A Longitudinal Study of the Causal Relationship Between Social Networks and Health of the Poor Frail Elderly

Research over the past two decades has documented a positive relationship between social support and health. The causal interpretation of these associations has, however, been unclear. This study aims at filling the gap in our understanding of this causal link with respect to the frail poor elderly. The main questions addressed are, Does lack of social ties affect the elderly's health? or are unhealthy people less likely to establish and maintain social ties? We employed a time-series panel design to overcome problems of causal explanations and examine social networks and health in a sample of 3,559 poor frail elderly, participants of the California Multipurpose Senior Services Project. The results indicate that social networks have a positive effect on health (though only in the short run). However, neither the subjective nor the objective health measures have a significant effect on social networks. Implications for intervention are discussed.