Abstract
Engagement in social and productive activities is beneficial for older adults. Little is known about the link between social engagement and the psychological well-being (depressive symptoms and life satisfaction) longitudinally, and how such relationship may differ by productive engagement. This study aims to identify the patterns of social engagement, examine the association between the patterns of social engagement and the trajectories of psychological well-being, and explore whether this association differs by work. Data came from three waves of Korean Longitudinal Study on Aging (2008–2012), with 3,132 respondents aged 65+ selected from the baseline. Latent class analysis identified three social engagement patterns. Latent growth curve modeling showed that social engagement patterns were associated with the initial and the slope of psychological well-being, with working group showed fewer declines in psychological well-being. Findings demonstrate the dynamics between different activity engagements to well-being but more studies are needed to understand this mechanism.