Explaining Divergent Levels of Longevity in High-Income Countries (2011) / Chapter Skim
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6 The Role of Social Networks and Social Integration
6 The Role of Social Networks and Social Integration
Pages 83-95
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From page 83... ...
By the late 1970s, several investigators had begun to examine the influence of social networks, social support, and aspects of community engagement on a number of health outcomes. After following nearly 7,000 adults in Alameda County, California, over a 9-year period, Berkman and Syme (1979)
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From page 84... ...
It then examines how social networks in the United States compare with those in other countries and considers the evidence that those differences play a role in the divergence in life expectancy trends. PATHWAYS LINKING SOCIAL NETWORKS TO HEALTH AND MORTALITY There are a number of mediating pathways by which aspects of social networks might plausibly impact health.
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From page 85... ...
Networks may also influence patterns of self-esteem, efficacy, competence, and other conditions leading to mental health outcomes. Finally, increasing evidence suggests that social networks and related functions impact physiological processes directly by several pathways.
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From page 86... ...
. And a 6-year study of 7,500 women from four different communities in the United States found mortality risks to be significantly lower among women with higher social network scores, although the authors conclude that much of the protection older women receive from a large social network is actually due simply to being married (Rutledge et al., 2003)
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From page 87... ...
Nonetheless, the preponderance of the evidence indicates that social ties and social support do affect mortality among adults. Social Networks and Physical and Mental Health In general, studies that have examined the effects of social networks on physical health have less consistently found evidence of a relationship than those looking at effects on mortality.
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From page 88... ...
In the United States, men with high levels of social ties had a greater prevalence of heart disease. Among women in both countries, high levels of social ties were related to fewer of these health problems, with the exception of obesity (which is linked to diabetes)
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From page 89... ...
The United States and England Perhaps the most directly relevant study on these issues is the report prepared for the panel by Banks and colleagues (2010) comparing the effects of social networks and social integration in the United States and the United Kingdom.
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From page 90... ...
Females FIGURE 6-1 Distribution of scores of the index of social networks in England and the United States among men (a) Fig6-1B.eps and women (b)
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From page 91... ...
A small number of studies have compared social ties in the United States with those in other countries and looked at how differing social networks may affect health and mortality in those countries. Japan is a particularly interesting country to compare with the United States, both because it has significantly higher life expectancy and because the countries have very different cultures.
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From page 92... ...
On the other hand, on two other indicators of community integration -- religious participation and volunteering -- the United States ranks highest. One can also examine international differences in some of the psychosocial outcomes that have been linked to social integration using the same Gallup data (see Table 6-2)
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From page 93... ...
0.33 Denmark 0.59 0.14 7.08 0.23 France 0.61 0.14 6.86 0.29 Italy 0.60 0.51 8.41 0.22 Japan 0.66 0.21 7.55 0.26 Netherlands 0.57 0.21 6.60 0.36 Spain 0.57 0.23 7.46 0.13 United Kingdom 0.54 0.20 7.16 0.21 Females United States 0.51 0.46 N.A. 0.43 Canada 0.63 0.33 N.A.
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From page 94... ...
elderly weakened sharply in the 1980s and 1990s while remaining strong in other countries. Discussion Data do not currently exist with which to test detailed hypotheses relating to differences in the causal effects of social ties and networks across multiple countries, or even to document the distribution of such ties and networks on a detailed and fully comparable basis.
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From page 95... ...
As for explaining the current gap in life expectancy, the details of the networks may vary from country to country, but countries appear to differ relatively little in the overall level of support individuals receive from their social networks. Thus at present, the available data do not support the notion that social networks play an important role in international variations in longevity.
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