Cultural capital and frailty among older adults in the information age: The mediating roles of lifestyle and self-perceived aging

BACKGROUND: With the rapid development of population aging, the issue of frailty among older adults has become increasingly prominent. The enhancement of cultural capital levels-characterized by information-era features-may reduce the incidence of frailty in older adults, but this hypothesis remains unverified. OBJECTIVE: This study utilized data from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey 2020(CLASS 2020) to investigate the relationship between cultural capital and frailty among older adults, as well as the mediating roles of lifestyle and self-perceived aging. A predictive model for frailty was developed. METHODS: A nationally representative cross-sectional analysis was conducted using CLASS 2020 data. Frailty was assessed using a 33-item Frailty Index (FI). Cultural capital (objectified, embodied, and institutionalized), lifestyle, and self-perceived aging were evaluated via single-item questions. Binary logistic regression, the Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) mediation analysis, and ROC curve analysis were employed. RESULTS: The sample included 3988 adults aged ≥65 years. After adjusting for multiple confounding factors, higher levels of objectified, embodied, and institutionalized cultural capital were negatively associated with frailty. Lifestyle and self-perceived aging acted as mediators in the mechanisms linking cultural capital to frailty, but their mediating effects exhibited dimensional differences. Lifestyle showed the strongest mediation for objectified cultural capital, with comparable effects for embodied and institutionalized cultural capital. Self-perceived aging had the strongest mediation for institutionalized cultural capital, but no significant mediation for objectified cultural capital. The predictive model demonstrated good performance, with an optimal probability cutoff point of 0.12. CONCLUSION: Cultural capital is negatively associated with frailty in older adults. Further longitudinal and intervention studies are needed to evaluate the potential of cultural capital in preventing and mitigating frailty among aging populations.