When structure meets function: Unpacking the associations of social connections with health outcomes in a nationwide sample of Chinese adults

Lack of social connection is a key health risk factor, yet few studies examine whether the components of social connections exert independent and synergistic effects on health outcomes, especially in non-Western contexts. This study examined the independent and synergistic effects of structural and functional social connection on physical and mental health in a nationally representative sample of Chinese adults. Results revealed that structural social connection was more strongly associated with physical health, and functional social connection was more strongly associated with mental health. They also exerted opposite synergistic effects. Functional social connection was more strongly associated with physical health among individuals with weaker structural social connection, but was more strongly associated with mental health among individuals with stronger structural social connection. These findings underscore the necessity of reconceptualizing social connection as a multi-component construct, wherein its structural and functional components play distinct roles in amplifying or complementing each other's effects on physical and mental health.