Social Integration and Health Among People Living Alone: Comparing to People Living with Others

Background and Purpose: The number of people living alone has increased significantly in South Korea. From 1990 to 2015, the proportion of one-person households approximately tripled from 9.0% to 27.2%. At present, living alone is not a marginal type of household but a general type of household. It has been well-documented that persons living alone are more likely to be isolated without active social interaction, thus, are associated with detrimental health conditions, emphasizing social participation. However, we know little about how social participation enhances the perceptions of persons living alone regarding their own health status. Informed by social integration theory, the focal hypothesis in the current study is that social participation and social contacts develop interpersonal connectedness and lead to a better perceived health status. The purpose of this study is to explore how different the relations of social integration and health between people living alone and people living with others.

Methods: The sample of data (N=1,379, male = 609, female = 770) was drawn from the 2012 Korean General Social Survey (KGSS), which is a nationally representative survey. Using AMOS 21, we conducted a multi-group path analysis to examine the different associations among social participation and social contacts, interpersonal connectedness, and perceived health status depending on the living arrangements. To test the hypothesis, we analyzed the responses of two subgroups which were divided by living arrangement; people who live alone (N=291, mean age = 58.30, SD = 19.33) and people who live with others (N=1,088, mean age = 48.28, SD = 17.17). 

Results: This study showed two critical results. First, the mediated relationships that among the total sample, social participation in various fields of community (β = .036, p <.01) and social contacts with family and friends (β = .025, p <.01) respectively were associated with interpersonal connectedness, which related to better self-reported health were confirmed. Second, of all the constrained structural paths, only the path of social participation and health resulted in a statistically significant (C.R = 2.328). Comparing two subgroups regarding the relationship between social participation and perceived health status showed different results: Persons who live alone (β = .099, p <.01) and persons who live with others (β = .023, p >.05). 

Conclusions and Implications: The findings noted that participating in a variety of community activities enhances perceptions among persons living alone regarding their own health status, while the two-path mediation model did not moderate according to living arrangements. These findings suggest that when healthcare policy makers and practitioners develop policies or programs for persons who live alone, they should consider how to improve connectedness by engaging community activities. Future efforts should explore strategies to optimize the involvement of persons who live alone in their neighborhood.