the focal relationship; however, parents’ instrumental support does not moderate the focal relationship. These findings emphasise the need to develop a comprehensive social security network for older adults that will indirectly promote household entrepreneurship, and improve personal and social wellbeing.

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The relationship between educational attainment and hospitalizations among middle-aged and older adults in the United States

SSM - Population Health ◽

10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100918 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 100918

Author(s):

Dahai Yue ◽

Ninez A. Ponce ◽

Jack Needleman ◽

Susan L. Ettner

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Older Adults ◽

Educational Attainment ◽

The United States ◽

Middle Aged ◽

The Relationship

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Social Support Patterns of Middle-Aged and Older Adults Within a Physical Activity App: Secondary Mixed Method Analysis

JMIR Aging ◽

10.2196/12496 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. e12496 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zakkoyya H Lewis ◽

Maria C Swartz ◽

Eloisa Martinez ◽

Elizabeth J Lyons

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Social Interaction ◽

Emotional Support ◽

Mixed Method ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Promising Tool ◽

The Social ◽

Method Analysis

Background Physical activity (PA) is critical for maintaining independence and delaying mobility disability in aging adults. However, 27 to 44% of older adults in the United States are meeting the recommended PA level. Activity trackers are proving to be a promising tool to promote PA adherence through activity tracking and enhanced social interaction features. Although social support has been known to be an influential behavior change technique to promote PA, how middle-aged and older adults use the social interaction feature of mobile apps to provide virtual support to promote PA engagement remains mostly underexplored. Objective This study aimed to describe the social support patterns of middle-aged and older adults using a mobile app as part of a behavioral PA intervention. Methods Data from 35 participants (mean age 61.66 [SD 6] years) in a 12-week, home-based activity intervention were used for this secondary mixed method analysis. Participants were provided with a Jawbone Up24 activity monitor and an Apple iPad Mini installed with the UP app to facilitate self-monitoring and social interaction. All participants were given an anonymous account and encouraged to interact with other participants using the app. Social support features included comments and likes. Thematic coding was used to identify the type of social support provided within the UP app and characterize the levels of engagement from users. Participants were categorized as superusers or contributors, and passive participants were categorized as lurkers based on the literature. Results Over the 12-week intervention, participants provided a total of 3153 likes and 1759 comments. Most participants (n=25) were contributors, with 4 categorized as superusers and 6 categorized as lurkers. Comments were coded as emotional support, informational support, instrumental support, self-talk, and other, with emotional support being the most prevalent type. Conclusions Our cohort of middle-aged and older adults was willing to use the social network feature in an activity app to communicate with anonymous peers. Most of our participants were contributors. In addition, the social support provided through the activity app followed social support constructs. In sum, PA apps are a promising tool for delivering virtual social support to enhance PA engagement and have the potential to make a widespread impact on PA promotion. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01869348; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01869348

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Social Support Patterns of Middle-Aged and Older Adults Within a Physical Activity App: Secondary Mixed Method Analysis (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.12496 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Zakkoyya H Lewis ◽

Maria C Swartz ◽

Eloisa Martinez ◽

Elizabeth J Lyons

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Social Interaction ◽

Emotional Support ◽

Mixed Method ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Promising Tool ◽

The Social ◽

Method Analysis

BACKGROUND Physical activity (PA) is critical for maintaining independence and delaying mobility disability in aging adults. However, 27 to 44% of older adults in the United States are meeting the recommended PA level. Activity trackers are proving to be a promising tool to promote PA adherence through activity tracking and enhanced social interaction features. Although social support has been known to be an influential behavior change technique to promote PA, how middle-aged and older adults use the social interaction feature of mobile apps to provide virtual support to promote PA engagement remains mostly underexplored. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to describe the social support patterns of middle-aged and older adults using a mobile app as part of a behavioral PA intervention. METHODS Data from 35 participants (mean age 61.66 [SD 6] years) in a 12-week, home-based activity intervention were used for this secondary mixed method analysis. Participants were provided with a Jawbone Up24 activity monitor and an Apple iPad Mini installed with the UP app to facilitate self-monitoring and social interaction. All participants were given an anonymous account and encouraged to interact with other participants using the app. Social support features included comments and likes. Thematic coding was used to identify the type of social support provided within the UP app and characterize the levels of engagement from users. Participants were categorized as superusers or contributors, and passive participants were categorized as lurkers based on the literature. RESULTS Over the 12-week intervention, participants provided a total of 3153 likes and 1759 comments. Most participants (n=25) were contributors, with 4 categorized as superusers and 6 categorized as lurkers. Comments were coded as emotional support, informational support, instrumental support, self-talk, and other, with emotional support being the most prevalent type. CONCLUSIONS Our cohort of middle-aged and older adults was willing to use the social network feature in an activity app to communicate with anonymous peers. Most of our participants were contributors. In addition, the social support provided through the activity app followed social support constructs. In sum, PA apps are a promising tool for delivering virtual social support to enhance PA engagement and have the potential to make a widespread impact on PA promotion. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01869348; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01869348

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Online social networking and cognitive performance in older adults: A Greek-Canadian study

Psychology: the Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society ◽

10.12681/psy_hps.23254 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 43

Author(s):

Stephanie Hatzifilalithis ◽

Elisavet Chrysochoou ◽

George Pavlidis ◽

Ana B. Vivas

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Executive Functioning ◽

Social Networking ◽

Cognitive Performance ◽

Online Social Networking ◽

Delayed Recall ◽

The Social ◽

Gender Education ◽

The Relationship

The present study examined the relation between cognitive performance and social networking in older adults from Canada and Greece. The two groups were matched on age, gender, education level, and MMSE scores. Participants reported the amount of both off-line and online networking, as well as the social support received in these contexts. Immediate and delayed recall, speed of processing, and executive functioning were also assessed. Online networking was associated with executive functioning. Interestingly, country context didn’t moderate the relationship, despite differences observed between Greeks and Canadians in executive functioning and online networking. Our findings suggest that online social participation could serve both as a source of social support and as cognitive training, benefiting older adults’ cognitive vitality. The findings are discussed in relation to the characteristics of the specific countries, stressing the need to explore the effects of online social networking and participation on cognitive function in the aging population.

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Relationship Between Frailty and Depression Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The Mediating and Moderating Role of Social Support

The Gerontologist ◽

10.1093/geront/gnaa072 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 60 (8) ◽

pp. 1466-1475 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yaru Jin ◽

Huaxin Si ◽

Xiaoxia Qiao ◽

Xiaoyu Tian ◽

Xinyi Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Frailty Phenotype ◽

Community Dwelling Older Adults ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Background and Objectives Frailty is associated with depression in older adults and reduces their social support. However, the mechanism underlying such relationship remains unclear. We aim to examine whether social support acts as a mediator or moderator in the relationship between frailty and depression. Research Design and Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,779 community-dwelling older adults aged 60 and older. Frailty, social support, and depressive symptoms were measured by the Physical Frailty Phenotype, Social Support Rating Scale, and five-item Geriatric Depression Scale, respectively. Data were also collected on age, gender, years of schooling, monthly income, cognitive function, number of chronic diseases, physical function, and pain. Results Linear regression models showed that subjective support and support utilization, but not objective support, mediated and moderated the relationship between frailty and depressive symptoms. The Johnson–Neyman technique determined a threshold of 30 for subjective support, but not for support utilization, beyond which the detrimental effect of frailty on depressive symptoms was offset. Discussion and Implications Social support underlies the association of frailty with depression, and its protective role varies by type. Interventions on depression should address improving perceptions and utilization of social support among frail older adults rather than simply providing them with objective support.

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