Ageing,Health and Life Satisfaction of the Oldest Old: An Analysis for Germany

This analysis uses data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe to assess the effect of ageing and health on the life satisfaction of the oldest old (defined as 75 and older). We observe a U-shaped relationship between age and levels of life satisfaction for individuals aged between 16 and 65. Thereafter, life satisfaction declines rapidly and the lowest absolute levels of life satisfaction are recorded for the oldest old. This decline is primarily attributable to low levels of perceived health. Once cohort effects are also controlled for, life satisfaction remains relatively constant across the lifespan.     

我国高龄老人照料资源分布及照料满足感研究

高龄老人是一个对照料需求更高的群体,目前,高龄老人的照料完全满足感并不高。在居家养老建设不断加快的背景下,高龄老人的照料资源仍然集中在家庭内部,他们对社会服务的利用率极低;高龄老人的年龄、健康状况、经济状况、所在城乡以及照料者类别及其意愿对照料满足感的影响较大。政府及社会在提升高龄老人照料满足感的过程中,要科学规划居家养老服务,关注贫困、认知能力差和空巢高龄老人群体,重视家庭代际和谐建设,加快专业社工队伍发展,加强国际交流。     

Predictors of satisfaction with life among second generation migrants

As a part of a comprehensive study of the psychological acculturation of Portuguese youth born in France, this paper examines the relationship between satisfaction with life and some psychosocial variables. The sample consisted of 519 Portuguese youth resident in Paris (47% were male and 53% female). The following instruments were administered to all subjects: the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Acculturative Attitudes Scales, the Social Anxiety Scale, two brief measures of (a) loneliness and (b) locus of control as well as a background inventory. As expected no gender differences were found, but there were significant effects on satisfaction with life related to religion, participation in an association, number of Portuguese friends and ethnic identity. Expressed satisfaction with life showed significant negative correlations with perceived difficulties of adaptation, marginalization, social anxiety, and loneliness; and positive correlations with integration and locus of control. Multiple regression analysis used to determine the significant predictor variables of satisfaction with life indicated that the strongest predictors were loneliness and perceived state of health.     

社会支持对我国高龄老人死亡风险影响的Cox模型分析

文章运用中国高龄老人健康长寿跟踪调查纵向数据（1998～2005年）,对年龄范围在80～105岁的高龄老人进行考察,并基于Cox模型对社会支持于高龄老人死亡风险的影响机制进行探讨,对西方学者提出的社会支持的影响机制模型进行实证检验。结果表明,从我国的现实意义来看,社会支持对健康的影响是针对不健康的人群起到了缓冲作用,社会支持和健康变量之间存在着交互作用。另外,社会支持中的生活照料和情感支持对改善我国高龄老人的健康状况具有显著效果。     

What is Happening with Quality of Life Among the Oldest People in Southern European Countries? An Empirical Approach Based on the SHARE Data

Population aging in developed countries has created new challenges to improve the well-being of individuals at different age cohorts. This issue is especially significant for Southern European countries, were aging societies have worse health and less socio-economic resources. The aim of this study is to contribute to this body of literature and to estimate the effect of aging on quality of life of oldest people. This paper uses the latest available data (6th wave) from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Specifically, robust ordinary least squares and multilevel regressions are employed to analyse the effects of socioeconomic, health, and community factors on quality of life among the oldest population for Southern European countries. Our findings confirm the significance of several factors on life satisfaction among the oldest population in this group of countries. Moreover, we show that the determinants which are correlated with quality of life include predisposing, health, geographic area and social isolation factors.     

Sociodemographic and Health Profiles of the Oldest Old In China

Unique data from a 1998 healthy longevity baseline survey provide demographic, socio‐economic, and health characteristics of the oldest old, aged 80–105, in China. This subpopu‐lation is growing rapidly and is likely to need extensive social and health services. A large majority of Chinese oldest old live with their children and rely mainly on children for financial support and care. Most Chinese oldest old had no or very little education. Ability to function independently in daily living declines rapidly and self‐rated health declines moderately across the oldest old ages. As compared to their urban counterparts, the rural oldest old have far less pension support, are significantly less educated, and are more likely to be widowed and to rely on children for support. Apart from higher rates of survival, the female oldest old in China are far more disadvantaged than the male oldest old.     

