BACKGROUND: many studies explore the relationship between social capital and self-rated health. However, few studies clarified the mechanisms underlying the relationship between social capital and self-rated health among Chinese rural empty nesters. This study aimed to explore the multiple mediating roles of sleep quality and psychological distress between this relationship.
METHODS: A total of 2,254 rural empty-nest older adults were included in the analysis. A descriptive analysis was conducted to describe the sample characteristics. Logistic regressions were performed to assess the relationships between social capital and self-rated health. The multiple mediating roles of sleep quality and psychological distress was analyzed using Mplus 8.3.
RESULTS: we found that social capital has a significant directly affect self-rated health (β=0.127, 68.65% CI=0.082-0.171), and through three significantly mediation pathways: (1) the path through sleep quality (β=0.013, 95% CI=0.005-0.021), which accounted for 7.03% of the total effect; (2) the path through psychological distress (β=0.037, 95% CI=0.024-0.049), which accounted for 20.00% of the total effect; (3) the path through sleep quality and psychological distress (β=0.008, 95% CI=0.004-0.013), which accounted for 4.32% of the total effect. The total mediating effect was 31.35%.
CONCLUSIONS: sleep quality and psychological distress mediate the relationship between social capital and self-rated health. Attention should be paid to mental health and sleep quality of empty nester through primary health, strengthen the attention to social resources, provide intervention and treatment for the empty nesters with sleep problem and psychological distress.
