Ha Linh Quach
Ha-Linh is a PhD candidate in public health and social epidemiology at University of Sydney. She has experiences working in Vietnam, Hong Kong SAR, and Singapore in both government settings and academic universities. Ms Linh’s research interests include social gerontology, mental well-being, infectious disease modelling, and occupational health
Session
Background
Social productivity activities (such as volunteering, parenting) are meaningful roles one may engage in daily life. However, little is known about how (the level of) participating in these roles vary across the life course and their associations with social health such as loneliness and social isolation (SI). The aim of the study is to identify patterns of social productivity roles across adulthood and examine how they relate to persistent (≥ 2 consecutive waves) and episodic (≥1 non-consecutive wave) loneliness and SI.
Methods
Data were extracted from 15,300 participants aged 18 or over from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey in waves 2022 to 2024. We applied latent class analysis to six indicators (three domestic roles – caring for young children, caring for adults with health issues, doing housework; three external roles – participating in civic, altruistic, or cultural activities) to measure patterns of social productivity roles within four age groups (18-25, 26-44, 45-64, ≥65 years). Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine associations between latent classes and outcomes.
Results
Distinct social productivity patterns emerged across all age groups, generally characterised by either those with ‘no clear roles’, ‘active domestic roles, less-active external roles’ or vice versa, and ‘diverse domestic and external roles’. Across adulthood, individuals engaged in diverse external roles were more likely to have better health and higher socioeconomic status. Among older adults, both the no-role and sporadic external-role classes had significantly greater risks of persistent loneliness and SI than the diverse external-role class. Similar patterns were observed among younger- and middle-aged adults, where sporadic external engagement was associated with higher risks of episodic and persistent SI, while diverse external engagement was protective.
Conclusions
Social productivity roles cluster differently across the life course, and patterns with diverse external roles are consistently associated with a lower likelihood of persistent SI. Interventions that promote external activities alongside domestic roles may reduce chronic social disconnection across adulthood.