Associations Between Resilience, Community Belonging, and Social Participation Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Results From the Eastern Townships Population Health Survey.

Objective: To examine the associations between resilience, community belonging, and social participation, and the moderating effect of resilience on the association between community belonging and social participation among community-dwelling older adults.

Design: Cross-sectional; secondary analyses of the Eastern Townships Population Health Survey.

Setting: Community.

Participants: A sample (N=4541) of women (n=2485) and men (n=2056) aged ≥60 years was randomly selected according to area. Most participants had <14 years of schooling, owned their dwelling, were retired, had 1 or 2 chronic conditions, and did not have depressive symptoms.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported data on age, education, depressive symptoms, social participation, community belonging, and resilience were collected by phone interviewer-administered questionnaire. A social participation scale measured frequency of participation in 8 community activities. A 4-point Likert scale ranging from "very strong" to "very weak" estimated sense of belonging to the local community. Social participation and sense of belonging questions came from Statistics Canada surveys. Resilience was assessed with the 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, capturing the ability to cope with adversity.

Results: Controlling for age, education, and psychological distress, greater resilience and community belonging were associated with greater social participation among women (R=.13; P<.001) and men (R=.09; P<.001). The association between community belonging and social participation varied as a function of resilience, especially in men. Greater community belonging further enhanced social participation, especially among women (P=.03) and men (P<.01) with greater resilience (moderator effect).

Conclusions: Resilience moderates the association between community belonging and social participation among community-dwelling older women and, especially, men. Interventions targeting social participation should consider the potential impact of resilience on improving community belonging. Future studies should investigate why resilience moderates associations between community belonging and social participation, and how to enhance resilience among older adults.