Providing support outside the household can be considered an actual sign of an active social life for the elderly. Adopting an ego–network perspective, we study support Italian elders provide to kin or non–kin. More specifically, using Italian survey data, we build the ego–centered networks of social contacts elders entertain and the ego–networks of support elders provide to other non–cohabitant kin or non–kin. Since ego–network data are inherently multilevel, we use Bayesian multilevel models to analyze variation in support ties, controlling for the characteristics of elders and their contacts. This modeling strategy enables dealing with sparseness and alter–alter overlap in the ego support network data and to disentangle the effects related to the ego (the elder), the dyad ego–alter, the kind of support provided, as well as social contacts and contextual variables. The results suggest that the elderly in Italy who provide support outside their household — compared to all elders in the sample — are younger, healthier, more educated, and embedded in a more diversified ego–network of social contacts. The latter also conveys both the type and the recipient of the support, with the elderly who entertain few relationships with kin being more prone to provide aid to non–kin. Further, a “peer homophily” effect in directing elder support to a non–kin is also found.

在家庭之外提供支持可以被视为老年人积极社交生活的实际标志。从自我网络的角度出发，我们研究意大利长者对亲戚或非亲戚提供的支持。更具体地说，使用意大利的调查数据，我们建立了以老年人为中心的社交联系方式的老年人娱乐网络，并以老年人的自我支持网络为其他非同居亲戚或非亲戚提供了支持。由于自我网络数据本质上是多层次的，因此我们使用贝叶斯多层次模型来分析支持关系的变化，控制长者及其接触者的特征。这种建模策略可以处理自我支持网络数据中的稀疏性和交替变化，并消除与自我（老年人），双性自我变化，所提供的那种支持有关的影响，以及社会交往和背景变量。结果表明，与样本中的所有老年人相比，在家庭之外提供支持的意大利老年人更年轻，更健康，受教育程度更高，并且融入了更加多元化的社会联系自我网络中。后者还传达了抚养费的类型和接受者，与亲戚关系很少的老年人更倾向于为非亲戚提供帮助。此外，还发现了将同龄人引导给非亲属的“同伴同质”效应。后者还传达了抚养费的类型和接受者，与亲戚关系很少的老年人更倾向于为非亲戚提供帮助。此外，还发现了将同龄人引导给非亲属的“同伴同质”效应。后者还传达了抚养费的类型和接受者，与亲戚关系很少的老年人更倾向于为非亲戚提供帮助。此外，还发现了将同龄人引导给非亲属的“同伴同质”效应。