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Community social capital and self-rated health among older adults in urban China: the moderating roles of instrumental activities of daily living and smoking

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2024

Qian Sun Open the ORCID record for Qian Sun [Opens in a new window]  and
Nan Lu Open the ORCID record for Nan Lu [Opens in a new window]
Qian Sun
Affiliation:
Department of Social Security, School of Public Administration, Hebei University of Economics and Business, Shijiazhuang, China Hebei Collaborative Innovation Center for Urban–Rural Integrated Development, Hebei University of Economics and Business, Shijiazhuang, China Sau Po Centre on Ageing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (SAR), China
Nan Lu*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work and Social Policy, School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
*
Corresponding author: Nan Lu; Email: nalv9728@ruc.edu.cn
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Abstract

Scholars have not yet explored the relationship between community social capital and self-rated health (SRH) among older adults in China in depth, including potential moderators in this relationship. In response to this gap, this study aimed to investigate the association between community social capital and SRH among urban Chinese older adults and the moderating roles of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and smoking. We used a quota sampling method to recruit 800 respondents aged 60 years and older from 20 communities in Shijiazhuang and Tianjin, China. SRH was used as the dependent variable. Binary logistic regression models with interaction terms were used to analyse the data. The results showed that trust (a cognitive social capital indicator), volunteering (a structural social capital indicator) and family social capital were significantly associated with SRH when controlling for other social capital indicators and covariates. Difficulties with IADL and smoking significantly moderated the association between community social capital and SRH. Cognitive social capital was only positively associated with SRH health among respondents who did not experience difficulty with IADLs. The positive association between citizenship activities and SRH was only significant among those who experienced difficulty with IADLs. The number of organisational memberships was negatively associated with SRH among respondents with a history of smoking. Volunteering was positively associated with SRH in respondents with a history of smoking. These findings highlight the important role of social capital in promoting SRH among older adults in urban areas of China and notably identify within-population heterogeneity in the associations between social capital and SRH. This study offers insights useful for developing social capital policies and interventions to meet the specific social needs of older adults with varied levels of difficulty with IADLs and health behaviours.

Keywords

social capitalself-rated healthinstrumental activity of daily living (IADL)smoking
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , First View , pp. 1 - 18
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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