Gender specific associations between social network and health behavior in old age

• Published in: Aging & mental health Vol. 3; no. 4; pp. 320 - 327
• Main Authors: Rennemark, M., Hagberg, B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01-11-1999
• Subjects: Elderly; Elderly Women; Females; Health Behavior; Health Care Utilization; Sex Differences; Social Networks; Social Participation; Sweden; Symptoms
• ISSN: 1360-7863; 1364-6915; 1364-6915
• DOI: 10.1080/13607869956091

Social networks may affect old people's health behaviors, such as their subjective health evaluations, health care utilization and symptom reporting. In this study, the relationships between social network characteristics and health behaviors were investigated for each gender separately. It was assumed that the relationships differ between the genders and that female health behavior would be more strongly related to the social network. Social network characteristics, reported symptoms, subjective health and health care utilization were assessed for 107 men and 77 women that were 71 years of age.The results showed that, for women, a general satisfaction with the social network was associated with good subjective health. In addition, satisfaction with social participation and social anchorage were associated with a high frequency of health care utilization. For men, none of these health-related behaviors were bivariately associated with the social network. Furthermore, for women, the frequency of reported symptoms were more often associated with social network characteristics. Multivariate analyses showed that for women, dissatisfaction with social participation and support from the neighborhood predicted stomach symptoms. For men, dissatisfaction with instrumental support and contact with children predicted tension symptoms. This study suggests that health behaviour relates both to social network and gender.