The Relationship between Types and Sources of Social Support and Mental Health and Life Satisfaction Among Chinese Older Adults

Background and Purpose:

China has the largest aging population (144 million) in the world and is undergoing dramatic population aging. Chinese older adults have a high prevalence of mental health problems, which may be related to the swift changes in the types and sources of social support China’s elderly are receiving. The relationship between sources and types of social support and older adults’ mental health and life satisfaction are important but understudied questions. To find the best way to improve Chinese older adults’ psychological well-being, this study examined the associations between types and sources of social support and Chinese older adults’ mental health and life satisfaction.

Methods：Data and sample: We used data from two waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The sample included over 6,000 older adults who were interviewed in both 2011 and 2013.

Measures: Mental health was measured by a shortened CES-D scale with ten questions. The total score will range from 0 to 30 and the higher the score, the more depressive symptoms the elderly had. A dummy variable was created to represent the life satisfaction. Both types and sources of social support were measured in this study. Three social support variables, financial support, instrumental support, and having frequent contact with adult children were included in the analyses. For financial support and emotional support variables, all the participants were categorized into five groups: primarily receiving financial/instrumental support from spouse, children, other informal sources, formal sources and having no support. A dummy variabled was created to indicate whether the respondents have frequent contact with non-resident children.

Empirical Strategy:OLS and logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between social support and psychological well-being and life satisfaction, respectively. In addition, post-estimation tests were conducted to examine whether these relationships differ due to different sources.

Results:

Regression analysisand post-estimation tests indicate  results indicate that older adults having financial support from children and formal sources, relying on intergenerational instrumental support, and having contact with non-resident children were more likely to have better metal health and life satisfaction. In contrast, relying on financial support and instrumental support from nonfamily informal sources (e.g., friends, neighbors), and having no instrumental support were negatively associated with older adults’ mental health and life satisfaction.

Conclusions and Implications:

Our findings suggest that types and sources of social support mattered to Chinese older adults’ mental health and life satisfaction. They benefit more from having support from children and relying on formal financial support. To improve their psychological well-being and life satisfaction, it would be advisable to develop policies for employees to enable adult children to have more time and energy to provide support for their parents. In addition, since formal financial support also benefited Chinese older adults’ mental health and life satisfaction, great investment in pension system wil make a great contribution to the older adults' psychological well-being.