The Moderating Role of Family Social Capital in the Relationship between Community Social Capital and Life Satisfaction among Older Adults in Northeast Rural China

Abstract Background: This study examined the moderating effect of family social capital on the relationship between community social capital and life satisfaction among rural community-dwelling older adults in Northeast China. Methods: Data were based on a social survey in the rural communities of Northeast China in late 2019. The analytic model included 455 respondents who completed the survey successfully. We used multiple-group analysis to test the proposed hypotheses. Results: The results show that family social capital played a significant moderating role in the relationship between community social capital and life satisfaction. In other words, both cognitive social capital and social participation were significantly associated with life satisfaction in the higher family social capital group, whereas these associations were not significant among those with relatively lower levels of family social capital. Conclusions: The future development of social capital policies and interventions should focus on not only the promotion of cognitive social capital and social participation among rural community-dwelling older adults, but also the social needs of older rural Chinese adults with low family social capital.