Gender and residence differences in the association between social support and subjective well-being among Chinese oldest-old: A national longitudinal study

Community support, social isolation and older adults' life satisfaction: evidence from a national survey in China

OBJECTIVES

Despite the recognized importance of community social service and community built facility for enhancing older adults' life satisfaction, the mechanisms underlying their relationship have not been thoroughly examined. This study aims to complement the existing knowledge by investigating the mediating role of social disconnectedness and loneliness in the association between community support and life satisfaction among older adults.

METHODS

Using data from the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, the study analyzes responses from 9,874 Chinese older adults (mean age = 71.30 years, SD = 7.30). We conducted descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation to explore the variables. This study also used Mplus 8.0 to conduct a path analysis model that evaluated both the direct and indirect effects of community social service and built facility on life satisfaction. Social disconnectedness and loneliness were included as mediating variables in this model.

RESULTS

The present study results show that both community social service and community built facility are positively associated with life satisfaction among older adults, and community social service is more imporatant for enhancing the life satisfaction. In addition, these associations are mediated by social disconnectedness and loneliness.

CONCLUSION

Our research suggests that strengthening community social service programs and improving the built environment can reduce social disconnectedness and loneliness among older adults, ultimately enhancing their life satisfaction. Specifically, policymakers can invest in targeted interventions to enhance social connectedness and reduce loneliness, with the goal of improving the overall well-being of older adults.

Intervention to reduce loneliness among older adults in the community: Making friends with volunteers

AIM

This study aimed to examine the effects of providing a program that introduced volunteers to make friends with older adults to reduce loneliness and increase loneliness literacy.

METHODS

Eight community development associations in Taiwan participated in the study. In the first stage, older people living alone or with only a spouse, or those with a family, but without substantial interactions, were screened for loneliness. Older adults with a higher risk of loneliness were given priority to be invited to participate in this intervention. This 3-month intervention program was designed by each community development association and delivered at the older adults' homes. A total of 87 older persons completed both waves of the interviews.

RESULTS

Loneliness was reduced (UCLA-6 Loneliness Scale scores decreased from 13.5 to 11.6), and loneliness literacy improved (loneliness literacy scores increased from 38.9 to 42.0) compared with what it was before the program. In a generalized linear model, when controlling for covariates, loneliness was reduced, but not significantly (B = -0.934, P > 0.05), whereas loneliness literacy improved significantly for older participants (B = 2.088, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Making friends with older adults who are lonely might improve their loneliness literacy. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2024; 24: 240-245.

The health status, social support, and subjective well-being of older individuals: evidence from the Chinese General Social Survey

Objectives

This study aims to investigate the impact of health status and social support on the subjective well-being of older individuals.

Methods

Using data from the China General Social Survey 2017, this research analyzed 5,187 Chinese citizens aged 60 years and older. The predicted effect of each variable on subjective well-being was evaluated through hierarchical regression analysis. The direct and indirect effects of social support and health status on subjective well-being are examined based on a structural equation model.

Results

The mental health and social support positively impact subjective well-being. Mental health mediates the effect of physical health on subjective well-being, and social support mediates the relationship between physical and mental health and subjective well-being.

Conclusion

The findings provide strong evidence for the interrelationship mechanisms among the factors influencing subjective well-being. Consequently, improving mental health services and social support systems is advantageous for enhancing the well-being of Chinese seniors.

Determinants of psychosocial factors amongst the oldest old: Longitudinal evidence based on the representative "survey on quality of life and subjective well-being of the very old in North Rhine-Westphalia"

OBJECTIVES

There are few studies investigating the determinants of psychosocial outcomes using data exclusively from the oldest old; and even fewer that use longitudinal data. Thus, our aim was to explore the determinants of psychosocial factors (in terms of life satisfaction, loneliness, and depressive symptoms) amongst the oldest old (also stratified by sex) based on representative, longitudinal data from Germany.

METHODS/DESIGN

Data from "Survey on quality of life and subjective well-being of the very old in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW80+)" were used. This study includes community-dwelling and institutionalized individuals aged 80 years and above (n = 1760 observations in the analytical sample) located in North Rhine-Westphalia (the most populous state in Germany). The mean age was 86.6 years (SD: 4.3 years). Established instruments were used to quantify life satisfaction, loneliness, and depressive symptoms. Linear FE regressions were used in this study to mitigate the challenge of unobserved heterogeneity. Sex-stratified regressions were also conducted.

RESULTS

Regressions showed that the loss of a spouse was significantly associated with worsening psychosocial factors (in terms of increases in depressive symptoms and loneliness). Furthermore, regressions revealed that increases in functional impairment were significantly associated with poorer psychosocial outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

This longitudinal study enhanced our understanding of the factors contributing to poorer psychosocial outcomes among the oldest old. Efforts to avoid or postpone functional impairment may contribute to more favorable psychosocial outcomes. Moreover, our current study underlines the importance of spousal relationships for psychosocial outcomes in the oldest age group.

Associations between activities of daily living, leisure activities and subjective well-being in Chinese older adults

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed to explore the internal pathway of the association between activities of daily living and subjective well-being among Chinese older adults using a large and representative sample.

BACKGROUND

There is still a lack of systematic investigation into the association between activities of daily living and subjective well-being among Chinese older adults.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study included 10 578 participants from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. We applied multiple linear regression analysis and Spearman correlation analysis to examine the association between activities of daily living and subjective well-being and PROCESS macro to determine the mediating effect of leisure activities on the relationship between them.

RESULTS

The mean total score of subjective well-being was 30.5 ± 4.4. The prevalence of basic activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living limitations was 18.0% and 60.8%, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that activities of daily living score were negatively correlated with subjective well-being. Leisure activities were positively correlated with subjective well-being. The effect of instrumental activities of daily living on subjective well-being was partially mediated by leisure activities and leisure activities completely mediated the association between basic activities of daily living and subjective well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

The effect of instrumental activities of daily living on subjective well-being was partially mediated by leisure activities and leisure activities completely mediated the association between basic activities of daily living and subjective well-being.

Global research trends in the subjective well-being of older adults from 2002 to 2021: A bibliometric analysis

Purpose

This study aimed to explore current developments and trends in the field of subjective well-being (SWB) of older adults at a macro level and identify research hotspots.

Methods

We included reviews and articles on the SWB of older adults in the Web of Science Core Collection published from 2002 to 2021. We used CiteSpace to draw a knowledge map of the authors, institutions, countries, references, and keywords for visual analysis and used Microsoft Excel tables to count basic information details.

Results

A total of 354 papers were included, and the number of papers published over the past two decades showed a pattern of growth. The core force of publications was primarily attributed to studies conducted in Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania, which have relatively major issues of aging and good economic strength. However, links between states, institutions, and authors were relatively weak. Cluster analysis showed that the research field could be divided into eight topics: the application of social psychology in the study of the SWB of older adults, aging in older adults, health condition of older adults, achieving successful aging, interventions for SWB, age differences in SWB research, an economic perspective of SWB research and social support for older adults. Current research frontiers are socioeconomic status, community, intervention, participation, adjustment, validation, and personality.

Conclusion

The results of the present study provided a comprehensive picture in the research field of SWB of older adults. It showed that the mechanism, especially the bidirectional effect, between the SWB of older adults and its influencing factors is still worthy of further exploration. More research on evidence-based and intervention strategies should be conducted in the future.

Association between social capital and depression among older adults of different genders: Evidence from Hangzhou, China

In China, it is critical to help older adults cope with depression due to the emerging impacts of factors such as increased life expectancy and the "one-child" family planning policy. Meanwhile, differences in retirement age have different effects on health in older adults of different gender. The relationship of gender differences in social capital and depression across the elderly population was unclear. Focusing on this demographic, this study conducted a telephone survey to explore the relationship between social capital and depression. Referring to electronic medical records, we randomly selected 1,042 elderly respondents (426 men, 616 women) from four areas in Hangzhou. We used social capital measurements and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) to assess social capital and depression, respectively, then employed a multivariate logistic regression and structural equation modeling to examine the associations between factors, along with a consideration of gender. This study was discovered that differences in both income and morbidity contributed to differences in social capital and depression. In our sample of elderly respondents, we also found gender-based differences in cognitive and structural social capital. Compared to men, women were more likely to attain higher social capital and less likely to develop depression. At the same time, social networking and social engagement had negative impacts on depression in women, which was not the case for men. We found that lower reciprocity (men and women), social work (men), and trust (women) indicated higher risks of depression. Reciprocity and social networks were significantly and negatively correlated with depression among male respondents; in the male model, factors of trust, reciprocity, and social participation had positive effects on reducing the risk of depression, while social networks had a negative effect. For elderly persons, these findings suggest that mental health is affected by differences in social capital caused by policy differences and cultural differences caused by gender differences.

The effects of oral health and social support on health-related quality of life of migrant older with children in Weifang, China

Background

With the accelerated urbanization and aging population in China, more and more migrant older with children (MOC) moved to new cities. Previous studies mainly explored the acculturation of MOC, yet few focused on the health conditions of this vulnerable group. This study aimed to investigate the effects of oral health and social support on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of MOC in Weifang, China.

Method

This study was a cross-sectional study and participants were selected by multi-stage cluster random sampling in Weifang, China. The HRQOL was assessed via the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) which included the mental component summary (MCS) and the physical component summary (PCS). The oral health was evaluated by the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI). The social support was administered using the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS). Descriptive analysis was used to describe participants’ sociodemographic variables, oral health and social support. Univariate analysis and binary logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association between the social support, oral health and HRQOL.

Results and discussion

It was found that 25.0% of MOC were defined as MCS poor and PCS poor, respectively. Those participants with average and low monthly household income compared to those around them, average and poor oral health, and low levels of social support were more likely to have poor PCS. Those with temporary residence permits, fair and poor oral health, and medium and low levels of social support were more likely to report poor MCS.

Conclusion

Results indicated that better social support and oral health led to higher HRQOL of MOC. Implications for the government, communities and families of MOC were given to improve their HRQOL.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-13843-0.

Climate Disasters and Subjective Well-Being among Urban and Rural Residents in Indonesia

Climate disasters pose a risk to residents’ well-being globally. However, information about the impact of climate disasters among urban and rural residents remains lacking, especially in Indonesia. This study aims to fill the gap by investigating the impact of climate disaster on subjective well-being based on urban and rural typology model. The data were cross-sectional, involving 7110 Indonesian residents who had experienced climate disasters, 3813 from urban areas and 3297 from rural areas. An ordered probit model was employed to estimate the impact of climate disasters on subjective well-being (i.e., happiness and life satisfaction). In general, the empirical results show that climate disasters do not significantly affect the happiness of Indonesian residents, but they significantly and negatively impact their life satisfaction. Further analysis reveals that climate disasters impact urban and rural residents differently. The subjective well-being of rural residents is more severely affected than those living in urban areas. Further estimation also indicated that climate disaster significantly reduces residents’ subjective well-being at the lowest income level for both rural and urban residents. Our finding confirms that rural residents remain the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Promoting Subjective Well-Being among Rural and Urban Residents in Indonesia: Does Social Capital Matter?

There has been growing research on the link between social capital and subjective well-being. However, to date, research investigating the impact of social capital on subjective well-being based on urban and rural typology is limited. Therefore, to fill this gap, this study aims to examine the effects of social capital on subjective well-being, based on urban and rural typology, using large-scale data from 29,341 Indonesian residents, comprising 17,155 urban residents and 12,186 rural residents. A two-stage predictor substitution (2SPS) approach is applied to address the endogeneity issue in estimating the impact of social capital. The empirical findings indicate that social capital significantly increases subjective well-being, i.e., happiness and life satisfaction. However, based on the urban–rural model, we found that the impact of social capital on subjective well-being is different. In the urban model, social capital increases happiness and life satisfaction significantly. However, the rural model indicates that social capital significantly increases happiness, not life satisfaction. These findings imply that subjective well-being impacts urban residents more than rural residents. The main reason is social capital in urban areas is well-developed (i.e., management and infrastructure for community association). Therefore, we suggest developing social capital in rural areas to expand its role in improving well-being.

The Influence of Pension Mode on the Mental Health of Older Adults-Evidence from Older Adults in China

Successful aging is achieved throughout the life course, and successful aging groups tend to have good psychosocial and physical conditions and are active in social activities. With increasing age, the mental health problems of older adults have become increasingly prominent, and the choice of pension mode is closely related to the mental health of older adults. Starting from the psychological level of the older adult, this paper used data from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey to study the impact of three pension methods on the mental health of older adults. The study found that, at present, there are three types of pension modes in China: living alone, family pension, and institutional care, and family pensions are still the mainstream pension mode. Older adults with deeper negative feelings are more inclined to family pensions than to live alone, but the spiritual comfort provided by family members does not improve the negative feelings of older adults. Institutional care deepens the negative feeling and reduces the positive feeling of older adults. In addition, retirement or pension and medical insurance, as life security in old age, can effectively reduce the negative feelings of old age and promote positive feelings. In view of the present situation of China's pension mode and the psychological characteristics of the older adults, we should further build a perfect family pension security system, promote the personalized service construction of older adult care institutions, promote applicable aging renovation of existing residential areas, and encourage older adults to engage in healthy exercise.