TY - JOUR
T1 - "Strength of weak ties," Neighborhood ethnic heterogeneity, and depressive symptoms among adults
T2 - A multilevel analysis of Korean General Social Survey (KGSS) 2012
AU - Kim, Harris Hyun Soo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 by the authors.
PY - 2017/6/20
Y1 - 2017/6/20
N2 - A substantial body of research, based largely on North American and European contexts, demonstrates that social networks play a critical role in protecting and promoting mental, as well as physical, health. The purpose of this study is to examine how "weak" and "strong" network relations are differentially related to individual mental health (depressive symptoms) based on a nationally representative sample of South Korean adults. Using multilevel analysis, the current research also investigates the extent to which contextual or neighborhood-level factors moderate the associations between depression and social network. Findings show that regular interaction with weaker ties (acquaintances, neighbors, coworkers, etc.) are associated with better mental health. The number of strong ties (family members and friends), on the other hand, is not a significant predictor of psychological distress. In addition, a cross-level interaction term is observed: The negative relationship between weak ties and depressive symptoms is diminished in neighborhoods with more foreign-born residents or immigrants. General implications beyond the empirical case under investigation are discussed, as to why weak ties can be "strong" in relation to mental health and how this phenomenon can vary according to residential characteristics such as ethnic heterogeneity.
AB - A substantial body of research, based largely on North American and European contexts, demonstrates that social networks play a critical role in protecting and promoting mental, as well as physical, health. The purpose of this study is to examine how "weak" and "strong" network relations are differentially related to individual mental health (depressive symptoms) based on a nationally representative sample of South Korean adults. Using multilevel analysis, the current research also investigates the extent to which contextual or neighborhood-level factors moderate the associations between depression and social network. Findings show that regular interaction with weaker ties (acquaintances, neighbors, coworkers, etc.) are associated with better mental health. The number of strong ties (family members and friends), on the other hand, is not a significant predictor of psychological distress. In addition, a cross-level interaction term is observed: The negative relationship between weak ties and depressive symptoms is diminished in neighborhoods with more foreign-born residents or immigrants. General implications beyond the empirical case under investigation are discussed, as to why weak ties can be "strong" in relation to mental health and how this phenomenon can vary according to residential characteristics such as ethnic heterogeneity.
KW - Korean General Social Survey
KW - Mental health
KW - Multilevel models
KW - Neighborhood effect
KW - Social networks
KW - Tie strength
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85021129732&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/socsci6020065
DO - 10.3390/socsci6020065
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85021129732
SN - 2076-0760
VL - 6
JO - Social Sciences
JF - Social Sciences
IS - 2
M1 - 65
ER -