Impact of Social Network Size and Contact Frequency on Resilience in Community-Dwelling Healthy Older Adults Living Alone in the Republic of Korea

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of social health and its association with resilience among older adults living alone excluded from the public care service due to their relatively good health. For this cross-sectional study, we surveyed older adults aged between 65 and 80 years using questionnaires to measure the social health status and levels of resilience of the participants. We conducted a hierarchical regression analysis to confirm the association between resilience and social network. Finally, data from 266 community-dwelling older adults were analyzed. We discovered that participants had social networks with a mean score on the Lubben Social Network Scale 18.13 ± 7.98, which means they were socially isolated. The network size (standardized β = −0.149, p < 0.05) and contact frequency (standardized β = 0.136, p < 0.05) correlated positively with higher levels of resilience. A hierarchical model accounted for 48.0% of the variance in resilience. The results suggested that interventions by the public health service to protect social health are needed for older adults living alone even when they are physically, emotionally, and cognitively healthy. In addition, smaller network size and higher frequency of contacts may be considered to strengthen resilience, which is a protective factor in social health.