Older Adults' Smaller Networks Did Not Undermine Social Satisfaction and Well-Being, Study Shows

A study in Psychology and Aging suggests quality social relationships may be as important to those older than 60 as they are to people younger than 45 in improving well-being, reports News-Medical . Participants gauged the number of people from different social networks and peripheral others with whom they had "regular contact in the past six months," including face-to-face, via phone or e-mail, or online. Older adults had smaller social networks than younger adults, yet the number of close friends bore no relation to age. Younger participants had large social networks mainly comprised of peripheral others, possibly because online social media networking sites have enabled the continuity of increasingly large and impersonal social networks. Only the reported number of close friends correlated with social satisfaction and well-being across the adult life span. This relationship remained relevant even after factoring in the number of family members, neighbors, and peripheral others. The same relationship also did not vary with age, which dovetailed with patterns of Facebook users who reported greater well-being if they perceived more actual friends on their online social networks. The researchers noted some policymakers appear to be increasingly interested in enhancing well-being in older adults by widening their social networks to counter loneliness.