The Relationship of Social Engagement and Social Support With Sense of Community

Abstract

Background:

We aimed to investigate the relationship of engagement in social and cognitive activities and social support with the sense of community (SOC) and its components among older Chinese Americans.

Methods:

The Sense of Community Index (SCI) was used to measure SOC and its four component factors: membership, influence, needs fulfillment, and emotional connection. Social engagement was assessed with 16 questions. Social support included positive support and negative strain. Principal component analysis was used to identify the SCI components. Linear regression analysis was used to detect the contribution of social engagement and social support to SOC and its components.

Results:

After controlling for sociodemographics and self-rated health, social activity engagement and positive social support were positively related to SOC and its components.

Conclusions:

This study points to the importance of social activity engagement and positive support from family and friends in increasing the sense of community.

The concept of sense of community (SOC) has been developed to characterize the relationship between individuals and social structures (1), with four proposed elements: membership (ie, the feelings of belonging), influence (ie, a sense of mattering), needs fulfillment (ie, feelings about the member’s needs are met in the community), and emotional connection (ie, the beliefs or commitment that members share history, common places, time together, and similar experiences) (2). Describing an individual’s experience of community life, SOC focuses on the affective feelings of the members of a community for each other and for the community itself (3). The community can provide interdependence and mutual support as a setting of residency and relationships, and SOC serves as the resource for addressing an individual’s psychological and social needs, such as affiliation and affection, thus positively affecting psychological well-being and promoting community development (4). SOC is related to various indictors of psychological well-being, including life satisfaction, mental health, and loneliness (4).

The community plays an important role in everyday life among Chinese people. Traditional Chinese culture emphasizes the importance of collectivism, that is, interdependence and social cohesiveness in the community (5). The removal of people from primary communities and traditional culture may lead to the loss of SOC and subsequent psychological distress (6). This is perhaps particularly the case for older adult immigrants, who are likely to experience more difficulties during life transitions than younger adults (7). Therefore, fostering a sense of community in a new culture is critically important for older adult immigrants to maintain their quality of life and well-being. The objective of the present study is to investigate whether activity engagement (by oneself or with others) and social support (from family and friends) are associated with SOC among older Chinese Americans.

A number of studies suggest that SOC is affected by an array of related social dimensions that include community connection and support, neighboring behaviors and social networks, neighborhood cohesion and satisfaction, and participation in community organizations (8). Studies found that a reciprocal relationship exists between activity participation and SOC (9). Further, the relationship varies by activity types, based on the function of participation (9). In fact, activity can fall into many different domains, including social, leisure, productive, physical, cognitive, service, and solitary (10). According to activity theory (10), high levels of activity participation are associated with increased well-being, which may include enhanced SOC and collective well-being. Informal social participation through activities such as visiting with friends is constantly associated with positive well-being outcomes (10). Social activities are characterized by interactions with the environment and the in-group members, bringing people together around practice of shared meaning and an engagement of mind and body (11). By contrast, nonsocial activities, including cognitive activities, mainly serve to satisfy individual interest, with information processing and less social interaction (11,12).

Interaction with the family and the support from family and friends may contribute to the development of SOC. Social support, including emotional closeness and instrumental assistance, is one of the pathways that link activity participation to individual well-being, as well documented in the literature (10). Social interaction with family, in-groups, or community may lead to increased social integration that promotes a sense of belonging and emotional connection (13). As an informal mechanism, support system of a community may enable members to cope with community problems (1). Thus, it is speculated that social support plays an important role in promoting SOC, especially in older adult immigrants who are at risk for social isolation and psychological distress due to the life transitions in the aging process (14). Immigrants can develop SOC and adapt to changes after rebuilding their support networks and new connections (15).

Despite the rapid growth of the older Chinese American population and the Chinese community in the United States, lesser attention has been directed toward the investigation of their lives in the community and development of SOC. Compared with other ethnic groups, older Chinese immigrants are less acculturated and less likely to use formal social services due to language barriers and cultural differences, thus relying more on family and friends and comfortable obtaining support from familiar people in family-like settings (16). Living in metropolitan cities with well-established Chinese communities facilitates creating new social networks and SOC (16). They likely build connections with communities through informal support from family and friends with whom they spend time and participate in shared cultural or social activities. This study aims to examine the relationship of activity engagement (by oneself or with others) and social support from family and friends with SOC among community-dwelling older Chinese Americans. In particular, we test the hypotheses that (i) engagement in social (with others) and cognitive (by oneself) activities is related to SOC and its components, that is, membership, influence, needs fulfillment, and emotional connection and (ii) social support from family and friends is related to SOC and its components.

