Social contact during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of long-term connectedness and cumulative inequality in later life.

Though the COVID-19 crisis put many older adults at sudden risk of social isolation, the pandemic was far from the "great equalizer" some pundits and politicians initially claimed it would be. Drawing from Cumulative Inequality Theory, I consider how long-run patterns of social dis/connectedness contextualize key disparities in social contact that manifested during the pandemic. I incorporate data from four rounds of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (2005-2021), constructing multiple operationalizations of connectedness accumulation across pre-COVID years and examining several types of social contact during the pandemic, both in-person and remote. Results from ordered logistic regression show that those most durably connected were especially likely to incorporate digital tools for maintaining contact with family and friends. On the other hand, people experiencing more bouts of social disconnection were least likely to see friends during the pandemic, and were yet relatively tolerant of that level of engagement. Even while many older people's level of social dis/connectedness fluctuates over the course of 15 years, it was long-run accumulation patterns-not conditions observed most recently-that best explain their experience of social contact during the pandemic. Findings point to the role of crises in perpetuating and exacerbating key axes of inequality, and suggest points of attention and intervention in COVID's aftermath.

Age, Political Participation, and Political Context in Africa.

OBJECTIVES: Political participation differs across the age range, but little is known about these patterns outside of developed countries. Political context is a particularly important consideration for all political behavior in Africa, where only a few countries are fully democratic. Drawing from political opportunity structures theory, we investigate how political freedom conditions the age-based pattern of electoral and nonelectoral political engagement, as well as protesting. METHODS: This study merges the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds of the Afrobarometer data sets, spanning 36 African countries, with country-level data on political freedom from Freedom House. Using multilevel regression models, we examine how political freedom shapes the relationship between age and 3 forms of political participation. RESULTS: Africans aged from 18 to 60 years and living in nonfree countries are most engaged in electoral and nonelectoral political activities, though participation begins to drop markedly past age 60. For protest participation, young Africans living in partially and non-free countries are the most engaged in protests; yet limited political freedom again means a sharp age-based decline. DISCUSSION: The impact of political context on the age-participation association is nuanced in ways not anticipated by mainstream research on the developed West. Repressive regimes, while spurring engagement at younger ages, appear to disproportionately deter older Africans from political engagement, especially its riskiest forms. We conclude by calling for more country-comparative gerontological research with careful attention to contextual heterogeneity, particularly in the understudied Global South.

On religious ambiguity: Childhood family religiosity and adult flourishing in a twin sample.

Ambiguity is an important notion in sociology, denoting situations where social actors and groups carry on without shared meaning. The current article applies this concept to the context of religiosity during people's upbringing, recognizing that multiple factors make family-level religion a complex experience. Indeed, though recent research portrays household religiosity in childhood as a sociocultural exposure with long-term implications for well-being, existing studies have yet to incorporate multiple inputs to consider the cohesiveness of that exposure. Using twin data from a national sample, we investigate whether consistency in recalled household religiosity is associated with mid-life flourishing. Multi-level linear regression models reveal that similarity in twin reports matter, above and beyond the actual level of religiosity individuals report and net of dis/similarity across other childhood recollections. We conclude that coherence in religious upbringing-whether religion was understood to be important or not-is a key ingredient for thriving later in life and then reflect more broadly on manifestations of sociocultural ambiguity in families and in larger social units.

Distance in Disconnection: The Varied Impact of Core Network Losses on Loneliness Among Older Europeans.

OBJECTIVES: Research among older adults reveals that the loss of core network members is a risk factor for loneliness. Still, it is not clear whether all such losses induce similar levels of loneliness, particularly as network members are distributed at varied geographic distances. Neither is it clear whether tie addition-the other ubiquitous aspect of network turnover in later life-offsets the loneliness that arises from different network loss scenarios. METHODS: This paper scrutinized core network losses across multiple relationship-distance scenarios. We used the fourth and sixth waves of data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe and estimated fixed-effect models. RESULTS: The loss of a child from a core network increases feelings of loneliness across variant distances, especially when not complemented by additional connections. Losing relatives or nonkin core connections in proximity (within 1 km and 5 km radius, respectively) is also associated with increased loneliness, yet such effects are also largely mitigated by the addition of new core network members. DISCUSSION: The relationship between core network member losses and loneliness can significantly differ based on the nature of the lost connection and its geographic distance. Active rebalancing of one's core network following losses and proactive network expansion can serve as pivotal strategies to prevent loneliness for the aging population.

Social Network Negativity and Physical Activity: New Longitudinal Evidence for Young and Older Adults 2015-2018.

Purpose: Physical activity (PA) has considerable public health benefits. Positive aspects of the interpersonal environment are known to affect PA, yet few studies have investigated whether negative dimensions also influence PA. This study examines the link between changing social network negativity and PA, net of stable confounding characteristics of persons and their environments. Method: Polling respondents in the San Francisco Bay Area over three waves (2015-2018), the UCNets project provides a panel study of social networks and health for two cohorts of adults. Respondents were recruited through stratified random address sampling, and supplemental sampling was conducted through Facebook advertising and referral. With weights, the sample is approximately representative of Californians aged 21-30 and 50-70. Personal social networks were measured using multiple name-generating questions. Fixed effects ordered logistic regression models provide parameter estimates. Results: Younger adults experience significant decreases in PA when network negativity increases, while changes in other network characteristics (e.g. support, size) did not significantly predict changes in PA. No corresponding association was found for older adults. Results are net of baseline covariate levels, stable social and individual differences, and select time-varying characteristics of persons and their environments. Conclusion: Leveraging longitudinal data from two cohorts of adults, this study extends understanding on interpersonal environments and PA by considering the social costs embedded in social networks. This is the first study to investigate how changes in network negativity pattern PA change. Interventions that help young adults resolve or manage interpersonal conflicts may have the benefit of helping to promote healthy lifestyle choices.

Social network characteristics and HIV testing among older adults in South Africa.

Drawing from theory and research on the role of social networks in promoting or undermining preventative public health measures, this article considers how structural, compositional and functional aspects of older adults' close social networks are associated with HIV testing in the context of rural South Africa. Analyses use data from the population-based Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) - a sample of rural adults age 40+ (N = 4,660). Results from multiple logistic regression show older South African adults with larger, more heavily non-kin and more literate networks were most likely to report testing for HIV. People whose network members provided frequent information were also most likely to be tested, though interaction effects indicate that this pattern is primarily found among those with highly literate networks. Taken together, the findings reinforce a key insight from social capital perspectives: network resourcefulness - literacy in particular - is crucial for promoting preventative health practice. The synergy between network literacy and informational support reveals the complex interplay between network characteristics in shaping health-seeking behaviour. Continued research is needed on the connection between networks and HIV testing among sub-Saharan older adults, as this population is not currently well served by many public health efforts in the region.

Isolation or Replenishment? The Case of Partner Network Exclusivity and Partner Loss in Later Life.

OBJECTIVES: People's partners and spouses often provide a wide range of essential emotional and practical support. As crucial as they may be, a nontrivial segment of the older population appears to limit close discussions to their partner alone, a phenomenon we term "partner network exclusivity." This network structure could leave people vulnerable to partner losses and subsequent social isolation. The present research has 3 aims: (a) examine the prevalence of partner-exclusive networks among European older adults; (b) consider who is most likely to inhabit such networks; and (c) investigate whether and how individuals in such precarious networks rebalance them in case of partner losses. METHODS: The analysis uses Wave 4 (2011) and Wave 6 (2015) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to perform logistic regression on one's possession of partner-exclusive networks and the addition of core ties. RESULTS: More than a quarter of partnered respondents (28.1%) are in partner-exclusive core networks. Men, childless individuals, and those with financial difficulties are most likely to occupy such networks. Individuals in partner exclusivity are especially likely to enlist additional ties upon partner loss. Nevertheless, men and individuals at early old age are relatively unlikely to rebalance their core networks in case of partner death. DISCUSSION: This study provides new evidence that network replenishment following relationship disruptions is plausible even for those from precarious network settings. Nevertheless, widowhood produces patterns of vulnerability for a subset of older adults in partner-exclusive core networks.

