Social Capital and Health Among Older Adults in China: The Urban – Rural Dimension

Purpose: Social capital (SC) has been found to positively predict individual health since such resources facilitate access to healthcare. However, the role of urban/rural habitat among older adults, and its association with the possession and utilization of social capital in Chinese context remains poorly understood. This study adopted a three-dimensional perspective of SC (bonding, bridging and linking) to examine whether and to what extent SC is associated with older adults' health by urban/rural context in China.

Methods: China General Social Survey, collected in 2005, provided sample of 1250 Chinese elderly (65 years and over). SC was measured along three dimensions. Specifically, bonding SC, reflecting close ties, was measured by family ties, contacts between neighbors, and co-operation between neighbors. Bridging SC, reflecting horizontal connections that can generate broader identities and reciprocity, was measured by general level of trust, networks and reciprocity among the networks. Finally, linking SC, reflecting connection across vertical differentials up and down the social/power scale, was measured by Communist Party membership, years of being a Communist Party member, and administrative position previously held by the participant. Multiple regression analyses were carried out for self-rated health status, as well as physical and emotional health indicators. Since multiple regressions were used also to assess the relative importance of the SC predictors to predict health outcomes, we also computed the 95th percentile confidence intervals for all of the SC predictors to be obtained using a bootstrap approach.

Results: Overall, when accounting for important socio-demographic indicators, Bonding and linking SCs were significantly associated with self-rated health, as well as physical and emotional health indicators for rural elderly. In urban settings, linking SC was not associated with any health indicators, whereas some bonding and bridging SC measures can predict certain health indicators. For example, higher level of trust was associated with better self-rated health status and physical health indicator among urban elderly; family tie was significantly predictive of self-rated health status and emotional health indicator. Considering both the direct effects of each predictor (i.e., structural coefficients) and the context effects (i.e., beta weights), reciprocity among the networks proved to be the weakest SC predictor of all health measures; family ties and general level of trust made similar contributions to the health outcomes among older adults in China.

Implications: Urban/rural habitat is important in determining which dimensions of SC (i.e. bonding, bridging and linking) are important for various aspects of health among older Chinese. Ultimately, a better understanding of the interaction between dimensions of SC and urban/rural habitat is critical in promoting health among Chinese elders. Further exploration of SC, primarily a westernized developed concept, needs to be carried out in order to assess its applicability in non-westernized settings, such as China.