The influence of environmental awareness and conditions on successful aging: Evidence of air and water pollution in China

Figures & data

Figure 1. The conceptual framework for studying how environments affect successful aging.

Table 1. Questionnaire for measuring the main variables at the individual level.

Scale	Subscale	Measure item
Successful aging	Subjective health	On a scale of 1 to 5, what do you think of your current physical condition?
	Cognitive ability	On a scale of 1 to 5, what do you think of your ability to listen to Mandarin, speak Mandarin, listen to English, and speak English?
	Social participation	In the past year, how often do you spend your free time going out to the movies, going shopping, attending cultural events (such as concerts, shows, and exhibitions), gathering with relatives who do not live together, meeting with friends, participating in sports, and watching sports live?
Pollution awareness	Air pollution awareness	Are you aware of air pollution?
	Water pollution awareness	Are you aware of water pollution?

Figure 2. Air and water pollution conditions in 2013 and 2021.

Notes. 1. The maps are based on China’s provincial districts. 2. Air and water pollutants are summed up by three major pollutants separately. The darker the colour of the area, the more serious the pollution. Areas without pollution data are shown in white.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics of studied variables.

Variables	Mean (SD)
	2013 (N = 5404)	2021 (N = 1580)
Dependent variables
Subjective health (1–5)	3.32 (1.10)	3.16 (1.11)
Cognitive ability (4–20)	8.54 (2.33)	8.39 (2.37)
Social participation	0 (1.00)	0.03 (0.99)
Independent variables
Air pollution awareness (0,1)	0.86 (0.35)	0.66 (0.47)
Water pollution awareness (0,1)	0.87 (0.34)	0.65 (0.48)
Macro-level variables
Air pollution condition	5.09 (0.60)	3.91 (0.67)
Water pollution condition	4.56 (0.70)	4.46 (0.92)
Control variables
Gender (Female = 0)	0.52 (0.50)	0.47 (0.50)
Age	63.04 (9.29)	64.64 (9.70)
Education (0–19)	6.91 (4.62)	7.43 (4.34)
Residence (Rural residence = 0)	0.46 (0.50)	0.39 (0.49)
Marriage (Not in marriage = 0)	0.80 (0.40)	0.77 (0.42)
Number of children	2.34 (1.39)	2.10 (1.25)
Social security (Not secured = 0)	0.95 (0.22)	0.97 (0.18)
Media usage (6–30)	12.34 (3.88)	12.97 (4.05)
Annual family income	44,256.25 (48,501.22)	92,184.12 (49,4085.9)

Table 3. The mean values of successful aging in social-demographic groups.

SA	2013	2021
Subjective health	Female = 3.232, Male = 3.403	Female = 3.071, Male = 3.257
	Rural = 3.218, Urban = 3.439	Rural = 3.085, Urban = 3.274
	Not married = 3.098, In marriage = 3.377	Not married = 3.043, In marriage = 3.194
	Not secured = 3.167, Secured = 3.329	Not secured = 3.000, Secured = 3.164
Cognitive ability	Female = 8.360, Male = 8.700	Female = 8.239, Male = 8.554
	Rural = 7.625, Urban = 9.594	Rural = 7.635, Urban = 9.572
	Not married = 7.942, In marriage = 8.690	Not married = 8.022, In marriage = 8.500
	Not secured = 8.407, Secured = 8.542	Not secured = 7.944, Secured = 8.403
Social participation	Female = −0.014, Male = 0.013	Female = −0.028, Male = 0.088
	Rural = −0.335, Urban = 0.390	Rural = −0.188, Urban = 0.364
	Not married = −0.103, In marriage = 0.024	Not married = −0.101, In marriage = 0.066
	Not secured = −0.225, Secured = 0.012	Not secured = −0.245, Secured = 0.036

Table 4. SUR models: the relationship between environmental awareness and SA.

