**5. Conclusions**

The structure and functionality of social networks in later life say a lot about individuals' life trajectories. How we relate to others, how we participate in community life, our choices or our lifestyle is reflected in the characteristics that social networks assume, and these become central to the achievement of wellbeing.

Family, friends, workplace-friends, school friends, neighbors, and community relations are part of social networks. Intergenerational bonds and family ties are core relations within social networks' typologies in old age, even when this type of relational ties is not part of the networks. Kinship is key to determine the network type, either by its dominant position (e.g., [1, 2, 6–14]) or by its absence [8, 13, 20, 21, 23], being highlighted the roles of the spouses and adult children. Despite the wellbeing and perceived high levels of support associated with family ties [2, 10, 11], large offspring, intense kinship interaction, and high network density tend to reduce extrafamilial relationships and diversity [2, 29, 33], often leading to relational restriction.

It must be underlined that the "identification of network types permits analysis as to how relationships and emotional interconnectedness can interplay with health and emotional well-being in late life" ([31], p. 762–763). Closeness, nearness, intimacy, cohesiveness, accessibility, and stability over time are the most relevant features to approach family ties within social networks and to approach the association with variables related to wellbeing or psychosocial risk.

The changes and the complexification of relationships in families bring enormous diversification to relational patterns [25, 36] and hinders reciprocity and intergenerational support. The increasing childlessness, particularly in old age, is frequently associated with restricted social networks [16, 21, 23, 29], vulnerability to social isolation and psychosocial risks [16, 21, 23], and with disadvantage regarding social support and care [50, 55–57], especially in situations of loss of autonomy. This justifies focusing the chapter on this increasingly relevant population, that should have more attention from research and social intervention.

Restrictiveness and diversification are essential for addressing social networks at an advanced age, appearing in typologies with opposite characteristics [6, 7, 9, 12, 14, 28]. The restricted networks' main characteristics are associated with frailty, vulnerability, less supportiveness, and low effectiveness [13, 15, 16, 19, 22, 23, 29, 37], presenting limited ties, contacts, and social engagement. The diverse networks' types present extent and diversity of ties composition, tend to be large, having a high frequency of interaction and community participation. Diverse networks are associated with high social capital, wellbeing, and quality of support [7, 14, 28], showing more protective features regarding psychosocial risks in old age [8, 12, 38, 39].

In general, there are consistent characteristics in the personal social networks of older people that clearly point to a positive association of social support, wellbeing, and health with the diversity of ties and broad size in the networks, as well as for an association with psychosocial risks and less effective characteristics in the networks with the relational restrictions found in the networks. However, we must avoid linear interpretations and homogeneous approaches, requiring a complex aggregation of variables to have an approximate reading of networks as determinants of wellbeing.
