Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-jbqgn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-30T13:48:34.620Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Enhancing psychological resilience at the cusp of older ages: the role of social networks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2021

Abhijit Visaria Open the ORCID record for Abhijit Visaria [Opens in a new window] ,
Rahul Malhotra Open the ORCID record for Rahul Malhotra [Opens in a new window] ,
June May-Ling Lee Open the ORCID record for June May-Ling Lee [Opens in a new window]  and
Angelique Chan Open the ORCID record for Angelique Chan [Opens in a new window]
Abhijit Visaria*
Affiliation:
Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
Rahul Malhotra
Affiliation:
Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore Programme in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
June May-Ling Lee
Affiliation:
Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
Angelique Chan
Affiliation:
Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore Programme in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
*
*Corresponding author. Email: abhijit@duke-nus.edu.sg
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Prior research has established a positive association between social support and psychological resilience. In this study, we seek to examine whether and to what extent aspects of individuals’ social network – specifically size (how many relatives and friends one has) and strength (how often did one communicate with close network members and at the time of important decisions) – are related to greater psychological resilience. We use data pertaining to 1,609 respondents from the Panel on Ageing and Transitions in Health Survey (PATHS), 2016–2017, a national study of 1,654 older midlife adults, aged 50–59, in Singapore. We estimate the relationship between social networks and psychological resilience, using inverse probability weighted regression adjustment to account for the possibility of a selection bias whereby individuals with larger or stronger social networks may be more resilient at the outset. We find that strong social networks are associated with greater psychological resilience among older midlife adults, regardless of the size of the network. Having a large social network is associated with greater resilience only if it is also a strong network. Maintaining stronger, even if small, social networks may enable individuals at the cusp of older ages to be better prepared to deal with stressful life events and challenges associated with older midlife.

Keywords

resiliencesocial networkssocial supportmidlifeinverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA)Singapore
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 43 , Issue 11 , November 2023 , pp. 2497 - 2516
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aldrich, DP (2017) The importance of social capital in building community resilience. In Yan, W and Galloway, W (eds), Rethinking Resilience, Adaptation and Transformation in a Time of Change. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, pp. 357–364.10.1007/978-3-319-50171-0_23CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldrich, DP and Meyer, MA (2015) Social capital and community resilience. American Behavioral Scientist 59, 254–269.10.1177/0002764214550299CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aldwin, CM and Levenson, MR (2001) Stress, coping, and health at midlife: a developmental perspective. In Lachman, ME (ed.), Handbook of Midlife Development. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 188–214.Google Scholar
Ávila, MPW, Lucchetti, ALG and Lucchetti, G (2017) Association between depression and resilience in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 32, 237–246.10.1002/gps.4619CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ayalon, L and Levkovich, I (2019) A systematic review of research on social networks of older adults. The Gerontologist 59, e164–e176.10.1093/geront/gnx218CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bennett, KM (2010) How to achieve resilience as an older widower: turning points or gradual change? Ageing & Society 30, 369–382.10.1017/S0144686X09990572CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanchflower, DG (2021) Is happiness U-shaped everywhere? Age and subjective well-being in 145 countries. Journal of Population Economics 34, 575–624.10.1007/s00148-020-00797-zCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blanchflower, DG and Graham, C (2020) Happiness and aging in the United States. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, NBER Working Paper 28143.10.3386/w28143CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonanno, GA (2004) Loss, trauma, and human resilience: have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events? American Psychologist 59, 20–28.10.1037/0003-066X.59.1.20CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brody, DJ, Pratt, LA and Hughes, JP (2018) Prevalence of depression among adults aged 20 and over: United States, 2013–2016. National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD, NCHS Data Brief, 303.Google Scholar
