Direct and Indirect Effects of Family Functioning on Loneliness of Elderly Chinese Individuals

Loneliness has particularly significant effect on the quality of life of elderly individuals. In this study, we examined the direct and indirect effects of social support on loneliness in elderly respondents. A total of 388 people, aged 60–65 years with a mean of 62.44 (SD = 1.82), completed questionnaires measuring family functioning, social support, and loneliness. Structural equation modeling results showed that social support partially mediated the relationship between family functioning and loneliness, and bootstrap estimation procedure and subsequent analyses indicated that the indirect effect of social support on the relationship between family functioning and loneliness of elderly individuals is significant. In short, we found that family-functioning and social support play significant roles in helping older Chinese individuals overcome their high risk of loneliness.