Neighborhood Environment and Mental Well-Being Among Chinese Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Social Capital

Background and Objectives Neighborhood environments are increasingly recognized as associated with mental well-being among older adults. However, their underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated mediating effects of cognitive and structural social capital (SC) in relationships between neighborhood environments and mental well-being among older adults. Research Design and Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 1,277 community-dwellers aged 60 years and older in Hong Kong in 2021. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale assessed mental well-being. Perceived age-friendly environment was assessed. Objective neighborhood environment was measured by the number of neighborhood facilities (e.g., transportation, community centers, leisure facilities) within 200-m and 500-m buffer areas from respondents' residences. Structural equational modeling was used. Results Perceived age-friendly environment regarding community and health support had a protective role on mental well-being. More community centers were directly associated with better affective-emotional well-being, while more passive leisure facilities directly lowered psychological-functioning well-being. Cognitive SC outweighed structural SC in mediating relationships of neighborhood environment on mental well-being. Discussion and Implications Our findings advance the ecological model of aging by providing evidence for cognitive and structural SC as mediators to explain the relationship between neighborhood environment and mental well-being. Policy implications for optimizing mental well-being in aging societies are discussed.

Automated summary

The study examines the mediating effects of cognitive and structural social capital on the relationship between neighborhood environments and mental well-being among older adults. The findings suggest that a perceived age-friendly environment and an abundance of community centers are associated with better mental well-being, while passive leisure facilities have a negative impact. Cognitive social capital has a stronger mediating effect compared to structural social capital.