# A study of the impact of social network types on the health of older adults—Mediated by psychological resilience

**Authors:** Yuan Chai, Qi Zhang, Yifei Yuan

PMC · DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0333966 · PLOS One · 2025-10-16

## TL;DR

This study shows that diverse social networks improve the health of older adults in China by boosting psychological resilience.

## Contribution

It identifies how different social network types affect health through psychological resilience mediation in the elderly.

## Key findings

- Diverse social networks significantly improve self-rated health among Chinese elderly people.
- The positive effects are mediated by enhanced psychological resilience.
- Health benefits vary across different demographic groups.

## Abstract

To explore the different types of social network types and their impact on the health of the elderly, as well as the influencing mechanisms to promote their health.

k-means clustering, regression analysis, mediating effect method.

For Chinese elderly people, social network types have a significant impact on the self-rated health, but not on the chronic conditions. The benefits of diverse social network types are significant and positively influence their health by enhancing psychological resilience. There is heterogeneity among different characteristic groups.

This not only suggests that elderly individuals should consciously engage with different types of people in their daily lives, but also emphasizes the need for the government to further establish and improve platforms that promote a diverse social network for the elderly, and provide personalized services and guidance for different groups.

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** respiratory diseases (MESH:D012140), heart failure (MESH:D006333), cardiovascular diseases (MESH:D002318), depression (MESH:D003866), chronic (MESH:D002908), diabetes (MESH:D003920), pneumonia (MESH:D011014), heart disease (MESH:D006331), anxiety (MESH:D001007), hypertension (MESH:D006973), cerebrovascular disease (MESH:D002561), stroke (MESH:D020521), tuberculosis (MESH:D014376), asthma (MESH:D001249), cancer (MESH:D009369), bronchitis (MESH:D001991)
- **Chemicals:** alcohol (MESH:D000438)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Full text

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## Figures

8 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12530523/full.md

## References

40 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12530523/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12530523