Methods

Study Sample

The Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago (PINE) is a community-engaged, population-based epidemiologic study of Chinese Americans aged 60 and older in the greater Chicago area. Study methods and procedures have been described elsewhere (12,17).

For the current study, we used data from the baseline interviews of 3,159 respondents, conducted during 2011–2013.

Measures and Instruments

The Sense of Community Index

The Sense of Community Index (SCI) is the most commonly used measure of SOC. The current 12-item version has been repeatedly used and examined in a number of studies, which suggested that the single-factor or one-dimensional scale of SCI is an adequate measure of overall SOC (18). Responses to each item were scaled from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A summary score, with higher scores indicating more SOC, and four components derived from principal component analysis (PCA) were used as dependent variables (Cronbach’s alpha = .67).

Social engagement

Engagement in social and cognitive activities was assessed with 16 questions. Cognitive activities included watching TV, listening to radio, reading, and playing games. Social activities included going out, visiting friends, going on trips, and visiting community centers. Responses were scaled from 0 (once a year or less/never) to 4 (every day or almost every day/20 or more times). Cognitive activity scale ranged from 0 to 33 (Cronbach’s alpha = .60); social activity scale ranged from 0 to 32 (Cronbach’s alpha = .66).

Social support

It included positive support and negative strain. Positive support was measured by the extent to which respondents opened up to and relied on family or friends. Negative support indicated how often respondents believed that too much was demanded and criticized. Responses were scaled from 1 (hardly ever) to 3 (often). Positive support and negative support were calculated as the sum of the six items within each category. Higher scores indicated more positive support (Cronbach’s alpha = .72) and less negative support (Cronbach’s alpha = .64).

Control variables

Sociodemographics and self-rated health status were controlled in regression analyses. Sociodemographics included age (years), gender (male or female), education (years), personal income (1 = 0–$4,999 to 10 = $45,000 or more), living arrangement (living alone, with spouse only, with spouse and children, with multiple generations, or with others), and years living in the community. Self-rated health status was measured on a 4-point scale (1 [poor] to 4 [very good]).

Data Analysis

PCA was first conducted using 12 items of the SCI to examine the dimensionality of SOC. PCA provides each item a component loading that describes linear combinations of these items and identifies a set of principal components that account for most of the variation in the data. The number of components was retained based on eigenvalues of one or greater. A varimax rotation was used to obtain a set of independent, best interpretable components. In multiple regression analysis, multicollinearity was assessed by examining the tolerance and variance inflation factor values. The summary SCI and the components derived from PCA were regressed, respectively, on four independent variables (ie, cognitive activity, social activity, positive support, and negative support) after controlling for sociodemographics and self-rated health. SAS 9.2 software (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) was used for statistical analyses.

Results

PCA resulted in four eigenvalues greater than one. Thus four components were retained, explaining 59% of the total variance in the data. As shown in Table 1, four items loaded highest on Component 1, or emotional connection, that is, affective evaluations of the neighborhood; three items loaded highest on Component 2, or influence, that is, a sense of mattering; three items loaded highest on Component 3, or membership, that is, a feeling of belonging; and two items loaded highest on Component 4, or needs fulfillment, that is, neighbors wanting same things and solving problems.

Table 1.

Sense of Community Index (SCI): Component Items and PCA coefficients

Item	Component 1: Emotional Connection	Component 2: Influence	Component 3: Membership	Component 4: Needs Fulfillment
Neighborhood is a good place to live.	0.200	−0.09	0.171	−0.190
Neighbors do not share same values.	0.004	0.373	0.129	−0.005
Neighbors and I want the same things.	0.149	−0.050	0.231	0.593
I can recognize most of neighbors.	0.199	0.144	−0.377	−0.022
I feel home at this neighborhood.	0.209	−0.087	0.082	−0.327
Very few of my neighbors know me.	0.174	0.162	−0.511	−0.134
I care about what neighbors think of my action.	−0.019	0.413	0.278	0.016
I have no influence on what neighborhood is like.	−0.001	0.429	0.108	−0.230
Neighbors can get problems solved.	0.158	0.123	0.107	0.519
It is important for me to live in this neighborhood.	0.218	−0.110	0.230	−0.139
Neighbors don’t get along with each other.	0.169	0.044	−0.276	0.271
I expect to live in this neighborhood for a long time.	0.199	−0.041	0.314	−0.262

Table 2 presents correlations among all variables. Weak relationships existed among four components (r from .03 to −.18), suggesting the distinct dimensions of SCI. The main independent variables were not strongly correlated, except positive and negative social support (r = .65). Additionally, diagnostics tests indicated that multicollinearity was not an issue. The regression analysis results showed that cognitive activity was not related to the summary SCI and its components, except a negative relationship with needs fulfillment (B = −.01, SE = .00, p < .05) (Table 3). Social activity was significantly related to the summary SCI (B = .16, SE = .02, p < .0001), emotional connection (B = .02, SE = .00, p < .001), influence (B = .03, SE = .00, p < .0001), and membership (B = −.01, SE = .00, p < .05). Positive social support was significantly associated with the summary SCI (B = .28, SE = .03, p < .0001), emotional connection (B = .04, SE = .01, p < .0001), influence (B = .05, SE = .01, p < .0001), and needs fulfillment (B = −.01, SE = .01, p < .05). Negative social support was related to influence (B = −.02, SE = .01, p < .05) and needs fulfillment (B = .03, SE = .01, p < .0001).

