Quantity or quality? Assessing relationships between perceived social connectedness and recorded encounters

• Published in: PloS one 2018-11, Vol.13 (11), p.e0208083-e0208083
• Main Authors: Dias, Alison, Geard, Nicholas, Campbell, Patricia Therese, Warr, Deborah, McVernon, Jodie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis; Australia; Biology and Life Sciences; Computer and Information Sciences; Computer Simulation; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Epidemiology; Family income; Female; Health; Health aspects; Health Status; Hierarchy, Social; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Laboratories; Local government; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Mortality; People and Places; Perception; Physical Sciences; Population; Proxy; Quality assessment; Regression analysis; Regression models; Research and Analysis Methods; Residence Characteristics; Social Environment; Social interactions; Social networks; Social Perception; Social Sciences; Social Support; Sociodemographics; Socioeconomic factors; Systematic review; Volunteerism; Volunteers
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208083

Higher levels of social connectedness are associated with better physical and mental health outcomes, but measures of connectedness are often study specific. Prior research has distinguished between perceived and received (quantifiable) measures of social connectedness, with differing impacts on health, sometimes mediated by place of residence. This analysis investigated the relationship between perceptions of social support/connection and quantifiable measures of social encounters, by neighbourhood, to inform understanding of place-based differences in connectedness and health outcomes. Negative binomial regression models were used to determine associations between perceptions of social connectedness (perceived community connections and social involvement) and the number of recorded daily social encounters as a proxy for received support/connectedness. Analyses were undertaken across two Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Melbourne with disparate socio-economic profiles to examine potential modification of social connectedness measures by neighbourhood of residence. Two measures of perceived connectedness had a clear relationship with recorded daily social encounters-feeling a sense of community belonging (RR 1.20 (1.04, 1.37), p = 0.010) and having family or friends close by (RR 1.30 (1.10,1.54), p = 0.002 "neither" compared to "disagree", (RR 1.15 (1.04, 1.26), p = 0.006 "agree" compared to "disagree"). Involvement in a local church, sporting or social club was associated with a greater number of daily social encounters for respondents who participated a few times a year (RR 1.17 (1.05,1.32), p = 0.006) or often (RR 1.23 (1.12,1.36), p