Enhancing psychological resilience at the cusp of older ages: the role of social networks

Prior research has established a positive association between social support and psychological resilience. In this study, we seek to examine whether and to what extent aspects of individuals' social network - specifically size (how many relatives and friends one has) and strength (how often did one communicate with close network members and at the time of important decisions) - are related to greater psychological resilience. We use data pertaining to 1,609 respondents from the Panel on Ageing and Transitions in Health Survey (PATHS), 2016-2017, a national study of 1,654 older midlife adults, aged 50-59, in Singapore. We estimate the relationship between social networks and psychological resilience, using inverse probability weighted regression adjustment to account for the possibility of a selection bias whereby individuals with larger or stronger social networks may be more resilient at the outset. We find that strong social networks are associated with greater psychological resilience among older midlife adults, regardless of the size of the network. Having a large social network is associated with greater resilience only if it is also a strong network. Maintaining stronger, even if small, social networks may enable individuals at the cusp of older ages to be better prepared to deal with stressful life events and challenges associated with older midlife.