Subjective Well-Being by Partnership Status and Its Dependence on the Normative Climate

Research on factors influencing Chinese parents' support for death education: a cross-sectional survey

Objective

This study aims to explore the factors influencing Chinese parents' attitudes toward death education. Given the current lack of such education in China, this research is particularly significant. Death education is vital for shaping the values of young people and alleviating mental health issues, such as depression and suicidal tendencies. By identifying these influencing factors, this study seeks to provide guidance for policymakers and educators in promoting the development and widespread adoption of death education.

Methods

To do so, a national cross-sectional quota sample of 12,435 Chinese parents was used. Borrowing from social-ecological theory, the researchers carried out multiple stepwise regression analyses to examine the individual, family, and social-level factors that shape the supportive attitudes of Chinese parents toward death education.

Results

The findings revealed that at the individual level, parent (β = 0.04, p < 0.001), education level (β = 0.07, p < 0.001), and religious belief (β = -0.02, p < 0.05) were significant predictors of Chinese parents' support for death education. Meanwhile, at the family and social level, average monthly household income (β = 0.07, p < 0.001), family health (β = 0.03, p < 0.05), family communication (β = 0.02, p < 0.05), social support (β = 0.15, p < 0.001), neighborhood relations (β = 0.11, p < 0.001), and social network size (β = 0.05, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of Chinese parents' supportive attitudes toward death education.

Conclusion

Based on these findings, it is suggested that the relevant development, planning, publicity, and public welfare groups and government departments should promote death education, provide more social support, and encourage neighborhood harmony. As higher education and average monthly household income were found to significantly impact the support, the government should improve access to higher education and actively work to increase residents' income to facilitate the development of death education.

Non-standard family histories and wellbeing at older ages

The life course approach emphasizes that health and wellbeing at older ages are influenced by experiences occurred in the previous stages of life. We contribute to the literature by focusing on the role of the non-standardness of family histories and argue that individuals who experienced non-standard trajectories have been exposed to social sanctions throughout their life course with negative long-term consequences on wellbeing. In our study, non-standardness of family histories is the extent an individual's family history differs from those of the others within reference groups, defined combining birth cohort, gender and country of residence. Family histories between age of 15 and 49 are analyzed using Sequence Analysis, thus accounting for events related to fertility and union formation (marriage and cohabitation) and dissolution, and their timing. Dissimilarities between family sequences are measured using optimal matching and are standardized within the reference groups. We use retrospective data from the seventh wave of the Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and estimate linear regression models to assess the association between non-standardness of family histories and older people's life satisfaction. Quality of life and depressive symptoms are examined in additional analyses. A negative association is found between non-standardness of family histories and wellbeing, which is stronger for lower educated individuals and in Southern European countries. Results are consistent with the idea that uncommon family behaviors may have a long-term negative effect on wellbeing. Individual resources and a more tolerant societal context can reduce or eliminate the negative consequences of engaging in non-standard family behaviors.

Partnership trajectories and their consequences over the life course. Evidence from the German LifE Study

OBJECTIVE

Following a life course perspective, this study examines the link between partnership trajectories and three dimensions of psychological well-being: psychological health, overall sense of self-worth and quality of life.

BACKGROUND

Assuming that life outcomes are the result of prior decisions, experiences and events, partnership histories can be seen as a resource for psychological well-being. Furthermore, advantages or disadvantages from living with or without a partner should accumulate over time. While previous cross-sectional research has mainly focused on the influence of partnership status or a status change on well-being, prior longitudinal studies could not control for reverse causality of well-being and partnership trajectories. This research addresses the question of how different patterns of partnership biographies are related to a person's well-being in middle adulthood. Selection effects of pre-trajectory well-being as well as current life conditions are also taken into account.

METHOD

Using data from the German LifE Study, the partnership trajectories between ages of 16 and 45 are classified by sequence and cluster analysis. OLS regression is then used to examine the link between types of partnership trajectories and depression, self-esteem and overall life satisfaction at age 45.

RESULTS

For women, well-being declined when experiencing unstable non-cohabitational union trajectories or divorce followed by unpartnered post-marital trajectories. Men suffered most from being long-term single. The results could not be explained by selection effects of pre-trajectory well-being.

CONCLUSION

While women seem to 'recover' from most of the negative effects of unstable partnership trajectories through a new partnership, for men it was shown that being mainly unpartnered has long-lasting effects on their psychological well-being.

Love in the time of COVID-19: A systematic mapping review of empirical research on romantic relationships one year into the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every area of daily life, including romantic relationships. With the pandemic still ongoing, this study reviewed the existing scholarly literature to document the status of empirical research on how COVID-19 has affected couples during its first year. Studies were identified through searching five databases as well as sources of gray literature. Overall, 42 studies on committed romantic relationships during the first year of the pandemic were identified. The mapping process revealed four main themes: (1) relationship quality; (2) sexuality; (3) couple daily adjustment; and (4) intimate partner violence. The findings suggest that the way romantic relationships were affected by the pandemic depends on a variety of demographic, individual, and couple-level factors. Implications include a call for both the development of evidence-based interventions that consider the current findings and further research to continue exploring the clinical implications of future findings to promote healthy intimate relationships during the ongoing global pandemic.

Trends in singlehood in young adulthood in Europe

Cultural and economic shifts such as increasing individualization and labor market uncertainty may have resulted in an increase in singlehood after leaving home. Using data from the European Social Survey, we compare cohorts born between 1930 and 1989 in 30 European countries. We show that there has been an increase in singlehood after leaving home, but primarily among women. Whereas the percentage of women who have lived in singlehood after leaving home increased with 11 percentage points from 41% to 52%, men experienced only a 3 percentage points' increase from 59% to 62%. This stronger trend among women could be the result of their increasing educational attainment and earning capacity. Event-history analyses show that the duration of singlehood has not changed over time. We call for more research on singlehood after leaving home as an event of interest during the transition to adulthood. As more than 50% of young adults nowadays live in singlehood after leaving home, singlehood is a key part of the transition to adulthood that deserves explicit attention.

Mental health and satisfaction with partners: a longitudinal analysis in the UK

BACKGROUND

Current UK health policy stresses treating health as an asset to underpin and promote a more inclusive and productive society. The quality of personal relationships is essential for overall quality of life. The social determinants of health (SDH) literature shows that poor mental health and well-being are linked to weaker personal and social connections for individuals, families, and society. The causal impact that mental health has on satisfaction with partners is less understood but requires investigation.

METHODS

The causal relationship between mental health and satisfaction with partners is examined drawing on the United Kingdom's British Household Panel Survey from 1991 to 2008. A total sample of 9,024 individuals in dyadic couples comprising 42,464 observations was analysed using fixed-effects and instrumental variable fixed-effects panel data estimation.

RESULTS

Lower mental health is associated with a lower satisfaction with partners. However, some causal evidence of lower mental health reducing satisfaction with partners is present for males.

DISCUSSION

For females, relationship satisfaction is more likely to influence mental health. For males there is a potential 'vicious circle' between satisfaction with partners and mental health.

CONCLUSIONS

Investment in mental health provision can improve satisfaction with partners which in turn will further enhance health and well-being.

Happiness Singled Out: Bidirectional Associations Between Singlehood and Life Satisfaction

Despite constituting a large portion of society, single people-and their satisfaction with singlehood and life-are rarely examined in their own right. How happy are single people and does their happiness change over time? In 3,439 people followed over 10 years, we found that people reported being more satisfied than not, but both singlehood satisfaction and life satisfaction declined over time. Older adults, men, and highly educated people, and people with worse health reported lower singlehood satisfaction. Constrained random-intercept cross-lagged panel models suggested that singlehood and life satisfaction had lagged bidirectional influences with each other. Results are discussed in the context of the origins of singlehood satisfaction and life satisfaction.

Was it all worth it? The consequences of parental migration decisions for the life satisfaction of their descendants

Does migration pay off for subsequent generations? This article applies a counterfactual logic (‘what if the parents had not migrated?’) to compare the life satisfaction of descendants of Turkish guest workers in Western Europe and return migrants with that of Turks without a migration history in the family. Using data from the 2000 Families Study, we test a theoretical model that aims to explain differences along three dimensions: personal resources, social position, and normative settings. Results show that only permanent migration was successful in terms of higher life satisfaction for descendants, as offspring of return migrants do not differ from those without a migration history in the family. The higher life satisfaction of subsequent generations in Europe is largely due to access to higher resources obtained through migration, and persists despite barriers such as a lower relative socioeconomic position and experiences of discrimination. While religiosity appears to only play a minor role in explaining differences, there is evidence that descendants whose lifestyle deviates from the normative expectations of the country-of-origin benefit in particular from the migration of their parents.

Social capital is associated with improved subjective well-being of older adults with chronic non-communicable disease in six low- and middle-income countries

BACKGROUND

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are increasingly contributing to the morbidity and mortality burden of low and-middle income countries (LMIC). Social capital, particularly participation has been considered as a possible protective factor in the prevention and management of chronic conditions. It is also largely shown to have a negative effect on the well-being of patients. The current discourse on the well-being of individuals with NCDs is however focused more on a comparison with those with no NCDs without considering the difference between individuals with one chronic condition versus those with multiple chronic conditions (MCC).

METHOD AND OBJECTIVE

We employed a multinomial logit model to examine the effect of social capital, particularly social participation, on the subjective well-being (SWB) of older adults with single chronic condition and MCC in six LMIC.

FINDINGS

Social capital was associated with increased subjective well-being of adults in all the six countries. The positive association between social capital and subjective well-being was higher for those with a single chronic condition than those with multiple chronic conditions in India and South Africa. Conversely, an increase in the likelihood of having higher subjective well-being as social capital increased was greater for those with multiple chronic conditions compared to those with a single chronic condition in Ghana.

DISCUSSION

The findings suggest that improving the social capital of older adults with chronic diseases could potentially improve their subjective well-being. This study, therefore, provides valuable insights into potential social determinants of subjective well-being of older adults with chronic diseases in six different countries undergoing transition. Additional research is needed to determine if these factors do in fact have causal effects on SWB in these populations.

Does Children's Union Dissolution Hurt Elderly Parents? Linked Lives, Divorce and Mental Health in Europe

Previous research has shown that parent's union dissolution has negative consequences for individuals' well-being, parent-child relationships and children's outcomes. However, less attention has been devoted to the effects in the opposite direction, i.e. how children's divorce affects parents' well-being. We adopted a cross-country, longitudinal and multigenerational perspective to analyse whether children's marital break-up is associated with changes in parents' depressive symptoms. Using data from 17 countries and 5 waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004-2015), fixed effect linear regression models were estimated to account for time-constant social selection processes into divorce/separation. The results show that across European contexts parents' depressive symptoms increased as one of their children divorced. Furthermore, we found that parents living in more traditional societies, such as Southern European ones, experienced higher increases in depression symptoms when a child divorced than those living in Nordic countries. Overall, the findings provide new evidence in support of both the notion of "linked lives" and a normative perspective of family life course events.

Direct and Indirect Effects of Young Adults' Relationship Status on Life Satisfaction through Loneliness and Perceived Social Support

This study examined the indirect effects of relationship status (single vs. in a relationship) on life satisfaction through social and emotional (romantic and family) loneliness and perceived social support from significant others, family, and friends. Five hundred and fifty three Polish young adults (335 females and 218 males), ranging in age from 20–30 years (M = 23.42), completed the Polish versions of the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. The results indicated that single individuals reported significantly lower satisfaction with life and social support from a significant other, but higher romantic and social loneliness, and higher family support compared to participants in a relationship. A path analysis revealed no direct effect of relationship status on satisfaction with life. However, there were significant indirect effects from relationship status to life satisfaction though romantic, family, and social loneliness, and through perceived social support from significant others and from family. Therefore, singlehood may be deleterious to life satisfaction because of the higher loneliness and lower social support from a significant other.