Gender differences in social networks and physical and mental health: are social relationships more health protective in women than in men?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Individuals' relationships are characterized by multidimensional aspects and the unique make-up of different features is more or less supportive of physical and mental health. The current study derived social network types based on an extended set of indicators reflecting the structure, function, and quality of relationships, then examined their associations with diverse physical and mental health outcomes separately for men and women.

Methods

Using samples of 620 South Korean adults (M_age = 53.52), Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to uncover distinct social network types, and multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the link between network types and health outcomes.

Results

LPA analysis derived four network types:

SUBMITTER: Shin H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10782512 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature