title: Social network types among older Korean adults: Associations with subjective health.
abstract: With population aging now a global phenomenon, the health of older adults is becoming an increasingly important issue. Because the Korean population is aging at an unprecedented rate, preparing for public health problems associated with old age is particularly salient in this country. As the physical and mental health of older adults is related to their social relationships, investigating the social networks of older adults and their relationship to health status is important for establishing public health policies. The aims of this study were to identify social network types among older adults in South Korea and to examine the relationship of these social network types with self-rated health and depression. Data from the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project were analyzed. Model-based clustering using finite normal mixture modeling was conducted to identify the social network types based on ten criterion variables of social relationships and activities: marital status, number of children, number of close relatives, number of friends, frequency of attendance at religious services, attendance at organized group meetings, in-degree centrality, out-degree centrality, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to examine associations between the identified social network types and self-rated health and depression. The model-based clustering analysis revealed that social networks clustered into five types: diverse, family, congregant, congregant-restricted, and restricted. Diverse or family social network types were significantly associated with more favorable subjective mental health, whereas the restricted network type was significantly associated with poorer ratings of mental and physical health. In addition, our analysis identified unique social network types related to religious activities. In summary, we developed a comprehensive social network typology for older Korean adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yonsei-ro 50, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, South Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Yun
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison College, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Won-Tak
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Joo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Seonam University College of Medicine, Myongji Hospital, Hwasu-ro 55, 14beon-gil, Deogyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, 10475, South Korea.
authors.forename: Woo Jung
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yonsei-ro 50, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, South Korea.
authors.forename: Se Joo
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Yonsei University College of Social Sciences, Yonsei-ro 50, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yoosik
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Youm
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Etiology Research Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yonsei-ro 50, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeon Chang
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Silver Industry, Kangnam University, Gangnam-ro 40, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, 16979, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yeong-Ran
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Behavioral Science in Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yonsei-ro 50, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03722, South Korea. Electronic address: leeeun@yuhs.ac.
authors.forename: Eun
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods; D056910:Republic of Korea; D057566:Self Report; D012944:Social Support
keywords: Depression; Korea; Older adults; Self-rated health; Social network typology