Abstract
Background and Objectives: Neighborhood environments are increasingly recognized as associated with mental well-being among older adults. However, their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated mediating effects of cognitive and structural social capital (SC) in relationships between neighborhood environments and mental well-being among older adults.
Research Design and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1,277 community-dwellers aged 60 years and older in Hong Kong in 2021. The Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale assessed mental well-being. Perceived age-friendly environment was assessed. Objective neighborhood environment was measured by the number of neighborhood facilities (e.g., transportation, community centers, leisure facilities) within 200-m and 500-m buffer areas from respondents’ residences. Structural equational modeling was used.
Results: Perceived age-friendly environment regarding community and health support had a protective role on mental well-being. More community centers were directly associated with better affective-emotional well-being, while more passive leisure facilities directly lowered psychological-functioning well-being. Cognitive SC outweighed structural SC in mediating relationships of neighborhood environment on mental well-being.
Discussion and Implications: Our findings advance the ecological model of aging by providing evidence for cognitive and structural SC as mediators to explain the relationship between neighborhood environment and mental well-being. Policy implications for optimizing mental well-being in aging societies are discussed.
Research Design and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1,277 community-dwellers aged 60 years and older in Hong Kong in 2021. The Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale assessed mental well-being. Perceived age-friendly environment was assessed. Objective neighborhood environment was measured by the number of neighborhood facilities (e.g., transportation, community centers, leisure facilities) within 200-m and 500-m buffer areas from respondents’ residences. Structural equational modeling was used.
Results: Perceived age-friendly environment regarding community and health support had a protective role on mental well-being. More community centers were directly associated with better affective-emotional well-being, while more passive leisure facilities directly lowered psychological-functioning well-being. Cognitive SC outweighed structural SC in mediating relationships of neighborhood environment on mental well-being.
Discussion and Implications: Our findings advance the ecological model of aging by providing evidence for cognitive and structural SC as mediators to explain the relationship between neighborhood environment and mental well-being. Policy implications for optimizing mental well-being in aging societies are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | igac070 |
| Journal | Innovation in Aging |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| Online published | 17 Nov 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Research Keywords
- Age-friendly environment
- Mental health
- Quality of life
- Social networks
Publisher's Copyright Statement
- This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/