Social Control and Well-Being Among Older Adults

描述（研究者摘要）：融入社会的个体 发病率和死亡率风险较低， 社会孤立。社会关系和健康之间的这种联系可以 尤其是在老年人中，这表明， 社会关系可能是促进发展的有效途径， 保持这个年龄段的健康行为。虽然之前的研究 经常发现社会支持和 健康行为，社会关系的调节功能（称为 社会控制）提供了一个有前途的替代框架， 社会对健康行为和健康状况的影响。这样做的目的 项目是为了更好地了解性质，功能， 老年人的社会控制的后果，以及社会如何 控制过程在成年的各个阶段各不相同。电话采访将在 在居住在洛杉矶的年轻人、中年人和老年人中进行 县，以解决以下研究目标：一）调查年龄相关的 通过比较这些年龄组， 社会控制网络的规模和构成，以及 体验不同类型的社会控制; B）测试理论模型 直接社会控制的情感、行为和健康后果， 包括检查这些协会中与年龄有关的差异; c） 检验社会控制频率、社会控制的调节影响 类型（情感基调），目标参与健康行为的动机， 对自己生活的掌控感，以及目前的健康状况， 体验社会控制和情感反应之间的关联 社会控制; d）识别与社会控制相关的人格特征 社会控制的经验，并测试的调节影响， 社会控制、情感、健康行为 和健康状况。这项研究的最终目标是设计 有效和适合年龄的干预措施，利用社交网络， 鼓励参与健康的行为。

DESCRIPTION (investigator's abstract): Individuals who are socially integrated have lower morbidity and mortality risks compared to those who are more socially isolated. This association between social relationships and health can be particularly strong among older adults, suggesting that the utilization of social relationships may be an effective way to prompt the development and maintenance of health behaviors in this age group. Although previous research has often found weak or inconsistent associations between social support and health behaviors, the regulatory function of social relationships (known as social control) provides a promising alternative framework for understanding social influences on health behavior and health status. The purpose of this project is to obtain a better understanding of the nature, function, and consequences of social control among older adults, as well as how social control processes vary across stages of adulthood. Telephone interviews will be conducted with young, middle-aged, and older adults living in Los Angeles County to address the following research aims: a) investigating age-related differences in the experience of social control by comparing these age groups on social control network size and composition, as well as the extent of experiencing different types of social control; b) testing a theoretical model of the affective, behavioral, and health consequences of direct social control, including the examination of age-related differences in these associations; c) testing the moderating influence of social control frequency, social control type (affective tone), the target's motivation to engage in healthy behavior, perceptions of mastery over one's life, and current health status on the associations between experiencing social control and affective responses to social control; d) identifying personality characteristics that are associated with the experience of social control and testing the moderating influence of personality on associations between social control, affect, health behavior, and health status. The ultimate goal of this line of research is to design effective and age-appropriate interventions that utilize social networks to encourage engagement in healthy behavior.