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Citation
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Lu S, Guo Y, Chui C, Liu Y, Chan OF, Chan SW, Lum TYS. Innov. Aging 2022; 6(7): igac070. |
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Abstract
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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.
Language: en |