Gender in Marriage and Life Satisfaction Under Gender Imbalance in China: The Role of Intergenerational Support and SES

This study examined gender differences in the influence of marital status and marital quality on life satisfaction. The roles of intergenerational support and perceived socioeconomic status in the relationship between marriage and life satisfaction were also explored. The analysis was conducted with data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2006, representing 1,317 women and 1,152 men at least 25 years old. Chi-squared tests and logistic regression models were used in this process. Marriage, including marital status and relationship quality, has a protective function for life satisfaction. Marital status is more important for males, but marital quality is more important for females. The moderating roles of intergenerational support and perceived socioeconomic status are gender specific, perhaps due to norms that ascribe different roles to men and women in marriage.     

Perceived Social Policy Fairness and Subjective Wellbeing: Evidence from China

This study examined the relationship between perceived fairness of social policies and subjective well-being. Two types of policies examined were related to income distribution and social security. Subjective well-being was measured by work and life satisfaction. In addition, subjective well-beings between different income, age, and education groups in the context of perceived social justice were compared. With data from a random telephone survey conducted in Beijing, China among 2,113 respondents, findings from structural equation modeling indicate perceived fairness of social security and income distribution policies are positively associated with subjective well-being. After controlling for income, age, and education, the effect of income distribution fairness on work satisfaction was still positive and significant but had decreased in intensity, while the effect size on life satisfaction had changed little. Effects of social security fairness on both life and work satisfaction were still significant but had changed in different directions after adding demographic variables, in which the effect on life satisfaction had increased, while the effect on work satisfaction had decreased in size.     

新生代农村流动人口内部生活满意度差异研究--以江苏省为例

新生代农村流动人口正逐渐成为中国农村流动人口的主体。与老一代相比，新生代农村流动人口具有较为不同的客观经济社会属性和主观认知特征，而其生活满意度又将影响其未来的市民化决策。本文基于2012年江苏省外出青年农村流动人口调研，运用结构方程模型研究发现，新生代农村流动人口内部已出现较为明显的年龄差异。对于影响生活满意度的因子，新生代农村流动人口客观属性上的差异主要体现在所处生命周期的不同，而主观认知的不同则更多体现了时代背景的变化。     

利还是弊:“啃老”对老年生活满意度的影响

本文利用中国健康与养老追踪调查数据(CHARLS)2011年数据,实证分析子女"啃老"对老年人生活满意度的影响。在考虑了数据聚类特征的情况下,发现老年人向子女提供经济支持有利于老年人生活满意度的提高,而照看孙子女则降低了老年人的生活满意度。而且,上述影响在不同老年人群体间缺乏一致性,也就是存在性别、城乡、年龄、不同经济状况间的差异。此外,老年人的健康状况、年龄、受教育程度、个人经济状况及所在社区情况都会对老年人生活满意度产生影响。     

Life Domain Satisfactions as Predictors of Overall Life Satisfaction Among Workers: Evidence from Chile

This article examines the subjective antecedents of life satisfaction of workers. Adopting a ‘bottom-up’ perspective, we assessed the unique influence that satisfaction with multiple life domains have on evaluative judgments of overall life satisfaction. Based on a nationwide sample of 530 Chilean workers, we simultaneously tested the effects of seven life domain satisfactions that have been consistently included in extant models of life satisfaction and subjective well-being. These were satisfaction with health, financial situation, social relationships, one’s self-worth, leisure-time, family, and work. Having controlled for age and gender, results showed that satisfaction with one’s financial situation was the dominant predictor of overall life satisfaction of workers, with a weight of .36. Satisfaction with family, work, and health had effects of .25, .14, and .14, respectively. Interestingly, satisfaction with one’s self-worth, leisure-time, and social relationships did not have statistically significant effects on life satisfaction, although the first two showed t values near the critical value.     

Gender as a Moderator of the Relation Among Social Support Functions and Life Satisfaction in Older Malaysians

The aim of this study was to examine the moderating role of gender on relations among social support functions and life satisfaction in older Malaysians. The study sample was 1,800 older residents in a community; all were at least 60 years old. This study was a cross-sectional and corelational survey, and the data were collected by multistage stratified sampling. This study revealed that fewer social support functions, and therefore less life satisfaction, were available for females than for males. The results of moderated regression analyses demonstrated that gender interacted only on the relationship between positive social interaction support and tangible support with life satisfaction. Specifically, at a high tangible support level, females had lower life satisfaction when compared to a low tangible support level. There may be a need for new programs and services to provide other aspects of social support to older female adults to improve and maintain life satisfaction in later life.     

