Predicting the trajectories of emotional well‐being of Chinese community dwelling oldest old adults: urban and rural differences

Abstract

The paper explores the longitudinal changes of emotional well‐being of Chinese oldest old adults (80 years or older) and discloses significant factors that influence the trajectories, with a focus on the differences between those residing in rural and urban settings. Data were derived from three waves (1998, 2000, and 2002) of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), which was carried out in 22 of the 31 provinces in China. We used hierarchical linear modelling to examine how the well‐being of 2490 older adults changed over the three waves of the survey. Results indicate that urban residence and greater involvement in social activities predicted an increase in well‐being over time. Participants with lower cognitive functioning and poorer self‐rated health at baseline tended to show improvements in well‐being over time. Rural oldest old adults were found to report decreases in well‐being, in contrast to an increasing trend found for urban oldest old adults. This finding lends itself to an important conclusion that more social services or formal support should be provided for older adults in rural areas in China.

本文探讨了中国的老年人（(80岁或以上)）跨时间的情绪变化，并揭示当中具有影响力的重要因素，尤其是农村和城市之间的差异。数据主要来自三次（(1998年，2000年和2002年)）对中国22个省份进行的中国高龄老人健康长寿基础调查（(CLHLS)。作者用了分层线性模型去研究2490名老年人在三次调查之间的情绪变化。结果发现，居住在城市和积极参与小区活动对老人的情绪有正面的影响。认知功能较低和对自我健康评分较低的研究对象往往随时间的推移表现出有所改善。报告发现农村的老年人认为幸福的愈来愈少，相反，在城市的老年人中则有上升的趋势。这一发现本身的一个重要结论就是应该为中国农村地区的老年人提供更多的社会服务。

Keywords:

• emotional well‐being
• rural
• the oldest old

Acknowledgement

Paper presented at the 15th Biennial International Consortium for Social Development Symposium, Hong Kong, 16–19 July 2007.