Social Support and Psychological Well-Being Under Social Change in Urban and Rural China

The economic reforms of the past two decades have initiated a major social transition in China, characterized by unprecedented social mobility and stratification. Meanwhile, the privatization of health care has increased costs to the consumer. While such changes would logically affect individuals’ psychological well-being, little attention has been paid to this association. Using data from the Chinese General Social Survey (2005), this paper looks at the relationships between social changes and the psychological well-being of individuals in both urban and rural areas, as well as the role of social support in Chinese society. We find that an increasing health-care burden is significantly associated with individuals’ psychological well-being, especially in rural China. Perceived social status, its change over time and its comparison with perceived status of peers, are also significantly correlated with psychological well-being both in rural and urban China. Social support has a protective function for psychological well-being across different samples, and also compensates for the negative association between increasing health-care burden and psychological well-being, but it strengthens relative deprivation during social change on psychological well-being in rural areas.     

Loneliness and Subjective Well-Being Among Chinese Undergraduates: The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy

Previous studies have shown a negative relationship between loneliness and one’s subjective well-being. However, it has not been fully examined within the Chinese context which highlights the importance of social relationship and interpersonal harmony for one’s life, and the mechanism between them has not been thoroughly explored. Based on social cognitive theory, this study examined the main effects of loneliness on individuals’ stress, depression, and life satisfaction, as well as the mediating effect of self-efficacy between them. Survey data were obtained from 444 Chinese undergraduates. The results of multiple regressions revealed that loneliness was negatively correlated with life satisfaction and positively correlated with stress and depression. Moreover, self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between loneliness and stress, as well as depression, and fully mediated the relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

     

我国农村留守儿童状况研究

目前,农村留守儿童问题已经引起了政府和社会的高度关注,但与农村留守儿童有关的各项基础信息却十分缺乏.本文利用2005年全国1%人口抽样调查数据估算了全国农村留守儿童的规模、结构、地域分布等基本情况,并围绕目前备受关注的留守儿童热点问题,重点阐述了农村留守儿童的受教育状况、家庭照料状况等.所得研究结论,填补了有关农村留守儿童信息的空白.农村留守儿童接受义务教育状况良好、照顾留守儿童的祖父母并非年老体弱等结论将改变人们对留守儿童的习惯认识.     

Growing Pains: Changes in Psychological Well-Being in Urban China

Social Indicators Research - Previous research sheds little light on changes in mental health conditions in former socialist countries that have undergone massive transformations. In this study, we...     

The Association Between Perceived Spirituality, Religiosity, and Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Self-Rated Health

This study examined the mediating role of self-perceived health between perceived spirituality, religiosity, and life satisfaction among a stratified, random sample of college students, while controlling for gender. Although both models displayed excellent fit criteria, the perceived spirituality and life satisfaction model was fully mediated by self-perceived health χ² (n=459, 4) = 1.64, p=0.80, CFI =0.99, TLI=0.99), and the perceived religiosity and life satisfaction model was partially mediated by self-perceived health χ² (n=459, 10) = 22.29, p=0.01 CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.99). Both models were equal for men and women. Students who describe themselves as spiritual (or religious) are likely to report greater self-perceived health and greater self-perceived health likely influences life satisfaction for both men and women. Results preliminarily support the contention that life satisfaction is related to differing reported health status, whether physical or mental, and that life satisfaction may be influenced by religiosity and spirituality engagement. Implications for colleges and universities are discussed.     

Perceived Social Support and School Well-Being Among Chinese Early and Middle Adolescents: The Mediational Role of Self-Esteem

This study examined the mediational role of self-esteem in accounting for the empirical link between perceived social support (parents, friends, and teachers) and school well-being (school satisfaction, positive affect in school, and negative affect in school). Participants were from China and were 221 early adolescents (Mage = 13.6) and 140 middle adolescents (Mage = 16.4). Among early adolescents, parent and teacher support, but not friend support, related significantly to positive school well-being. Among middle adolescents, friend and teacher support, but not parent support, significantly related to school well-being. For both early and middle adolescents, global self-esteem mediated relations between teacher support and school well-being. For early adolescents, global self-esteem mediated relations between parent support and school well-being; whereas for middle adolescents, global self-esteem mediated relations between friend support and school well-being. The findings supported socialcognitive models of well-being in Chinese context. Implications are discussed in the context of developmental and cultural considerations.     

Subjective Well-Being in China: Associations with Absolute,Relative, and Perceived Economic Circumstances

Numerous studies examining the impact of income on subjective well-being (SWB) have found significant positive relationships exhibiting decreasing marginal returns. However, the impact of economic circumstances on SWB is better captured through a combination of income, wealth (per capita net worth), and perceived and relative economic conditions. Using data from the Chinese Household Income Project, I find that within rural and urban China, wealth significantly predicts SWB, exhibiting decreasing marginal returns independent of more common measures of economic circumstances such as income and occupational status. Within urban China, these associations decrease in magnitude and significance with the addition of objective relative measures of wealth and income. Finally, I find that subjective perceptions of relative standard of living are strongly associated with SWB independent of other measures. These results highlight the importance of using multiple objective and subjective measures of economic circumstances, demonstrating potential limitations of studies that have focused exclusively on income as a predictor of well-being. Results are interpreted within the context of China’s changing social and economic structure.     