Do Sexual Expectations Matter for Older Men and Women? Anticipated Sexual Futures and Late-Life Sexuality Over Two Decades.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Expectations across a variety of life domains appear to shape the aging process, giving weight to the role of self-fulfilling prophecies in later life. Sexuality is one area where the power of expectations is not well-understood. We investigated whether 10-year sexual expectations were associated with sexual satisfaction and sexual frequency a decade on among older heterosexual coupled adults. We further examined whether sexual expectations could offset the sex-constraining impact of functional limitation onset. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We used 3 waves of the Midlife Development in the United States study (1995, 2005, 2014), a nationally representative panel survey. Analyses consider adults aged 45+ in 1995 who had a spouse or romantic partner at 2 consecutive waves. Associations between sexual expectations and eventual sexual satisfaction and frequency were estimated with multivariable generalized estimating equations. Moderation analyses examined whether between-wave onset of functional limitations had less influence on sexuality outcomes when combined with a high initial level of sexual expectations. RESULTS: Sexually optimistic participants reported more sexual satisfaction and higher sexual frequency a decade later. Though the onset of functional limitations tended to suppress sexual frequency for women, the probability of having weekly sex was significantly higher among such women if they had high rather than low sexual expectations. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Results suggest that, similar to other life domains, expectations shape the sexual experience of older adults. Clinicians and care providers may consider ways to help foster realistic optimism about sexuality among older men and women.

The Long Arm of Childhood: Does It Vary According to Health Care System Quality?

Increasing evidence points to the salience of early life experiences in shaping health inequalities, but scant research has considered the role of institutional resources as buffers in this relationship. Health care systems in particular are an understudied yet important context for the generation of inequalities from childhood into adulthood. This research investigates associations between childhood disadvantage and adult morbidity and examines the role of health care system quality in this relationship. We also consider the role of adult socioeconomic status. We merge individual-level data on major disease (2014 European Social Survey) with nation-level health care indicators. Results across subjective and objective approaches to health care system quality are similar, indicating a reduced association between childhood socioeconomic status and adult disease in countries with higher quality health care. In total, our results reiterate the long-term influence of childhood disadvantage on health while suggesting health care's specific role as an institutional resource for ameliorating life course health inequalities.

Age integration in later life social networks and self-perceptions of aging: examining their reciprocal associations.

Relying on the age segregation theory (limited contact between age groups), this study examined the temporal reciprocal associations between age integration-the inclusion of older and younger people in one's personal network-and one's self-perceptions of aging (SPA). Data came from the 2014 and 2017 waves of the German Ageing Survey and focused on adults aged 60 and above (N = 5239). Age composition of the network was assessed as the number of kin and non-kin in the social network who are either more than 10 years older or more than 10 years younger than the respondent. A latent change score model assessed the bidirectional associations. The results showed that adults who had younger social network members, both kin and non-kin, had better SPA 3 years later. A positive SPA at baseline also predicted a higher number of younger non-kin and older non-kin relationships over time. These results stress the role of SPA in adults' social network as well as the role of age integration in shaping adults' SPA. Practitioners and policy makers should encourage connections between people of different ages and should strive to decrease the age segregation in society.

There at any distance? Geographic proximity and the presence of adult children in older Europeans' core discussion networks.

Adult children are key confidants for their aging parents, often providing emotional and advisory supports. Still, adult children are not a guaranteed presence in older people's core discussion networks. Geographical distance is a leading explanation for why some children are excluded from the confidant network, but we hypothesize that certain parent- and dyadic-level factors make these intergenerational ties more or less resilient to distance. Using wave six of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe, we identified whether a living adult child was also a member of the parent's egocentric confidant network. We found that fifty-eight percent of children were excluded from a parent's network and that such network exclusion was more common the greater the distance between parent and child. Random slope logit models indicate that parents with higher education were less sensitive to longer distances when listing a child as a confidant, whereas poor parental health exacerbated distance consequences. We also observed regional differences, with Northern Europeans being more impervious to geographical distance than older adults living in areas of the continent considered most familistic. Together, results point to the contingency of distance, as a number of demographic factors and personal and social resources contribute to the elasticity of parent-child ties across geographic space.

Compensatory Connections? Living Alone, Loneliness, and the Buffering Role of Social Connection Among Older American and European Adults.

