Variations in Social Network Type Membership Among Older African Americans, Caribbean Blacks, and Non-Hispanic Whites.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined race differences in the probability of belonging to a specific social network typology of family, friends, and church members.


METHODS
Samples of African Americans, Caribbean blacks, and non-Hispanic whites aged 55+ were drawn from the National Survey of American Life. Typology indicators related to social integration and negative interactions with family, friendship, and church networks were used. Latent class analysis was used to identify typologies, and latent class multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the influence of race, and interactions between race and age, and race and education on typology membership.


RESULTS
Four network typologies were identified: optimal (high social integration, low negative interaction), family-centered (high social integration within primarily the extended family network, low negative interaction), strained (low social integration, high negative interaction), and ambivalent (high social integration and high negative interaction). Findings for race and age and race and education interactions indicated that the effects of education and age on typology membership varied by race.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the findings demonstrate how race interacts with age and education to influence the probability of belonging to particular network types. A better understanding of the influence of race, education, and age on social network typologies will inform future research and theoretical developments in this area.
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
Ann W
AW
Nguyen
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005006:Ethnicity; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D012942:Social Sciences / Q000379:methods; D012944:Social Support; D029181:Spirituality; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology
Extended family; Friendship; Informal support; Social network types