Table 2.

Correlations Among All Variables

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
1. Sense of community	—
2. Emotional connection	—	—
3. Influence	—	.06**	—
4. Membership	—	−.18***	.05*	—
5. Needs fulfillment	—	.03	−.08***	.08***	—
6. Cognitive activity	.08***	.06**	.13***	−.06**	−.06**	—
7. Social activity	.16***	.10***	.19***	−.08***	−.02	.47***	—
8. Positive support	.17***	.12***	.13***	−.03	.01	.19***	.23***	—
9. Negative support	.09***	.07***	.03	−.04*	.07***	.11***	.12***	.65***	—
10. Age	.11***	.12***	.02	.09***	−.08***	−.03	−.17***	−.30***	−.29***	—
11. Female	.09***	.06**	.03	.03	.01	−.20***	−.07***	−.13***	−.16***	−.01	—
12. Education	−.03	−.04*	.09***	−.05**	−.03	.54***	.36***	.23***	.13***	−.11***	−.20***	—
13. Income	.08***	.06***	.06***	.00	−.06***	.03	.02	−.04*	−.05**	.05**	.05**	.02	—
14. Years in neighborhood	.15***	.13***	.15***	.01	−.08***	−.04*	−.06***	−.08***	−.08***	.23***	.03	−.11***	.24***	—
15. Live alone	.12***	.10***	.07***	.03	−.04*	−.01	−.00	−.42***	−.40***	.30***	.20***	−.13***	.12***	.12***	—
16. Live w/spouse and children	−.09***	−.08***	−.03	−.04*	.03	.01	.01	−.02	−.02	−.15***	−.05**	.03	.04*	.06**	−.20***	—
17. Live w/multiple generation	−.16***	−.14***	−.14***	−.02	.04*	−.11***	−.05**	.02	.00	−.13***	.04*	−.07***	−.15***	−.14***	−.28***	−.20***	—
18. Live w/others	−.07***	−.09***	.03	.01	.03	−.00	−.00	.03	.04*	−.15***	−.04*	.01	.02	−.06***	−.13***	−.09***	−.13***	—
19. Poor/fair health	−.15***	−.12***	−.09***	−.03	.03	−.07***	−.13***	−.16***	−.09***	.05**	.04*	−.03	−.08***	−.05**	−.00	−.01	.01	.00

Note: *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Table 3.

Linear Regression Analysis of Summary Sense of Community Index and Four Components

Variable	Summary SCI	Emotional Connection	Influence	Membership	Needs Fulfillment
	B (SE)	B (SE)	B (SE)	B (SE)	B (SE)
Age	0.06(.01)****	0.01 (.00)****	0.00 (.00)	0.01 (.00)**	−0.00 (.00)*
Female	0.96 (.19)****	0.11 (.04)**	0.11 (.04)**	0.06 (.04)	0.02 (.04)
Education	−0.14 (.02)****	−0.02 (.00)****	0.00 (.00)	−0.00 (.00)	−0.00 (.00)
Income	−0.03 (.07)	−0.01 (.02)	−0.00 (.02)	0.00 (.00)	−0.03 (.02)
Years in neighborhood	0.05 (.01)****	0.00 (.00)**	0.01 (.00)****	−0.00 (.00)	−0.00 (.00)**
Living arrangement (ref: living with spouse only)
Living alone	0.75 (.29)**	0.10 (.05)	0.14 (.06)*	−0.06 (.06)	0.09 (.06)
Living with spouse and children	−1.55 (.30)****	−0.23 (.06)****	−0.13 (.06)*	−0.12 (.06)	0.13 (.06)*
Living with multiple generations	−1.88 (.25)****	−0.28 (.05)****	−0.24 (.05)****	−0.07 (.05)	0.09 (.05)
Living with others	−1.85 (.41)****	−0.37 (.07)****	0.08 (.08)	0.02 (.09)	0.15 (.08)
Self-rated poor/fair health	−1.05 (.19)****	−0.16 (.03)****	−0.07 (.04)	−0.08 (.04)*	0.04 (.04)
Cognitive activity engagement	0.04 (.02)	0.01 (.00)	0.00 (.00)	−0.00 (.00)	−0.01 (.00)*
Social activity engagement	0.16 (.02)****	0.02 (.00)***	0.03 (.00) ****	−0.01 (.00)*	0.00 (.00)
Positive social support	0.28 (.03)****	0.04 (.01)****	0.05 (.01)****	0.00 (.01)	−0.01 (.01)*
Negative social support	0.05 (.04)	0.01 (.01)	−0.02 (.01)*	−0.01 (.01)	0.03 (.01)****
Adjusted R2	.15	.10	.11	.02	.03

Note: *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001. ****p < .0001.

