Ethnic Inequalities in Aging: Multilevel Social Capital and Mental Health Outcomes among Han Chinese and Minority Older Adults

Objectives: Structural and cognitive social capital are increasingly recognized as key factors influencing mental well-being. In China, older adults from minority groups often experience different levels of network support, trust, and social connection compared with their Han counterparts. These differences may contribute to the mental health gap observed between the two groups. This study aims to examine how structural and cognitive social capital are associated with mental health outcomes among Han and minority older adults in China, and to assess the extent to which these dimensions of social capital explain mental health disparities between the two groups. Methods: This study uses pooled cross-sectional data from the 2012, 2017, and 2023 Chinese General Social Survey (N = 5175 adults aged ≥60). Structural social capital is operationalized into extensivity, upper reachability, mean prestige, and range using the position generator method. Cognitive social capital is measured as the subjective, intangible aspects of social relationships, including shared norms, trust, and reciprocity within social networks. Multilevel regression models were employed to estimate associations between social capital indicators and mental health outcomes, followed by decomposition analysis to assess the relative contribution of structural and cognitive social capital dimensions. Results: The main findings suggest that minority older adults have less access to structural social capital than Han older adults, with minorities facing disadvantages in terms of network extensivity and mean prestige. No significant differences were observed in cognitive social capital. County-level structural social capital has a stronger positive impact on the mental health of elderly minorities compared to Han (β = 0.135), suggesting that minorities may rely more on community-based networks for health benefits. Furthermore, results from the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition analyses show that ethnic mental health disparity is primarily due to the lower occupational mean prestige within minority’s network (β = 194.312%), rather than a deficit in the return on social capital. Conclusion: Minority older adults face disadvantages in accessing structural social capital, which in turn affects their mental well-being. Policies that strengthen community-based structural networks and shared resources could help narrow the mental health gap between Han and minority aging populations by improving access to health-related support and services.