Burn, K, Dennerstein, L, Browning, C and Szoeke, C (2016) Patterns of social engagement in the transition to later life. Maturitas 88, 90–95.10.1016/j.maturitas.2016.03.016CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell-Sills, L and Stein, MB (2007) Psychometric analysis and refinement of the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC): validation of a 10-item measure of resilience. Journal of Traumatic Stress 20, 1019–1028.10.1002/jts.20271CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell-Sills, L, Cohan, SL and Stein, MB (2006) Relationship of resilience to personality, coping, and psychiatric symptoms in young adults. Behaviour Research and Therapy 44, 585–599.10.1016/j.brat.2005.05.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carstensen, LL, Isaacowitz, DM and Charles, ST (1999) Taking time seriously. A theory of socioemotional selectivity. American Psychologist 54, 165–181.10.1037/0003-066X.54.3.165CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cattaneo, MD (2010) Efficient semiparametric estimation of multi-valued treatment effects under ignorability. Journal of Econometrics 155, 138–154.10.1016/j.jeconom.2009.09.023CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cattaneo, MD, Drukker, DM and Holland, AD (2013) Estimation of multivalued treatment effects under conditional independence. Stata Journal 13, 407–450.10.1177/1536867X1301300301CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chan, A, Malhotra, C, Malhotra, R and Ostbye, T (2011) Living arrangements, social networks and depressive symptoms among older men and women in Singapore. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 26, 630–639.10.1002/gps.2574CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheng, TC, Powdthavee, N and Oswald, AJ (2017) Longitudinal evidence for a midlife nadir in human well-being: results from four data sets. The Economic Journal 127, 126–142.10.1111/ecoj.12256CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, S (2004) Social relationships and health. American Psychologist 59, 676–684.10.1037/0003-066X.59.8.676CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Connor, KM and Davidson, JR (2003) Development of a new resilience scale: the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Depression and Anxiety 18, 76–82.10.1002/da.10113CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cosco, TD, Kaushal, A, Richards, M, Kuh, D and Stafford, M (2016) Resilience measurement in later life: a systematic review and psychometric analysis. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 14, Article number 16.10.1186/s12955-016-0418-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Darling, CA, Coccia, C and Senatore, N (2012) Women in midlife: stress, health and life satisfaction. Stress and Health 28, 31–40.10.1002/smi.1398CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Depp, C, Vahia, IV and Jeste, D (2010) Successful aging: focus on cognitive and emotional health. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 6, 527–550.10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.121208.131449CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donnellan, WJ, Bennett, KM and Soulsby, LK (2017) Family close but friends closer: exploring social support and resilience in older spousal dementia carers. Aging & Mental Health 21, 1222–1228.10.1080/13607863.2016.1209734CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ducharme, F, Lévesque, L, Lachance, L, Kergoat, M-J and Coulombe, R (2011) Challenges associated with transition to caregiver role following diagnostic disclosure of Alzheimer disease: a descriptive study. International Journal of Nursing Studies 48, 1109–1119.10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2011.02.011CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ercan, H (2017) The relationship between resilience and the big five personality traits in emerging adulthood. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 17, 1–22.10.14689/ejer.2017.70.5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiori, KL, Rauer, AJ, Birditt, KS, Brown, E, Jager, J and Orbuch, TL (2017) Social network typologies of Black and White married couples in midlife. Journal of Marriage and Family 79, 571–589.10.1111/jomf.12330CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friborg, O, Barlaug, D, Martinussen, M, Rosenvinge, JH and Hjemdal, O (2005) Resilience in relation to personality and intelligence. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research 14, 29–42.10.1002/mpr.15CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Galambos, NL, Krahn, HJ, Johnson, MD and Lachman, ME (2020) The U shape of happiness across the life course: expanding the discussion. Perspectives on Psychological Science 15, 898–912.10.1177/1745691620902428CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, C and Ruiz Pozuelo, J (2017) Happiness, stress, and age: how the U curve varies across people and places. Journal of Population Economics 30, 225–264.10.1007/s00148-016-0611-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haghighat, R (2007) The development of the Brief Social Desirability Scale (BSDS). Europe's Journal of Psychology 3. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v3i4.417.Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J (2001) Adaptation and resilience in midlife. In Lachman, ME (ed.), Handbook of Midlife Development. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 345–391.Google Scholar