The Relationship Between Social Support and Subjective Well-Being Across Age

The relationships among types of social support and different facets of subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) were examined in a sample of 1,111 individuals between the ages of 18 and 95. Using structural equation modeling we found that life satisfaction was predicted by enacted and perceived support, positive affect was predicted by family embeddedness and provided support, and negative affect was predicted by perceived support. When personality variables were included in a subsequent model, the influence of the social support variables were generally reduced. Invariance analyses conducted across age groups indicated that there were no substantial differences in predictors of the different types of subjective well-being across age.     

Adaptation and Dissonance in Quality of Life: A Case Study in Mekelle,Ethiopia

This study aimed to determine predictability of life satisfaction by focusing on social support, substance abuse, socio-demographic factors as well as received health services from medical and traditional centers in the elderly with dementia. The subjects were 1,210 non-institutionalized Malaysian elderly with cognitive problems. In addition, age, ethnicity, sex differences, marital status, educational level, social support, substance abuse and receiving health services were evaluated to predict the risk of falls in samples. Social support was measured by Lubben score. Substance abuse was referred to smoking per day, addiction to alcohol consumption as well as dependency to medications. Health care supports, which were received by individuals included medical and traditional treatments. Life satisfaction was measured by asking in general ‘Are you satisfied with your current life’. The multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the effects of contributing variables on life satisfaction in respondents. Approximately 83 % of subjects reported that they were satisfied with their current life. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that marital status (OR = 1.98), traditional treatments (OR = 0.43), social support (OR = 2.28) and educational level (OR = 1.79) significantly affected life satisfaction in samples (p < 0.05). Furthermore, age, ethnicity, sex differences, substance abuse and medical treatments were not significant predictors of life satisfaction (p > 0.05). It was concluded that social support, being married and education increased life satisfaction in subjects but traditional treatments decreased life satisfaction.     

Factors that Influence the Life Satisfaction of Women Living in the Northern Cyprus

The main aim of this paper is to evaluate the life satisfaction among women living in the Northern Cyprus by focusing on socio-economic and gender related factors. Within this context, we aim to analyze the influence of socio-personal characteristics of Northern Cypriot women in regard to life satisfaction. To fulfill these objectives, a questionnaire survey has been applied to 510 women living in the major cities of Northern Cyprus. Applying an ordered logit model, this paper examines the role of several factors such as normal and social reference income, employment, and savings, health, and education, participation in the household expenditures, being a full-time housewife, domestic violence, political preferences, and perception of government performance on life satisfaction. The results demonstrate that good health, high education, high income, saving, high household income has positive effects on life satisfaction whereas domestic violence, being a full-time housewife, unemployment and social reference income has negative effects on life satisfaction.     

Economic Stress, Quality of Life, and Mortality for the Oldest-Old in China

China??s oldest old population is estimated to quadruple by 2050. Yet, poverty rate for the oldest old has been the highest among all age groups in China. This paper investigates the relationship between economic stress, quality of life, and mortality among the oldest-old in China. Both objective economic hardships and perceived economic strain are examined. We base our investigation on data drawn from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey conducted between 2000 and 2005. Our sample includes 10,972 men and women between the ages of 80 and 105 in 2000. The data show that about 16% of these oldest-old lived under economic stress in 2000. The risk factors that make one vulnerable to economic stress include age, being male, being widowed or never married, being a minority member, having no education, having no living children, and not having children as main source of income, and having no pension. Economic stress is negatively associated with indicators of quality of life, such as the quality of medical care and mental well-being. The poor quality of life contributes to the higher mortality rate for the oldest old who are under economic stress. Results also show that perceived economic strain increases the risk of mortality by 42% in rural areas, even after controlling for basic demographic characteristics, life style factors, and major health events.?For the rural oldest-old, having children as a main source of income and having access to pension alleviates the negative impact of economic hardship on mortality hazard by 23 and 66% respectively. However, in urban areas, economic stress has no direct impact on the hazard of mortality.     

