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Social Network Types Among Older Adults: A Multidimensional Approach

¹ Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
² Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin.

Address correspondence to K. Fiori, Postdoctoral Researcher, Intercultural Institute of Human Development and Aging at Long Island University, 191 Willoughby Street, Suite 1A, Brooklyn, NY 11201. E-mail: katherine.fiori{at}liu.edu. Co-author e-mails: smitjacq{at}isr.umich.edu (Jacqui Smith) and tca{at}umich.edu (Toni Antonucci)

Theories of social relations suggest that individuals' personal networks reflect multiple aspects of relationships, and that different constellations are more or less supportive of well-being. Using data from the Berlin Aging Study (N = 516; age, M = 85 years), we derived network types that reflect information about structure, function, and quality, and we examined their association with well-being. A cluster analysis revealed six network types: diverse–supported, family focused, friend focused–supported, friend focused–unsupported, restricted–nonfriends–unsatisfied, and restricted–nonfamily–unsupported. Well-being was predicted differentially by the six types. Although the oldest-old individuals (85 years of age or older) were overrepresented in the friend-focused–supported and restricted types, age did not moderate the association of types with well-being. A holistic consideration of structure, function, and quality of social networks in old age offers unique insights.