性别视角下的农村丧偶独居老人生存状态研究——以吉林省东丰县某村为例

通过对吉林省东丰县横道村99例老人的问卷调查以及7例丧偶独居老人的个案访谈,从性别角度对农村丧偶独居老人的生存状态进行了分析,研究发现：老年女性的贫困化程度较男性高、生活适应性更差,老年男性的心理适应性较差。据此提出了应从政策、社团组织等四个方面改善农村独居老人生存状态的建议。     

Home sweet home: The emotional construction of places

The social sciences have recently shown a revival of interest in space and place. In this “spatial turn” the place is seen as a “place-in-process” (Thrift, 2008) and as the emergent result of constant re-involvement processes based on the continuous re-definition and re-construction of its meaning. Moreover, elderly people's homes have acquired a renewed importance in the wake of an aging in place strategy in social and health policies. This study describes the processes of situatedness of place that occur during the widowhood. Involving ten older widows, our analysis identifies four distinct processes in the construction of the situated meaning of a place: ‘Heart displacement’, ‘The showcase of the self’, ‘Refuge’ and ‘Introjection of external spaces’.     

丧偶对中国老年人健康的影响:社会连结的调节作用北大核心CSSCI

中国作为人口老龄化发展速度最快的国家之一,正在迎来规模日益庞大的晚年丧偶群体。预计2050年我国60岁及以上的丧偶人口规模将达到1.18亿左右。近年来老年丧偶者的生活质量受到政府和学界的广泛关注。本文利用六期“中国老年人健康影响因素跟踪调查(CLHLS)”数据分析丧偶对我国老年人多种健康指标的影响以及社会连结在其中发挥的调节作用。研究发现丧偶会影响老年人的健康后果和健康行为。在健康后果方面,丧偶对老年人认知功能的影响具有显著的性别差异。丧偶降低了老年男性的认知功能,但在一定时期内提高了老年女性的认知功能。同时,丧偶会对老年人的心理健康产生负面影响。在健康行为方面,丧偶提高了老年女性参与体育锻炼的可能性和老年男性抽烟的可能性。此外,丧偶效应因丧偶前社会连结的不同而存在差异。婚姻质量较低的老年男性在丧偶之后IADL能力反而提高;经常打牌/麻将有助于抑制丧偶对老年男性和女性IADL能力的不利影响,同时也可以抑制丧偶对老年女性慢性病数量的增加作用;子女支持有助于抑制丧偶对老年男性心理健康的负面影响。     

中国老人丧偶与其死亡风险的关系分析——配偶照顾的作用

文章基于中国老人健康长寿影响因素研究数据(1998~2005),利用Cox比例风险模型考察了中国老人丧偶对其死亡风险的影响机制,并深入分析了配偶照顾因素在降低老人死亡风险中的作用。结果发现:丧偶与死亡风险具有显著的关系,一般而言,长期丧偶老人的死亡风险显著地高于长期有偶的老人。而且,除了高龄女性老人之外,老人在丧偶初期,其死亡风险会大大增加。在解释丧偶是如何影响老人的死亡风险时,配偶的照顾是一个非常重要的因素,在控制配偶照顾的条件下,丧偶者与有偶者的死亡风险差异会大幅下降,这说明来自配偶的生活照顾对于老人的寿命发挥着重要影响。此外,本研究也发现配偶照顾的作用具有显著的性别差异和年龄组差异。     

“The shock of widowhood”? Evidence from an Italian population (Parma, 1989–2000)

The purpose of our study is to assess the influence of socio-demographic factors on overall and cause-specific mortality of elderly people of Parma aged 65. In particular, the paper aims at exploring the relation between mortality and living arrangement in association with marital status. Data were obtained from the General Registry Office of Parma and from the death certificates issued by the Local Health District from 1989 to 2000. A logistic regression was performed using longitudinal data. In the male population, living alone and being never married appears to be the worst condition, while living with the wife repsresents a caring situation. In the female population, the major risk of death is associated to living with others than a spouse, while a reduced risk was detected for widows living alone. This was a common and shared result for both overall mortality and many of the causes of death here considered. The condition of widows and widowers living alone does not appear to constitute a particularly serious risk among the elderly population of Parma. Yet, in the female population the association between living alone and the status of widow seems playing a protective role. This result should be interpreted in the light of the social policy of services and support for the elderly pursued by local authorities.     

Single Parent Widows:

This paper examines the stressors, appraisal of be- reavement, coping, resources, grieving responses and health of four types of single widow parents: widows raising dependent children; widows raising a handicapped child; independent older widows with children; and dependent, ill, older widows with a child. A review of literature on single parent widow families and data from the authors research on single parent widows served as a basis for this paper. Major gaps in knowledge include: limited research on single parent widow families including longitudinal and theory-based research; findings which are based on small samples of single parent widows who are often mixed with other single parent types; little research on single parent widows from Black, Hispanic and other ethnic groups; and few studies on resources used by widows. A secondary analysis of data from the authors research indicated characteristics of high- risk, vulnerable, and healthy single parent widow families. High-risk single parent widow families are characterized by: presence of mul- tiple stressors; intense grieving; appraisal of bereavement as a threat or harmful loss; use of less adaptive coping; limited use of resources;and poor health. Characteristics of vulnerable single parent widow families include: presence of stressors including an unresolved grieving process; negative appraisals of bereavement with hope for a more positive appraisal in the future; limited coping abilities; use of some resources such as helpful social supports; and less than op- timum health which can improve with intervention. Positive mean- ings of bereavement, use of adaptive ways of coping, a normal grieving process, use of many resources, and good health are charac- teristics which are prevalent in healthy single parent widow families. Themes in common to all four family types were: the grieving pro- cess; changes in roles and responsibilities; employment; loneliness; dating and remarriage; and caregiver stress. Directions for future research and implications for family professionals are discussed.