Social trust and health of China’s older adults: Cultural and recreational participation as mediator

We explored the relationships between social trust, cultural and recreational participation, and health of people in China aged 60 years and over. Data were obtained from the 2015 Chinese General Social Survey. Pearson correlation analysis results show there was a positive correlation between social trust and cultural and recreational participation, and between social trust and health. Bootstrapping analysis-based structural equation modeling shows that after the effects of gender, age, household registration, education level, marital status, and personal annual income had been controlled for, social trust had a significant positive effect on the health of older adults. Further, cultural and recreational participation mediated the effect of social trust on participants’ health. These findings, which can be used to improve the health of older adults in China through informing relevant government policies, also provide theoretical and practical guidance for future research.