We use data from the 2014 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey to examine the effect of attitudes toward aging on quality of life among older adults in China. We find that older people who experience psychosocial loss may be less satisfied with their life, and have more feelings of depression and loneliness. Compared to older women, older men have lower life satisfaction, and more depression and loneliness, though psychosocial loss has less of an effect on them. Older women who experience psychosocial loss are more likely to be dissatisfied with their life and feel more depressive and lonelier than their male counterparts. Among those who experience psychosocial loss, older people living in rural communities have a higher level of life satisfaction, while living in urban areas may counteract some of the positive impact of psychological growth on reducing the frequency of feeling depressed and lonely. Social policy can play a role in shaping constructive social/community environments to build more positive attitudes toward aging.

There is a deficiency in empirical knowledge on the physical and mental health of lower-income older people with weak family support in western rural China. To address this research gap, this article uses the data from the 2014 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey to analyze the disadvantaged situation of older people in western rural China through a regional comparative analysis. Our sample consisted of 7,138 older adults aged 60 or older in eastern and western, rural and urban China. We find that lower personal income is significantly associated with poor physical and mental health. Economic support from families means more for older people when they have a disability related to activities of daily living in western rural China. Fostering stronger family support networks might improve the mental health status of older people in western rural China. Our study suggests a broader scope for the state to play a greater role in economic empowerment and in the development of policies to effectively meet the present and future needs of older people in western rural China or other countries with an imbalance in the distribution of the aging population and welfare resources.

Previous studies indicate that Han and ethnic minority groups in China are not homogeneous. However, little research has examined potential heterogeneity in the association between social support and life satisfaction across Han and ethnic minority elderly. Based on data from the 2014 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, this study uses ordered logit models with interaction terms to examine the relationship between social support and the life satisfaction of ethnic minority elderly and of elderly Han Chinese. We find that support from families and friends has a stronger association with the life satisfaction of ethnic minority elderly than their Han peers. For ethnic minority elderly, the patterns of family support varied according to rural or urban residence, with family support being less important to the life satisfaction of ethnic minority elderly living in urban communities than in rural areas. Our findings suggest that social policy should take this heterogeneity between ethnic groups into account.

Based on the matched data set of the 2013 Chinese General Social Survey and the gross domestic product per capita data extracted from China Statistical Yearbook 2013, this study used hierarchical regression analysis and structural equation models to examine whether environmental pollution perception would moderate the association between economic development and health status. Results revealed that economic development had a mediating effect via family income on health status. A moderated actor effect showed higher level of pollution perception weakens the relationship between family income and health status. Our findings suggested that appropriate environmental regulations should be implemented to sustain healthy economic growth in China.