OBJECTIVES: The growth of solo living has important implications for the rising "loneliness epidemic" among older adults. This study considered whether 2 forms of social connectedness-extra-household core discussion networks and social participation-buffer the loneliness associated with living alone. METHOD: Our study used data from 2 surveys (National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project; Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe) encompassing 20 developed Western countries in 2009/2010 and 2015/2016 (n = 110,817). Harmonizing measures across data sets, we estimated survey-specific and pooled longitudinal regression models with interaction terms. RESULTS: High levels of social connectedness only moderately buffered the loneliness associated with living alone in later life. Findings were largely consistent across regions of Europe and the United States, though the buffering patterns were most robustly identified for widowed solo dwellers. DISCUSSION: Extra-household connections are partial compensators, but do not seem to fully replace the ready companionship afforded by residential copresence in later life. Future research is needed to understand whether the efficacy of compensatory connections differs by gender, race/ethnicity, and across more diverse global regions.

Couple Religiosity and Well-Being Among Older Adults in the United States.

Objectives: This article evaluates whether couples' religious similarity is consequential for the health of older married men and women. Alternatively, we examine whether women's religiosity alone is health-protective to their husbands.Methods: Using dyadic data from the US National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, a representative sample of 913 individuals ages 62-91 plus their marital partners, we perform latent-class analysis to separate older couples into classes based on religious characteristics. Ordered logistic regression models are then used to assess whether different combinations of religious (dis)similarity are associated with married men and women's well-being. Results: We find that older women in highly religious, homogamous marriages report better mental and physical health relative to women in heterogamous and secular (non-religious) marriages. No significant associations were observed for men. Discussion: Our results emphasize that religiosity is not only an individual trait-dis/similarities within a couple have important implications for older women's well-being.

Keeping "In Touch": Demographic Patterns of Interpersonal Touch in Later Life.

Touch is an important element of human social interaction linked to various dimensions of well-being, but we know little of how it is distributed among older adults. This study considers whether greeting/affectionate touch is a function of characteristics such as race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Data come from Wave 1 (2005-2006) of the NSHAP study from the United States. Results reveal that women experienced more frequent touch relative to men, net of several features of the interpersonal environment. Mediation analyses revealed that gender differences in associations with touch were partially explained by women's greater participation in formal and informal social activity. No patterns were detected related to race, education, or wealth. This study situates greeting/affectionate touch as a form of corporeal non-verbal interaction that offers a unique lens into patterns of social connection. We close by considering what this form of interaction means in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Does Childhood Religiosity Delay Death?

This study explores the potential long-term health effects of religiosity in the childhood home. Analyses use retrospective childhood data from the MIDUS survey linked to National Death Index records from 1995 to 2014. Findings from Cox proportional hazard models suggest that children brought up in highly religious households have a higher risk of mortality than those socialized in more moderately religious households, this despite such individuals having better overall health profiles. The surprising link between high childhood religiosity and mortality was confined to those who downgraded their religiosity. Those who intensified from moderate to high religiosity, in fact, seemed to be most protected. We call for future research to more clearly specify the intervening mechanisms linking childhood religion with adult health and mortality over the life course.

Do Older Adults with HIV Have Distinctive Personal Networks? Stigma, Network Activation, and the Role of Disclosure in South Africa.

This study considers whether the personal networks of older South African people living with HIV (PLHIV) differ from those without HIV. Using recent survey data (N = 5059), results suggest that PLHIV reported more core network members than their peers without HIV (IRR 1.08; 95% CI 1.03, 1.13), but were equally likely to receive emotional support from network members (1.21; 95% CI 0.93, 1.58). PLHIV who had yet to disclose their serostatus were more likely than others to have friends and other non-kin in their core network (B 0.08; 95% CI 0.02, 0.13) and to maintain networks of non-overlapping members (OR 2.11; 95% CI 1.33, 3.34). Even as HIV remains highly stigmatized in South Africa, PLHIV tend to maintain relatively large and supportive networks. Still, a sizeable proportion of PLHIV do not disclose their illness-these individuals disproportionately inhabit networks marked by non-kin and by high bridging potential.

