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Assessment of Social Interaction Behaviors
Published on: February 25, 2011
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Quantity or quality? Assessing relationships between perceived social connectedness and recorded encounters
Alison Dias1, Nicholas Geard1,2,3, Patricia Therese Campbell3,4
1Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Plos One
|November 30, 2018
Summary
Perceived social connectedness and actual social encounters are complex and vary by neighborhood. Understanding these differences is key to improving well-being.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Sociology
- Urban Studies
Background:
- Social connectedness is linked to better health outcomes.
- Existing measures of social connectedness are often study-specific.
- Perceived and received social connectedness have differing health impacts, potentially influenced by location.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between perceived social support and quantifiable social encounters.
- To explore neighborhood-based differences in social connectedness.
- To inform understanding of place-based variations in health outcomes related to social connection.
Main Methods:
- Negative binomial regression models were used.
- Examined perceived community connections and social involvement.
- Analyzed data across two Melbourne Local Government Areas (LGAs) with different socio-economic profiles.
Main Results:
- Perceived community belonging and proximity of family/friends correlated with social encounters.
- Involvement in social clubs/groups increased daily social encounters.
- Drivers of social connection varied by area, with volunteering significant in less affluent areas.
Conclusions:
- Perceptions of social connectedness cannot be reliably extrapolated from actual social encounters.
- Individual social connection drivers differ based on area of residence.
- Findings provide insights into mediators of the connectedness-wellbeing association.
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