Mediating and moderating effects of loneliness between social support and life satisfaction among empty nesters in China

This study investigates the mediating and moderating effects of loneliness on the link between social support and life satisfaction among empty nesters. The data are collected from 1424 empty nesters (973 males and 451 females) from 16 randomly selected rural villages in western China. Pearson correlations suggest that social support is significantly correlated with life satisfaction. More importantly, a mediational analysis indicates that loneliness partly mediated the relationship between social support and life satisfaction. Additionally, hierarchical regression analysis for testing the moderating effect shows that loneliness also serves as a moderator in the relationship between social support and life satisfaction. These findings provide a more comprehensive understanding of overall mental health among empty nesters.