	2013 (N = 5377)			2021 (N = 1572)
	Model 1-1	Model 1-2	Model 1-3	Model 2-1	Model 2-2	Model 2-3
Individual level	Subjective health	Cognitive ability	Social participation	Subjective health	Cognitive ability	Social participation
APA	0.145* (0.066)	0.332** (0.116)	−0.024 (0.053)	0.256** (0.079)	0.030 (0.139)	0.034 (0.065)
WPA	0.138* (0.067)	0.128 (0.118)	0.131* (0.054)	0.174* (0.078)	0.367 (0.136)	0.048 (0.063)
Male	0.079** (0.030)	−0.212*** (0.053)	−0.129*** (0.024)	0.123* (0.057)	−0.229* (0.010)	−0.013 (0.047)
Age	−0.018*** (0.002)	−0.022*** (0.003)	−0.006*** (0.002)	−0.012*** (0.003)	−0.020** (0.006)	−0.003 (0.003)
Education	0.008* (0.004)	0.141**** (0.008)	0.009** (0.003)	0.009 (0.008)	0.178*** (0.015)	0.014* (0.006)
Urban residence	−0.003 (0.035)	0.798*** (0.063)	0.086 (0.067)	0.572** (0.175)	0.802*** (0.117)	0.228*** (0.055)
In marriage	0.030 (0.038)	0.090 (0.067)	−0.035 (0.031)	0.004 (0.068)	−0.094 (0.120)	0.027 (0.056)
No. of children	−0.021 (0.013)	−0.062** (0.007)	−0.015 (0.010)	−0.072** (0.024)	−0.120** (0.043)	−0.025 (0.020)
Annual family income	0.018*** (0.004)	0.019** (0.007)	−0.010** (0.003)	0.007 (0.006)	0.020^+ (0.011)	0.004 (0.005)
Social secured	0.089 (0.065)	−0.072 (0.115)	0.152** (0.052)	0.018 (0.151)	−0.430 (0.266)	0.086 (0.124)
Media use	0.031*** (0.005)	0.125*** (0.118)	0.104*** (0.004)	0.019* (0.008)	0.093*** (0.014)	0.080*** (0.007)
Intercept	3.492*** (0.151)	6.742*** (0.266)	−1.156*** (0.122)	3.654*** (0.286)	7.249*** (0.502)	−1.142*** (0.234)
R-squared	0.09	0.37	0.28	0.06	0.37	0.20
${\chi }^2$	539.68***	3210.72***	2142.67***	98.26***	916.47***	402.69***

Note: Significance levels: ⁺p < 0.1, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 (two-tailed test). All the results in the paper are interpreted with the same standard.

Table 5. MLM: environmental awareness and SA, under the influence of regional pollution conditions (2013, N = 5377, Group = 28).

	Model 3-1	Model 3-2	Model 3-3	Model 3-4	Model 3-5	Model 3-6
	Subjective health	Cognitive ability	Social participation	Subjective health	Cognitive ability	Social participation
Individual level
APA	0.267 (0.593)	2.563* (1.062)	1.196** (0.433)	0.088 (0.065)	0.247* (0.107)	0.009 (0.052)
WPA	0.135* (0.066)	0.207^+ (0.108)	0.123* (0.053)	0.287 (0.408)	1.823* (0.731)	0.560^+ (0.318)
Control variables	Controlled	Controlled	Controlled	Controlled	Controlled	Controlled
Intercept	2.877*** (0.666)	6.513*** (1.474)	−1.988*** (0.157)	2.903*** (0.557)	7.274*** (0.336)	−1.317** (0.491)
Provincial level
APC	0.110 (0.162)	−0.356 (0.405)	0.102 (0.140)	0.085 (0.127)	−0.712^+ (0.368)	−0.099 (0.120)
WPC	0.030 (0.110)	0.475 (0.306)	0.060 (0.098)	0.052 (0.124)	0.702* (0.322)	0.138 (0.113)
Interaction
$\mathrm{APA}\times \mathrm{APC}$	−0.033 (0.113)	−0.446* (0.202)	−0.228** (0.082)
$\mathrm{WPA}\times \mathrm{WPC}$				−0.031 (0.086)	−0.350* (0.155)	−0.093 (0.067)
Log-likelihood	−7758.71	−10434.72	−6592.44	−7758.91	−10433.27	−6594.66

