Loneliness or Sociability: The Impact of Social Participation on the Mental Health of the Elderly Living Alone

Table 4

Heterogeneity analysis of the impact of social participation on the mental health of the elderly living alone.

Variables

Degree of depression

Anxiety level

Simple interaction class

Fitness exercise class

Self-entertainment class

Organization group class

Family care class

Intellectual participation class

Simple interaction class

Fitness exercise class

Self-entertainment class

Organization group class

Family care class

Intellectual participation class

Gender

Male

0.022; (0.056)

−0.133; (0.056)

−0.313; (0.068)

−1.114; (0.074)

0.004; (0.059)

−0.061; (0.062)

0.047; (0.046)

0.050; (0.047)

−0.142; (0.055)

0.036; (0.062)

−0.051; (0.049)

0.006; (0.052)

Female

0.092; (0.047)

−0.095; (0.046)

−0.219; (0.049)

−0.006; (0.063)

−0.078; (0.054)

−0.160; (0.059)

0.018; (0.041)

−0.037; (0.041)

−0.096; (0.042)

0.006; (0.058)

−0.019; (0.046)

−0.065; (0.053)

Age

Young age (65–79)

0.127; (0.069)

−0.147; (0.061)

−0.342; (0.099)

−0.023; (0.076)

−0.003; (0.094)

−0.098; (0.065)

0.143; (0.062)

−0.030; (0.055)

−0.263; (0.087)

−0.027; (0.069)

−0.036; (0.084)

−0.001; (0.059)

Old age (above 80)

0.041; (0.042)

−0.090; (0.044)

−0.237; (0.044)

−0.060; (0.063)

−0.040; (0.045)

−0.137; (0.058)

−0.006; (0.036)

−0.007; (0.038)

−0.112; (0.036)

0.052; (0.054)

−0.028; (0.037)

−0.091; (0.050)

Place of residence

Towns

0.111; (0.048)

−0.170; (0.048)

−0.249; (0.058)

−0.014; (0.059)

−0.058; (0.053)

−0.097; (0.055)

0.010; (0.042)

−0.015; (0.042)

−0.141; (0.049)

−0.008; (0.053)

−0.017; (0.046)

−0.042; (0.049)

Rural

0.008; (0.055)

−0.042; (0.053)

−0.265; (0.055)

−0.134; (0.083)

0.008; (0.060)

−0.165; (0.068)

0.059; (0.046)

0.000; (0.046)

−0.112; (0.045)

0.069; (0.073)

−0.022; (0.049)

−0.041; (0.059)

Marital status

Unmarried

0.059; (0.038)

−0.108; (0.037)

−0.231; (0.041)

−0.054; (0.051)

−0.033; (0.042)

−0.168; (0.045)

0.021; (0.033)

−0.003; (0.033)

−0.113; (0.034)

0.023; (0.045)

−0.020; (0.035)

−0.089; (0.040)

Married

0.240; (0.129)

−0.096; (0.114)

−0.330; (0.188)

−0.046; (0.151)

−0.139; (0.131)

0.208; (0.127)

0.122; (0.109)

−0.058; (0.100)

−0.126; (0.148)

0.066; (0.133)

−0.012; (0.114)

0.272; (0.110)

Length of schooling

Be uneducated

0.071; (0.048)

−0.096; (0.047)

−0.228; (0.054)

−0.050; (0.065)

−0.059; (0.053)

−0.107; (0.057)

0.060; (0.041)

−0.017; (0.041)

−0.095; (0.045)

−0.038; (0.057)

−0.002; (0.045)

−0.020; (0.050)

Educated

0.031; (0.058)

−0.125; (0.057)

−0.319; (0.064)

−0.070; (0.077)

−0.010; (0.064)

−0.095; (0.068)

0.012; (0.050)

0.012; (0.050)

−0.179; (0.053)

0.083; (0.067)

−0.058; (0.054)

−0.021; (0.060)

Smoking

Yes

0.033; (0.091)

−0.137; (0.086)

−0.232; (0.109)

0.043; (0.112)

0.066; (0.103)

−0.063; (0.089)

0.044; (0.074)

−0.048; (0.070)

−0.051; (0.088)

0.051; (0.091)

0.116; (0.084)

0.064; (0.074)

No

0.067; (0.039)

−0.102; (0.039)

−0.248; (0.043)

−0.069; (0.054)

−0.057; (0.043)