The Association Between Adolescent Life Satisfaction, Family Structure, Family Affluence and Gender Differences in Parent–Child Communication

The study sought to examine young people’s life satisfaction in the context of the family environment, using data from the 2006 HBSC: WHO-collaborative Study in Scotland (N = 5,126). Multilevel linear regression analyses were carried out for 11-, 13- and 15-year old boys and girls, with outcome measure ridit-transformed life satisfaction. The study found there to be a relationship between family structure and life satisfaction for boys and girls aged 13 and 15 years. Family affluence mediated this relationship, however the extent of this mediation depended both on age and gender. For both boys and girls at all ages, life satisfaction was more strongly associated with parent–child communication than with family structure or family affluence. After adjustment for risk/health behaviours and attitudes towards peers and school, family structure remained significant for boys aged 13 years only. Whereas difficult parent–child communication acted as a risk factor of low life satisfaction for boys and girls, easy communication acted as protective factor among girls only.     

Knowledge Sharing and Life Satisfaction: The Roles of Colleague Relationships and Gender

This study is the first to test the impact of knowledge sharing on life satisfaction. Based on social exchange theory, social capital theory, and self-determination theory, we tested a mediation pathway through which knowledge sharing affects life satisfaction via its influence on perceived quality of relationships with colleagues. Drawing on social role theory, we also examined the moderating role of gender on the relation between colleague relationship and life satisfaction. While social capital theory and self-determination theory suggest that quality colleague relationships have a positive impact on life satisfaction, social role theory suggests that the strength of this relationship varies on the basis of gender. Data collected from 246 full-time workers supported the mediation path, even when job satisfaction was controlled. While gender moderated the effect of colleague relationships on life satisfaction, the moderated mediation effect of knowledge sharing on life satisfaction was not supported. Our results suggest that knowledge sharing, as an important work behavior, not only promotes effective work-related outcomes but also has a positive impact on individuals’ subjective well-being. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Subjective well-being as a function of age and gender: A multivariate look for differentiated trends

Studies on subjective well-being (SWB) suggest that its cognitive aspect, or life satisfaction, is positively correlated with age, whereas its affective aspect, often separated into positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), is negatively correlated with age. Gender differences in SWB are usually small. The present study attempted to explore these trends in an Israeli sample of 447 community-dwelling people aged 21 to 87, with special reference to relatively unattended issues as the effect of control variables on the affective aspect and the feasible age by gender interaction in SWB. The results showed that Cantril's Self-Anchoring Scale (SAS), Bradburn's Affect Balance Scale (ABS), and Neugarten et al.'s Life Satisfaction Index A (LSIA) were all significantly and negatively correlated with age. No significant gender differences emerged, but a significant age by gender interaction was found in SAS and LSIA. Controlling for personal variables (education, health, place of birth, and marital status) could wipe out the age effects on SAS and LSIA, but not on ABS. By the same procedure, the age by gender interaction could be wiped out in SAS, and substantially reduced in LSIA. The age effect on ABS was mainly due to PA, rather than NA. The results indicate the differential impact of personal variables on the aspects of SWB. Refering to the Israeli context, it seems that both cohort- and aging-related variables account for the decline of life satisfaction in the older subjects. Age-associated decline of affect is apparently connected to some other adaptive mechanisms, which regulate both positive and negative affect in old age.     

A Gender Lens on Quality of Life: The Role of Sense of Community,Perceived Social Support,Self-Reported Health and Income

Quality of life (QoL) refers to a subjective evaluation that is embedded in a cultural, social and environmental context. It is a multidimensional concept and its assessment covers four domains: physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment. Although many studies report on QoL, literature rarely addressed the question of the QoL predictors from a gender perspective. Present study aimed at investigating gender differences in the determinants of QoL. Specifically, gender was considered as a moderator in the relationship between predictors of QoL (i.e. socio-demographic characteristics, perceived health, income, social support and sense of community) and each dimension of QoL. 654 Italian adults participated in the study. Results show that men outscore women on the physical, the psychological and the environmental domains of QoL. Considering determinants of QoL, sense of community and self-reported health operate in a similar fashion for both genders. On the contrary, social support is more predictive for women’s QoL, whereas the income level is more significant for men’s QoL. Implications are discussed.