Childlessness and Psychological Well-Being in Midlife and Old Age: An Examination of Parental Status Effects Across a Range of Outcomes

The study explores and distinguishes links between parental status (childless persons, parents with residential children, and empty nest parents) and a range of psychological well-being outcomes in midlife and old age. Data are from the first wave of the Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation (NorLAG) study (n = 5,189). We separate outcomes into cognitive (life satisfaction and self-esteem) and affective (positive and negative affect, depression, loneliness) components. Parental status has a net effect on cognitive well-being among women, as childless women report significantly lower life satisfaction and self-esteem than both mothers with residential children and empty nest mothers. However, motherhood is inconsequential for affective well-being. Among men, parental status is unrelated to any of the well-being aspects. Parental status effects are not modified by age, marital status, and education. The results demonstrate the importance of investigating the effect of parental status and other objective circumstances on a range of psychological well-being outcomes. Furthermore, the results reviewed and presented indicate somewhat more positive effects of parenthood in the Nordic countries than in the US, highlighting the role of social policies in shaping the impact of parental status on well-being.     

Causal Ordering of Basic Psychological Needs and Well-Being

What is the relationship between well-being and satisfaction of basic psychological needs overtime? The basic psychological needs theory is a subtheory of the self-determination theory that elaborates the concept of psychological needs and its relations to psychological health and well-being. The goals of this research was to establish the causal ordering between basic psychological needs and three psychological well-being indicators (subjective well-being, self-esteem and satisfaction with life), in a longitudinal study. We used a cross-lagged two-wave design. A total of 272 university students completed the questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of the semester. Relatedness at time 1 (T₁) had a positive and significant effect on all well-being indicators at time 2 (T₂); competence (T₁) had a positive and significant effect on all indicators except for self-esteem (T₂); finally, autonomy (T₁) did not have a significant effect on any of the well-being indicators (T₂). In conclusion, we confirm the causal ordering of competence and relatedness on well-being, according to the basic psychological needs subtheory. Universities, in general, and teachers, in particular, should promote relations between students and support the need of competence.     

The Role of Perceived Discrepancy in Satisfaction Evaluation

This study investigates if satisfaction measures involve an implicit have-want comparison by examining the relationships between direct have-want discrepancy, amount, and satisfaction, which vary in their degree of explicitness. The have-want discrepancy measure explicitly asks respondents to rate the discrepancy between what they have and what they want. The amount measure requires respondents to think about the amount of discrepancy between what one has and what one wants, but does not explicitly ask about that. Finally, the satisfaction measure is assumed to incorporate a component of the have-want comparison but does not ask respondents to consider such a comparison in the question. Three hundred and thirty undergraduate students at National Taiwan University participated in this study. Correlation analysis showed that satisfaction has a closer relation with amount than have-want discrepancy. In addition, a mediation model in which have-want discrepancy influence amount, which then influences satisfaction, was generally supported in conventional mediation analysis and multilevel path analysis. In brief, this study showed that satisfaction measures involve an implicit have-want comparison.     

The Role of Financial Fragility and Financial Control for Well-Being

Social Indicators Research - Financial fragility is recognized as a substantial issue for individual well-being. Various estimates show that between 46 and 59% of American adults are financially...     

Concealing Concealment: The Mediating Role of Internalized Heterosexism in Psychological Distress Among Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Older Adults

ABSTRACT

Recent population-based studies indicate that sexual minorities aged 50 and older experience significantly higher rates of psychological distress than their heterosexual age-peers. The minority stress model has been useful in explaining disparately high rates of psychological distress among younger sexual minorities. The purpose of this study is to test a hypothesized structural relationship between two minority stressors—internalized heterosexism and concealment of sexual orientation—and consequent psychological distress among a sample of 2,349 lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults aged 50 to 95 years old. Structural equation modeling indicates that concealment has a nonsignificant direct effect on psychological distress but a significant indirect effect that is mediated through internalized heterosexism; the effect of concealment is itself concealed. This may explain divergent results regarding the role of concealment in psychological distress in other studies, and the implications will be discussed.     

Relations Between Media,Perceived Social Support and Personal Well-Being in Adolescence

This paper’s main objective is to show relations between interest in media, perceived social support and adolescents’ personal well-being. For this purpose, 1,589 Brazilian adolescents answered a questionnaire containing Cummins’ Personal Well-Being, Vaux’s Social Support Appraisals and Casas’ interest in media scales. The media in study are: The Internet, computer games, video games, computer, cell phone and television. For the data analysis this research used Structural Equation Modeling, a statistical methodology based on the confirmation of hypotheses previously established by theoretical frameworks on data. A final model of relations between media, support and well-being was obtained with a fit considered satisfactory by the literature. Implications of media on adolescents’ well-being based on this model are considered.     