−0.123; (0.049)

0.034; (0.034)

0.002; (0.035)

−0.126; (0.036)

0.008; (0.048)

−0.039; (0.037)

−0.069; (0.044)

Drink

Yes

0.173; (0.096)

−0.101; (0.090)

−0.366; (0.124)

−0.066; (0.114)

0.000; (0.108)

−0.089; (0.095)

0.134; (0.079)

0.024; (0.075)

−0.102; (0.099)

0.016; (0.095)

−0.099; (0.086)

−0.046; (0.079)

No

0.054; (0.039)

−0.117; (0.039)

−0.235; (0.043)

−0.049; (0.054)

−0.036; (0.043)

−0.113; (0.048)

0.018; (0.034)

−0.017; (0.035)

−0.118; (0.036)

0.014; (0.048)

−0.008; (0.037)

−0.034; (0.043)

Physical exercise

Yes

0.119; (0.065)

−0.094; (0.058)

−0.342; (0.097)

−0.080; (0.065)

0.015; (0.077)

−0.093; (0.064)

0.135; (0.056)

0.016; (0.050)

−0.158; (0.078)

−0.112; (0.057)

−0.017; (0.065)

0.038; (0.055)

No

0.036; (0.044)

−0.064; (0.047)

−0.203; (0.045)

0.056; (0.073)

−0.038; (0.047)

−0.112; (0.058)

−0.008; (0.038)

−0.021; (0.042)

−0.111; (0.038)

0.192; (0.065)

−0.013; (0.040)

−0.100; (0.051)

Self-rated health

Not good

−0.102; (0.082)

−0.133; (0.085)

−0.179; (0.087)

0.280; (0.121)

−0.015; (0.091)

−0.053; (0.109)

−0.057; (0.096)

0.066; (0.101)

−0.169; (0.099)

0.249; (0.145)

−0.035; (0.101)

0.002; (0.133)

General

0.112; (0.055)

−0.080; (0.056)

−0.185; (0.060)

−0.120; (0.077)

−0.029; (0.060)

−0.126; (0.069)

0.070; (0.050)

0.026; (0.052)

−0.132; (0.053)

0.003; (0.072)

0.066; (0.054)

−0.068; (0.064)

OK

0.139; (0.047)

−0.049; (0.044)

−0.269; (0.053)

−0.075; (0.059)

−0.001; (0.052)

−0.072; (0.051)

0.057; (0.038)

−0.005; (0.037)

−0.058; (0.042)

−0.022; (0.049)

−0.078; (0.042)

0.000; (0.043)

Ability to take care of oneself

Unlimited

0.152; (0.042)

−0.109; (0.040)

−0.220; (0.048)

−0.103; (0.055)

−0.004; (0.049)

−0.131; (0.047)

0.079; (0.036)

−0.025; (0.035)

−0.076; (0.039)

−0.033; (0.047)

−0.002; (0.041)

−0.048; (0.041)

Restricted

−0.096; (0.069)

−0.054; (0.071)

−0.265; (0.070)

0.061; (0.098)

0.062; (0.069)

−0.038; (0.090)

−0.047; (0.063)

0.072; (0.066)

−0.180; (0.061)

0.123; (0.092)

0.054; (0.062)

−0.004; (0.084)

Economic conditions

Difficulty

−0.110; (0.094)

−0.017; (0.093)

−0.111; (0.091)

−0.084; (0.128)

−0.027; (0.107)

−0.131; (0.113)

−0.052; (0.093)

0.131; (0.095)

−0.026; (0.090)

0.019; (0.133)

−0.169; (0.102)

0.040; (0.118)

General

0.073; (0.042)

−0.102; (0.042)

−0.223; (0.047)

−0.012; (0.061)

−0.041; (0.046)

−0.102; (0.052)

0.038; (0.036)

−0.015; (0.036)

−0.093; (0.039)

0.047; (0.053)

−0.006; (0.039)

−0.017; (0.044)

Rich

0.099; (0.088)

−0.047; (0.083)

−0.222; (0.117)

−0.062; (0.092)

−0.178; (0.098)

−0.200; (0.090)

0.102; (0.077)

0.028; (0.072)

−0.242; (0.098)

−0.057; (0.082)

−0.104; (0.083)

−0.196; (0.079)

Note. , , and significant at the level of 1%, 5%, and 10%, respectively; the values in brackets are standard errors.