Discussion

Two study hypotheses were partly confirmed. Findings indicate that engagement in social activities rather than cognitive activities was associated with SOC and its components. Also positive social support was related to the increased SOC, whereas negative support was not consistently related to SOC and its components. Engagement in social activities involves interactions with in-group members (eg, visiting friends) or the environment (eg, attending concerts), or perhaps the purpose of seeking for social support (eg, visiting community centers) (12), thus promoting the perceptions of belonging, connectedness, and meeting physical and psychological needs. Conversely, cognitive activity is mostly solitary in nature, that is, activity one does alone, like reading and watching TV, with little concern about the communal and mutually supportive aspects of human lives (11). Social support based on interactions with family and friends also contributes to SOC. Specifically, positive social support may buffer social isolation and psychological distress that is associated with the aging process and life transitions, and people with high social support are in better health than people with low social support (19). Positive support may facilitate social integration into a larger group or the community. However, the role of negative strain was not clear, and the mixed findings suggest that demanding or critical relationship sometimes may relate to better SOC.

Given the significant relationship between SOC and psychological well-being (4), it is important for older Chinese Americans, especially recent immigrants, to participate in social activities and rely on supportive social networks to bolster a sense of community, which in turn, may buffer against the effects of acculturation stress experienced in a new culture and protect their mental and overall well-being. For those who lack proficient language skills and other resources, it may be extremely difficult to cope with multiple losses and victimization, such as from prejudice, discrimination, or racial oppression (20). Chinese immigrants are likely to form and rely on a community of their own, that is, the contexts within which members can participate in and perform meaningful social roles. Yet developing SOC should also focus on raising awareness and acceptance of multicultural values to prevent further social exclusion and racial segregation. In addition to informal social interaction with familiar people, older adults are in need of information and opportunities for formal activity participation, such as volunteering, voting, and campaigning, that aim to increase their influence in the community and change the social context. It should be noted that activity engagement in later life is a choice based on individual’s interest and physical, mental, and cognitive functioning. For some, the social intimacy inherent in certain activities appears more appealing, whereas others may prefer engagement in social and productive roles.

Limitations

Like previous research, our study suffered from the lack of test on the SCI’s reliability and validity. The SCI was designed to capture four underlying factors in the SOC model (2). We found four components that could be used to summarize the 12-item SCI, yet the component items were different than the originally proposed (2), indicating the inconsistency in factor structures (21). Particularly, the component of needs fulfillment was mainly indicated by two items about desiring same things and problem-solving among neighbors, which definitely do not capture a range of physical and psychological needs. The lack of conceptualization of SOC and inconsistency in component factors may explain why activity engagement and social support were differently associated with needs fulfillment than with the overall SOC and other components. Another major challenge is the classification of activities. Two domains of social and cognitive activities cannot capture the full range of activities in which older adults are involved. A typology of activity engagement is urgently needed to build on an updated comprehensive model of activity theory and solid empirical evidence. Also the cross-sectional design cannot establish the causal relationship or reciprocal relationship of SOC with activity engagement and social support.

Despite these limitations, this is the first study exploring the role of informal activity engagement and social support in developing SOC among older Chinese Americans, providing insights on building new social connections upon family and informal support networks. A strong sense of community may suggest a healthy living environment and a high level of social cohesiveness that is related to individual well-being. Family and friends need to encourage and support older adults’ engagement with life in various ways. The community is in a position to bring people together, through creating, expanding, and structuring opportunities for a range of activities. The point to be noted is that these findings are significant in a cultural structure like the Chinese American community. Future studies should be based on longitudinal designs to test the relationship direction and the change in sense of community, and the tests need to be conducted in other cultural structures too.

Funding

X.D. was supported by National Institute on Aging Grants R01AG042318, R01 MD006173, R01 CA163830, R34MH100443, R34MH100393, and RC4AG039085; a Paul B. Beeson Award in Aging; the Starr Foundation; the American Federation for Aging Research; the John A. Hartford Foundation; and the Atlantic Philanthropies.