Is neighbourhood social cohesion associated with subjective well-being for older Chinese people? The neighbourhood social cohesion study

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Hong Kong version of Neighbourhood Cohesion Instrument (HK-NCI) and examine whether neighbourhood social cohesion as measured using HK-NCI would be associated with evaluative, hedonic and eudaemonic well-being.

Design: A validation analysis followed by a cross-sectional analysis of a community-based survey.

Setting: Communities in two districts (Sha Tin and Tai Po) in Hong Kong.

Participants: 301 community-dwelling Chinese men and women aged 60 years and older normally residing in Sha Tin or Tai Po for not less than six consecutive months at the time of participation in the study were interviewed.

Measurements: Neighbourhood social cohesion was measured using the 15-item HK-NCI. The Social Cohesion Scale (SCS) and the Brief Sense of Community Scale (BSCS) were administered for assessing the validity of the HK-NCI. Evaluative (life satisfaction), hedonic (feelings of happiness) and eudaemonic well-being (sense of purpose and meaning in life) were examined. Socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle and health behaviours, medical history, and neighbourhood characteristics were used as covariates.

Results: For homogeneity, internal consistency of HK-NCI (α=0.813) was good. For stability (test-retest reliability), the averages of mean scores of the 15 items suggested an acceptable repeatability with an intra-class correlation coefficient=0.701(95% CI 0.497 to 0.832). HK-NCI was correlated with SCS (r=0.515-0.635, p<0.001) and BSCS (r=0.500-0.612, p<0.001). Neighbourhood social cohesion was positively and independently associated with life satisfaction, feelings of happiness and sense of purpose and meaning in life (all p values <0.05). Stratified analyses indicated that neighbourhood social cohesion was more strongly associated with all dimensions of subjective well-being in 'young-old' subgroup, and with sense of purpose and meaning in life for women.

Conclusion: The HK-NCI has adequate levels of internal consistency and test-retest reliability. In addition, higher levels of neighbourhood social cohesion were associated with better subjective well-being among older Chinese people.

Keywords: feelings of happiness; life satisfaction; neighborhood belonging; neighbourhood cohesion instrument; sense of purpose and meaning in life; social cohesion.