Religious Attendance and Physical Health in Later Life: A Life Course Approach.

Existing research on the life course origins of adult health has extensively examined the influence of childhood socioeconomic conditions, family structure, and exposure to trauma. Left unexplored are the potential long-term health effects of sociocultural exposures, such as religiosity at earlier phases of the life course. Integrating life course models of health with literature on the health-protective effects of adult religiosity, we consider how adolescent and midlife religiosity combine to structure the physical health profiles of adults past age 50. Using more than 35 years of representative data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79 (NLSY79), we found that the stability of frequent religious practice over time was associated with better health composite scores and lower disease burden. Causal mediation analyses revealed that part of this association is driven by a lower risk of smoking for consistent, frequent attenders. Adulthood religiosity also mediated the relationship between frequent early-life religious attendance and health.

How painful is a recession? An assessment of two future-oriented buffering mechanisms.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE: Guided by stress process theory, this study investigates the association between the economic downturn and chronic pain interference, as well as the role of two future-oriented buffering mechanisms (anticipated stressor duration and pre-recession financial optimism) in this relationship. This research integrates both an objective measure of the recession based on negative personal experiences, as well as subjective event-based appraisals of how the recession impacted people's lives. METHOD: Drawing on longitudinal data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, linear lagged dependent variable models are used to estimate associations between recession-era stressors and chronic pain interference among 1113 adults. The analysis further examines the moderating influences of anticipated stressor duration and pre-recession financial optimism. RESULTS: Findings reveal that both an accumulation of adverse experiences and global appraisals of the economic recession have harmful associations with chronic pain interference; however, their magnitude varied according to future-oriented moderating factors. Specifically, people with high pre-recession financial optimism fared better when confronted with recession-related stressors than did those with low levels of financial optimism. Moreover, pain interference was greater among individuals who appraised the recession as having a negative impact on their lives, but only if they perceived the recession would extend into the future. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates distinctive links between two recession-related measures and pain interference. Findings suggest that positive future orientations can be protective during an economic crisis, whereas negative orientations heighten the pain.

As Goes the City? Older Americans' Home Upkeep in the Aftermath of the Great Recession.

The private home is a crucial site in the aging process, yet the upkeep of this physical space often poses a challenge for community-dwelling older adults. Previous efforts to explain variation in disorderly household conditions have relied on individual-level characteristics, but ecological perspectives propose that home environments are inescapably nested within the dynamic socioeconomic circumstances of surrounding spatial contexts, such as the metro area. We address this ecological embeddedness in the context of the Great Recession, an event in which some U.S. cities saw pronounced and persistent declines across multiple economic indicators while other areas rebounded more rapidly. Panel data (2005-6 and 2010-11) from a national survey of older adults were linked to interviewer home evaluations and city-level economic data. Results from fixed-effects regression support the hypothesis that older adults dwelling in struggling cities experienced an uptick in disorderly household conditions. Findings emphasize the importance of city-specificity when probing effects of a downturn. Observing changes in home upkeep also underscores the myriad ways in which a city's most vulnerable residents- older adults, in particular-are affected by its economic fortunes.

Looking homeward with the life course: Early origins of adult dwelling satisfaction?

The long-term influence of childhood economic and social exposures on adult health and well-being is well-known. Most childhood circumstances transpire in or near the home, yet research has largely neglected how early exposures shape people's experience of their residential context in adulthood. To help address this gap, we use retrospective longitudinal data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) study. Drawing on a life course framework, we test the potential mediating roles of adult social, economic, and mental health processes. Results suggest that childhood parental warmth and maltreatment have an enduring influence on people's satisfaction with their adult home, while there is little indication that childhood economic conditions shape adult dwelling satisfaction. Analyses of average controlled direct effects suggest that the effects of childhood parental warmth are mediated slightly by adult socioeconomic attainment and psychological adjustment but especially by supportive family relationships during adulthood. This pattern is consistent with an attachment-based interpretation of the importance of childhood conditions for adult relationships as well as home satisfaction. Taken together, our results suggest that parent-child bonds cast a long shadow over how people experience their residential context decades later, through a diffuse, multifaceted set of intervening pathways.