The Construct Validity of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB) and their Relationship to Measures of Subjective Well-Being

The factor structure of Ryff's Scales ofPsychological Well-Being (SPWB) and theirrelationship to standardized measures ofsubjective well-being (SWB) were investigated.Two hundred seventy-seven participants rangingin age from 18 to 48 years were administeredthe Memorial University of Newfoundland Scaleof Happiness (MUNSH), the Satisfaction WithLife Scale (SWLS), and the SPWB. Results failedto support either the hypothesis thatperforming factor analytic procedures on theitems of the SPWB should produce a six-factorsolution, with scale-specific items loadingmost highly on their respective factors or thehypothesis that subjecting the sub-scales ofthe SPWB to factor analytic procedures alongwith standardized measures of SWB would produceone higher-order well-being factor. Instead,item loadings clustered around three majorfactors that could not be identified with thesix scales proposed by Ryff. Moreover, thefactor analysis of SPWB and SWB scale totalsproduced three, instead of one, higher-orderfactors. Implications of findings are discussedwith respect to the relationship of the PWBconstruct to the SWB construct.     

The Role of Family Policy in Explaining the International Variation in Child Subjective Well-Being

The article proposes an innovative analyse for cross-national differences in the subjective child well-being introducing new indicators and measures. This dimension addresses the issue of welfare support to parents and child early education. The question of this research is to what extend family policies can explain the variability of subjective child well-being components in different European countries. Based on this question, the two objective of this proposal are: (1) to review the existing literature with respect to conceptualization, measurement, and correlates of children’s subjective well-being, with a special emphasis on the context of family policies and family well-being in different European welfare states, and (2) to analyse the relation between these policies and subjective child well-being. In order to get these aims we have elaborated two indexes: the index of child subjective well-being and family policy index. Data for HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children) for the first index and data from OECD Family Database is used to build these indicators. We found that the index of child subjective well-being is comparatively higher in those countries where family policies are more generous in the areas of preschool education, family services, family spending and duration of paid parental leave.     

Internet Use and Subjective Well-Being in China

Using data from the 2010 China Family Panel Studies, we analyze the association between Internet use and various measures of subjective well-being (SWB) in a sample of 16- to 60-year-old Chinese. Our analysis shows that although intensive Internet use is significantly associated with lower levels of SWB, we hardly observe any associations when the focus is on participation in specific online activities. Nevertheless, SWB depends on the reasons for using the Internet and the extent to which individuals feel that their Internet use is displacing other activities. Our results suggest that, contrary to previous findings, differences in beneficial outcomes (the third level digital divide) do not necessarily arise from individuals’ actual Internet use (the second level digital divide) but rather may result from their subjective perceptions of such usage. Our findings also point to a possible cultural factor that puts Chinese Internet users at psychological risk.     

中国农村家庭老年人来自孩子的经济收入分析

提出了一个农村老年人来自孩子的经济收入(支持)理论函数,阐明家庭养老与孩子规模和孩子质量关系。并利用调查获得的实际数据予以检验和证实。     

城乡因素在老年人抑郁症状影响模型中的调节效应

抑郁症状是衡量老年人心理健康水平的有效指标。本研究采用2006年中国城乡老年人生活状况追踪调查10%数据,运用探索性因素分析、多元线性回归和结构方程模型等方法考察中国老年人的总体抑郁水平,比较抑郁水平的城乡及年龄差异,并对老年人抑郁症状及影响因素进行探索。结果显示,我国老年人抑郁症状较轻,心理健康处于良好水平。农村老年人抑郁症状较城镇老年人明显。健康水平、经济状况、社会支持可有效地预测老年人的抑郁症状。城乡在影响因素模型中起调节效应,健康水平和经济状况对老年人抑郁水平的影响作用受城乡因素的影响,对于农村老年人,经济状况的影响作用大于健康水平;在城镇老年人中表现出完全相反的模式。对于不同的老年人群,应采取有针对性的政策和措施,方能有效减缓老年人抑郁症状,促进心理健康。     

The Role of Proactive Coping Strategies,Time Perspective,Perceived Efficacy on Affect Regulation,Divergent Thinking and Family Communication in Promoting Social Well-Being in Emerging Adulthood

The study analyzed the influence of time perspective, proactive coping strategies, perceived self-efficacy in affect regulation, divergent thinking and perceived quality of family communication on social well-being in a sample of 232 emerging adults. Social well-being showed positive correlations with proactive coping strategies, future-oriented time perspective, expression of positive emotions and regulation of negative emotions, divergent thinking, open communication with parents. A problematic family communication and a present-oriented time perspective were negatively correlated with social well-being. A forward Ridge step-wise regression model was conducted, evidencing four significant positive predictors of social well-being: proactive coping, perceived efficacy in affect regulation and open communication with parents; on the contrary, present oriented time perspective contributes significantly but negatively to social well-being.