Do living arrangements and social network influence the mental health status of older adults in Malaysia
Living arrangement has been reported to have a significant influence on several mental health statuses of older adults, but their social network may confound this association. This study is aimed at examining the interactive effect of living arrangements and social network on the mental health statu...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media
2021
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96790/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96790/1/ABSTRACT.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848862445063372800 |
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| author | Hamid, Tengku Aizan Mat Din, Hazwan Bagat, Mohamad Fazdillah Ibrahim, Rahimah |
| author_facet | Hamid, Tengku Aizan Mat Din, Hazwan Bagat, Mohamad Fazdillah Ibrahim, Rahimah |
| author_sort | Hamid, Tengku Aizan |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Living arrangement has been reported to have a significant influence on several mental health statuses of older adults, but their social network may confound this association. This study is aimed at examining the interactive effect of living arrangements and social network on the mental health status among older adults in Malaysia. A total of 2,188 Malaysian older adults living nationwide were included in this cross-sectional study. Participants were classified into four groups according to their living arrangements (living alone or not living alone) and social network size (assessed using Lubben's Social Network Scale-6). Poor social network was defined as the lowest quartile (fourth quartile) of the score. Mental health statuses, which include flourishing in life, life satisfaction, cognitive functions, loneliness, depression, and perceived stress, were measured. Multiple linear regression models, adjusted for age, gender, education, and comorbidities, revealed that a good social network was significantly associated with an increase on the flourishing scale scores, regardless of living arrangements. Not living alone and having good social network was significantly associated with increased Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores and decreased loneliness scores. This study found that living arrangements are not always a risk factor for the mental health status of older adults. However, it may be confounded by the level of their social networks. The results suggested that the effects of social network may exceed the impact of living arrangements. It is recommended that health professionals pay more attention to the social networks of older Malaysians to harness its benefits in improving their mental health status. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T13:17:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-96790 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T13:17:08Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-967902022-12-01T03:54:56Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96790/ Do living arrangements and social network influence the mental health status of older adults in Malaysia Hamid, Tengku Aizan Mat Din, Hazwan Bagat, Mohamad Fazdillah Ibrahim, Rahimah Living arrangement has been reported to have a significant influence on several mental health statuses of older adults, but their social network may confound this association. This study is aimed at examining the interactive effect of living arrangements and social network on the mental health status among older adults in Malaysia. A total of 2,188 Malaysian older adults living nationwide were included in this cross-sectional study. Participants were classified into four groups according to their living arrangements (living alone or not living alone) and social network size (assessed using Lubben's Social Network Scale-6). Poor social network was defined as the lowest quartile (fourth quartile) of the score. Mental health statuses, which include flourishing in life, life satisfaction, cognitive functions, loneliness, depression, and perceived stress, were measured. Multiple linear regression models, adjusted for age, gender, education, and comorbidities, revealed that a good social network was significantly associated with an increase on the flourishing scale scores, regardless of living arrangements. Not living alone and having good social network was significantly associated with increased Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores and decreased loneliness scores. This study found that living arrangements are not always a risk factor for the mental health status of older adults. However, it may be confounded by the level of their social networks. The results suggested that the effects of social network may exceed the impact of living arrangements. It is recommended that health professionals pay more attention to the social networks of older Malaysians to harness its benefits in improving their mental health status. Frontiers Media 2021 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96790/1/ABSTRACT.pdf Hamid, Tengku Aizan and Mat Din, Hazwan and Bagat, Mohamad Fazdillah and Ibrahim, Rahimah (2021) Do living arrangements and social network influence the mental health status of older adults in Malaysia. Frontiers in Public Health, 9. art. no. 624394. pp. 1-8. ISSN 2296-2565 https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.624394/full 10.3389/fpubh.2021.624394 |
| spellingShingle | Hamid, Tengku Aizan Mat Din, Hazwan Bagat, Mohamad Fazdillah Ibrahim, Rahimah Do living arrangements and social network influence the mental health status of older adults in Malaysia |
| title | Do living arrangements and social network influence the mental health status of older adults in Malaysia |
| title_full | Do living arrangements and social network influence the mental health status of older adults in Malaysia |
| title_fullStr | Do living arrangements and social network influence the mental health status of older adults in Malaysia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do living arrangements and social network influence the mental health status of older adults in Malaysia |
| title_short | Do living arrangements and social network influence the mental health status of older adults in Malaysia |
| title_sort | do living arrangements and social network influence the mental health status of older adults in malaysia |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96790/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96790/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96790/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/96790/1/ABSTRACT.pdf |