Helmreich, I, Kunzler, A, Chmitorz, A, König, J, Binder, H, Wessa, M and Lieb, K (2017) Psychological interventions for resilience enhancement in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2017, Article number CD012527.Google Scholar
Infurna, FJ, Gerstorf, D and Lachman, ME (2020) Midlife in the 2020s: opportunities and challenges. American Psychologist 75, 470–485.10.1037/amp0000591CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janssen, BM, Van Regenmortel, T and Abma, TA (2011) Identifying sources of strength: resilience from the perspective of older people receiving long-term community care. European Journal of Ageing 8, 145–156.10.1007/s10433-011-0190-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karademas, EC (2006) Self-efficacy, social support and well-being: the mediating role of optimism. Personality and Individual Differences 40, 1281–1290.10.1016/j.paid.2005.10.019CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kawachi, I, Kim, D, Coutts, A and Subramanian, S (2004) Commentary: Reconciling the three accounts of social capital. International Journal of Epidemiology 33, 682–690.10.1093/ije/dyh177CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kohout, FJ, Berkman, LF, Evans, DA and Cornoni-Huntley, J (1993) Two shorter forms of the CES-D depression symptoms index. Journal of Aging and Health 5, 179–193.10.1177/089826439300500202CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lachman, ME (2004) Development in midlife. Annual Review of Psychology 55, 305–331.10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141521CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lachman, ME, Lewkowicz, CJ, Marcus, A and Peng, Y (1994) Images of midlife development among young, middle-aged, and older adults. Journal of Adult Development 1, 201–211.10.1007/BF02277581CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lachman, ME, Teshale, S and Agrigoroaei, S (2015) Midlife as a pivotal period in the life course: balancing growth and decline at the crossroads of youth and old age. International Journal of Behavioral Development 39, 20–31.10.1177/0165025414533223CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lamond, AJ, Depp, CA, Allison, M, Langer, R, Reichstadt, J, Moore, DJ, Golshan, S, Ganiats, TG and Jeste, DV (2008) Measurement and predictors of resilience among community-dwelling older women. Journal of Psychiatric Research 43, 148–154.10.1016/j.jpsychires.2008.03.007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Longacre, ML, Valdmanis, VG, Handorf, EA and Fang, CY (2016) Work impact and emotional stress among informal caregivers for older adults. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 72B, 522–531.Google Scholar
Lu, L (2011) Leisure and depression in midlife: a Taiwanese national survey of middle-aged adults. Journal of Health Psychology 16, 137–147.10.1177/1359105310370501CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubben, J, Gironda, M and Lee, A (2002) Refinements to the Lubben Social Network Scale: the LSNS-R. Behavioral Measurements Letter 7, 2–11.Google Scholar
Luthar, SS, Cicchetti, D and Becker, B (2000) The construct of resilience: a critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development 71, 543–562.10.1111/1467-8624.00164CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manning, LK and Bouchard, L (2020) Encounters with adversity: a framework for understanding resilience in later life. Aging & Mental Health 24, 1108–1115.10.1080/13607863.2019.1594162CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Minnotte, KL, Minnotte, MC and Bonstrom, J (2015) Work–family conflicts and marital satisfaction among US workers: does stress amplification matter? Journal of Family and Economic Issues 36, 21–33.10.1007/s10834-014-9420-5CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montross, LP, Depp, C, Daly, J, Reichstadt, J, Golshan, S, Moore, D, Sitzer, D and Jeste, DV (2006) Correlates of self-rated successful aging among community-dwelling older adults. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 14, 43–51.10.1097/01.JGP.0000192489.43179.31CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, A and Stratton, DC (2003) Resilient Widowers: Older Men Adjusting to a New Life. New York, NY: Prometheus.Google Scholar
Morrow-Howell, N, O'Neill, G and Greenfield, JC (2011) Civic engagement: policies and programs to support a resilient aging society. In Resnick, B, Gwyther, LP and Roberto, KA (eds), Resilience in Aging: Concepts, Research, and Outcomes. New York, NY: Springer, pp. 147–162.10.1007/978-1-4419-0232-0_10CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musick, MA and Wilson, J (2003) Volunteering and depression: the role of psychological and social resources in different age groups. Social Science & Medicine 56, 259–269.10.1016/S0277-9536(02)00025-4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Netuveli, G, Wiggins, RD, Montgomery, SM, Hildon, Z and Blane, D (2008) Mental health and resilience at older ages: bouncing back after adversity in the British Household Panel Survey. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 62, 987–991.10.1136/jech.2007.069138CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oshio, A, Taku, K, Hirano, M and Saeed, G (2018) Resilience and Big Five personality traits: a meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences 127, 54–60.10.1016/j.paid.2018.01.048CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rammstedt, B and John, OP (2007) Measuring personality in one minute or less: a 10-item short version of the Big Five Inventory in English and German. Journal of Research in Personality 41, 203–212.10.1016/j.jrp.2006.02.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabbath, EL, Lubben, J, Goldberg, M, Zins, M and Berkman, LF (2015) Social engagement across the retirement transition among ‘young-old’ adults in the French GAZEL cohort. European Journal of Ageing 12, 311–320.10.1007/s10433-015-0348-xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, BA, Krause, N, Liang, J and Bennett, J (2007) Tracking changes in social relations throughout late life. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 62B, S90–S99.10.1093/geronb/62.2.S90CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics (2011) Resident Population by Age Group, Ethnic Group, Sex and Residential Status (Table 1). Singapore: Ministry of Trade & Industry.Google Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics (2021) Resident Population by Age Group, Ethnic Group, Sex and Residential Status (Table 1). Singapore: Ministry of Trade & Industry.Google Scholar
Soubelet, A and Salthouse, TA (2011) Influence of social desirability on age differences in self-reports of mood and personality. Journal of Personality 79, 741–762.10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00700.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Southwick, SM, Sippel, L, Krystal, J, Charney, D, Mayes, L and Pietrzak, R (2016) Why are some individuals more resilient than others: the role of social support. World Psychiatry 15, 77–79.10.1002/wps.20282CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
StataCorp (2020) Tebalance Stata Reference Manual. College Station, TX: Stata Press.Google Scholar
Staudinger, UM and Bluck, S (2001) A view on midlife development from life-span theory. In Lachman, ME (ed.), Handbook of Midlife Development. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 3–39.Google Scholar
Stein, ER and Smith, BW (2015) Social support attenuates the harmful effects of stress in healthy adult women. Social Science & Medicine 146, 129–136.10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.10.038CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Symister, P and Friend, R (2003) The influence of social support and problematic support on optimism and depression in chronic illness: a prospective study evaluating self-esteem as a mediator. Health Psychology 22, 123–129.10.1037/0278-6133.22.2.123CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Szreter, S and Woolcock, M (2004) Health by association? Social capital, social theory, and the political economy of public health. International Journal of Epidemiology 33, 650–667.10.1093/ije/dyh013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thoits, PA (1982) Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical problems in studying social support as a buffer against life stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 23, 145–149.10.2307/2136511CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tourunen, A, Siltanen, S, Saajanaho, M, Koivunen, K, Kokko, K and Rantanen, T (2021) Psychometric properties of the 10-item Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale among Finnish older adults. Aging & Mental Health 25, 99–106.10.1080/13607863.2019.1683812CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trivedi, RB, Bosworth, HB and Jackson, GL (2011) Resilience in chronic illness. In Resnick, B, Gwyther, LP and Roberto, KA (eds), Resilience in Aging: Concepts, Research, and Outcomes. New York, NY: Springer, pp. 181–197.10.1007/978-1-4419-0232-0_12CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanhove, AJ, Herian, MN, Perez, ALU, Harms, PD and Lester, PB (2016) Can resilience be developed at work? A meta-analytic review of resilience-building programme effectiveness. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 89, 278–307.10.1111/joop.12123CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Kessel, G (2013) The ability of older people to overcome adversity: a review of the resilience concept. Geriatric Nursing 34, 122–127.10.1016/j.gerinurse.2012.12.011CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wagnild, G (2003) Resilience and successful aging: comparison among low and high income older adults. Journal of Gerontological Nursing 29, 42–49.10.3928/0098-9134-20031201-09CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wiles, JL, Wild, K, Kerse, N and Allen, RES (2012) Resilience from the point of view of older people: ‘there's still life beyond a funny knee’. Social Science & Medicine 74, 416–424.10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.005CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Windle, G, Bennett, KM and Noyes, J (2011) A methodological review of resilience measurement scales. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 9, Article number 8.10.1186/1477-7525-9-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wooldridge, JM (2007) Inverse probability weighted estimation for general missing data problems. Journal of Econometrics 141, 1281–1301.10.1016/j.jeconom.2007.02.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar