Anticipated support from children and later-life health in the United States and China

Cheng, Cheng

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.03.007

Cited by 21 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…Our study suggests that the quality of parent–child relationships may matter most, not the quantity of children. For example, a recent study found that anticipated support from children, the belief that children would provide support if needed, was associated with older parents’ better self-rated health 21. This may have important implications for China since the one-child policy has led to smaller family size and changes in family structure and relations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-sectional study of self-rated health among older adults: a comparison of China and the United States

Wang

2019

BMJ Open

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ObjectivesWe used nationally representative samples of China and the US older population to investigate (1) whether factors influencing self-rated health among older Chinese were similar to those among older Americans; and (2) whether there was a significant cross-national difference in self-rated health between China and the USA after controlling those available influencing factors.DesignA cross-sectional study. Data came from the 2014 Health and Retirement Study and China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study conducted from 2014 to 2015.ParticipantsOur final sample size totaled 8905 older adults in the USA and 4442 older adults in China.OutcomeThe response variable was self-rated health. Ordered logistic regression models were conducted to investigate factors influencing self-rated health among older adults.ResultsMore than three-fourths (78%) of older adults in China reported fair or poor health status, while almost 74% of older adults in the USA reported excellent, very good or good health status. In the overall ordered logistic regression model, when controlling statistically for sociodemographics, family structure, functional limitations, cognition, chronic conditions, mental health and health-related behaviours, the Chinese survey respondents were much more likely to rate their health as being poorer than the US respondents. The odds of having better versus poorer health was almost five times greater in American older adults than those in China (OR=4.88, 95% CI 4.06 to 5.86). Older adults in China living alone rated their health better than those living with spouse/partner; however, no significant difference was found between these two living arrangements in older Americans. In contrast, older adults in the USA living with others rated their health worse compared with those living with spouse/partner. In addition, older adults who had more activities of daily living limitations, poorer self-reported memory, worse mental health and chronic health conditions had lower self-rated health in both countries.ConclusionsWe found a striking difference in self-rated health between China and the USA even after controlling for measures of disease, functional status and other influencing factors. Relative to their American counterparts, Chinese elders were much more likely to report worse health.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-sectional study of self-rated health among older adults: a comparison of China and the United States

Wang

2019

BMJ Open

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“…Our results on females and rural residents being more vulnerable to depression than their counter parts are in line with other studies on China such as C. Cheng (2017) and B. Hu and Wang (2019).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…This is similar to Zhang et al (2016) where overweight subjects are not depressed unlike the underweight group when compared to those of normal weight. The effect of chronic disease, ADL, self-reported health and social activities also have the expected impacts and align with other studies on the Chinese elderly (C. Cheng, 2017;Q. Wang & Tian, 2018;.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 85%

“…In terms of the living arrangement, we could see that living in the same city, instead of living together with children is more effective in helping the elderly development better mental health. The explanations might lie in social support in the form of children is important for the Chinese elderly and in China, this is almost exclusively reliant on informal care provided by family members (C. Cheng, 2017;B. Hu & Wang, 2019).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, other studies on China find mixed evidence. For example, Luo et al (2018) finds both drinking and smoking to be positively associated with depression while C. Cheng (2017) find no association. We find that females who drink are prone to depression as seen from the interaction term while males who drink (with the coefficient of -0.736 for the interaction term of males*drink is highly significant at 1% level of significance) are not.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Examining the well-being of the elderly in China

Fan¹

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This thesis investigates the nature and determinants of well-being with a focus on older adults. The study consists of three empirical papers, examining the effect from three perspectives: social capital, household traveling expenditure and income inequality. Well-being is measured using different aspects such as happiness, life satisfaction, and mental health. Research methods used include factor analysis, estimations by generalised least square and system generalized method of moments as well as hierarchical linear modeling. Using primary survey data, the first paper provides evidence that social capital is more (less) significant than income in improving subjective (objective) well-being, which calls for recalibration in the policy balance between targeting social capital and addressing poverty. Social capital affects well-being through different channels depending on whether it provides marketable or nonmarketable returns. For instance, renqing (gifts and money an individual can give by way of reciprocity towards receiving favours from others) and community integration in the form of social networks improve objective well-being. Social capital in the form of trust on the other hand boosts subjective well-being. Age too has different effects on subjective and objective well-being. While an older person is more satisfied with life, there is however a struggle in owning material things. The lack of correlation between subjective and objective well-being measures further complicates the policy debate. A robust approach to understanding and enhancing well-being in rural, remote areas should thus be an urgent priority in regional policy analyses.

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Food insecurity among older adults in the U.S.: The role of mortgage borrowing

Loibl

Rhodes

Moulton

et al. 2021

Applied Eco Perspectives Pol

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Housing wealth is the main source of wealth for many older adults. Using the Health and Retirement Study, we assess the impact of new mortgage borrowing on food insecurity among homeowners aged 65 and older. We find a substantial short‐term effect, with each additional $10,000 borrowed, lowering food insecurity by 2.2 percentage points. In a simulation of the impact of relaxing the debt‐to‐income borrowing constraint, food insecurity is reduced by 2.1 percentage points for previous nonborrowers and by 1.6 percentage points for borrowers. Results support the importance of access to mortgage borrowing to reduce material hardship in older age.

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Anticipated support from children and later-life health in the United States and China

Cited by 21 publications

References 49 publications

A cross-sectional study of self-rated health among older adults: a comparison of China and the United States

A cross-sectional study of self-rated health among older adults: a comparison of China and the United States

Examining the well-being of the elderly in China

Food insecurity among older adults in the U.S.: The role of mortgage borrowing

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