Soobin Park, Sojung Park, BoRin Kim, Takashi Amano, Jihye Baek
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: This study explores the association between specific social relationship patterns and emotional and social loneliness among older adults with cognitive impairments, including dementia.
Method: Data from the 2018 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were used to conduct a Latent Profile Analysis on 642 older adults with cognitive impairments, classifying social relationships based on contact frequency, network size, and perceived support. Associations between these patterns and levels of social and emotional loneliness were analyzed.
Results: Five distinct social relationship patterns were identified: Weak friends, Weak children, Strong friends, Weak family, Diverse - Virtual, and Diverse - high tension. Emotional loneliness was highest in groups with limited or negative close relationships, particularly in the Diverse - high tension patterns. Social loneliness, however, was more prominent in groups with restricted broader connections, such as Weak family and Weak friends.
Conclusion: Findings indicate that cognitive decline does not necessarily weaken social connections; many older adults with impairments maintain diverse relationships and benefit from virtual and positive support. Addressing social and emotional loneliness as distinct issues allows for targeted interventions, promoting well-being in this population.
期刊介绍:
Aging & Mental Health provides a leading international forum for the rapidly expanding field which investigates the relationship between the aging process and mental health. The journal addresses the mental changes associated with normal and abnormal or pathological aging, as well as the psychological and psychiatric problems of the aging population. The journal also has a strong commitment to interdisciplinary and innovative approaches that explore new topics and methods.
Aging & Mental Health covers the biological, psychological and social aspects of aging as they relate to mental health. In particular it encourages an integrated approach for examining various biopsychosocial processes and etiological factors associated with psychological changes in the elderly. It also emphasizes the various strategies, therapies and services which may be directed at improving the mental health of the elderly and their families. In this way the journal promotes a strong alliance among the theoretical, experimental and applied sciences across a range of issues affecting mental health and aging. The emphasis of the journal is on rigorous quantitative, and qualitative, research and, high quality innovative studies on emerging topics.