Figure 3. Predicted successful aging by personal environmental awareness and provincial environmental conditions with 95% Confidence Intervals (the figures are listed as Figure 3-1, 3-2, and 3-3 from up to down).

Table 6. MLM: environmental awareness and SA, under the influence of regional pollution conditions (2021, N = 1572, Group = 19).

	Model 4-1	Model 4-2	Model 4-3	Model 4-4	Model 4-5	Model 4-6
	Subjective health	Cognitive ability	Social participation	Subjective health	Cognitive ability	Social participation
Individual level
APA	0.891^+ (0.475)	−0.886 (0.917)	0.669^+ (0.390)	−0.294*** (0.378)	−0.039 (0.134)	0.015 (0.066)
WPA	0.181* (0.077)	0.166 (0.129)	0.063 (0.063)	0.134 (0.336)	−0.148 (0.656)	0.111 (0.276)
Control variables	Controlled	Controlled	Controlled	Controlled	Controlled	Controlled
Intercept	6.364 (4.991)	9.251*** (1.287)	−3.172 (4.104)	6.955 (5.010)	8.862*** (1.171)	−2.930 (4.115)
Provincial level
APC	1.151 (1.158)	−0.087 (0.431)	−0.648 (0.952)	−0.294*** (0.127)	0.024 (0.392)	−0.766 (0.951)
WPC	−0.078 (0.098)	−0.222 (0.308)	1.151 (1.983)	0.953 (1.158)	0.236 (0.307)	1.209 (1.987)
Interaction
$\mathrm{APA}\times \mathrm{APC}$	−0.295** (0.115)	0.206 (0.222)	−0.161^+ (0.095)
$\mathrm{WPA}\times \mathrm{WPC}$				0.009 (0.073)	0.071 (0.143)	−0.012 (0.060)
Log-likelihood	\	−3447.29	\	\	−3169.96	\
F-value	3.56***	\	14.92***	5.15***	\	14.80***

Table 7. PSM analysis.

Variables	APA: yes	APA: no	SD (of Difference)	T-value	WPA: yes	WPA: no	SD (of Difference)	T-value
2013
Nearest-neighbor matching within calliper-0.01SD
Subjective health	3.163	2.916	0.059	4.21	3.236	2.915	0.060	5.33
Cognitive ability	7.797	7.182	0.108	5.70	7.853	7.276	0.113	5.13
Social participation	−0.252	−0.383	0.046	2.85	−0.259	−0.410	0.046	3.32
Kernel matching
Subjective health	3.089	2.854	0.074	3.18	3.381	3.151	0.059	3.93
Cognitive ability	8.674	8.006	0.110	6.07	8.709	8.200	0.113	4.53
Social participation	0.028	−0.097	0.050	2.52	0.052	−0.129	0.047	3.88
2021
Nearest-neighbor matching within calliper-0.01SD
Subjective health	3.114	3.223	0.059	−1.56	3.176	3.138	0.069	0.55
Cognitive ability	8.203	7.984	0.137	1.60	8.319	8.103	0.143	1.50
Social participation	0.018	−0.110	0.059	2.17	0.037	−0.065	0.060	1.71
Kernel matching
Subjective health	3.131	3.266	0.064	−2.11	3.174	3.151	0.061	0.38
Cognitive ability	8.606	8.365	0.129	1.87	8.569	8.277	0.124	2.35
Social participation	0.094	0.046	0.054	0.90	0.083	0.002	0.052	1.55