Association between social integration and loneliness among the female migrant older adults with children: the mediating effect of social support

• Published in: BMC geriatrics Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 4 - 11
• Main Authors: Xu, Jing, Liu, Guangwen, Li, Hexian, Jiang, Xiaoxu, Zhou, Shengyu, Wang, Jieru, Pang, Mingli, Li, Shixue, Kong, Fanlei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 03.01.2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Aged; Aged women; Analysis; China - epidemiology; Families & family life; Female; Females; Humans; Influence; Integration; Loneliness; Male; Migrant older adults with children; Migrant workers; Older people; Psychological aspects; Research Design; Social aspects; Social Integration; Social interactions; Social isolation; Social networks; Social Support; Sociodemographics; Statistical sampling; Structural equation model; Transients and Migrants; Urban areas; Women immigrants; China; Shandong China; Loneliness; Female; Social integration; Structural equation model; Migrant older adults with children; Social support
• DOI: 10.1186/s12877-023-04569-8
• ISSN: 1471-2318

The number of migrant older adults with children (MOAC) in China has been increasing in recent years, and most of them are women. This study aimed to explore the mediating effect of social support between social integration and loneliness among the female MOAC in Jinan, China. In this study, 418 female MOAC were selected using multi-stage cluster random sampling in Jinan, Shandong Province, China. Loneliness was measured by the eight-item version of the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (ULS-8), and social support was measured by The Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS). Descriptive analyses, t-tests, ANOVA, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to illustrate the relationship between social integration, social support, and loneliness. The average scores of ULS-8 and SSRS were 12.9 ± 4.0 and 39.4 ± 5.9 among female MOAC in this study. Social integration and social support were found to be negatively related to loneliness, and the standardized direct effect was -0.20 [95% CI: -0.343 to -0.068] and -0.39 [95% CI: -0.230 to -0.033], respectively. Social support mediated the relationship between social integration and loneliness, and the indirect effect was -0.16 [95% CI: -0.252 to -0.100]. The female MOAC's loneliness was at a relatively lower level in this study. It was found that social integration was negatively associated with loneliness, and social support mediated the relationship between them. Helping female MOAC integrate into the inflow city and improving their social support could be beneficial for alleviating their loneliness.