Sources and directions of social support and life satisfaction among solitary Chinese older adults in Hong Kong: the mediating role of sense of loneliness Xue Bai,1 Shuyan Yang,2 Martin Knapp3 1Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China; 3Personal Social Services Research Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK Based on survey data collected from 151 community-dwelling solitary Chinese older adults in Hong Kong, the present study used path analysis to examine the mediating role of sense of loneliness in the relationship between different sources and directions of social support and life satisfaction. The results showed that sense of loneliness mediated the effects of support from families, friends, and support for others on life satisfaction. In addition, a formal source of social support was not associated with life satisfaction among solitary older adults, although those with a more secure financial status had greater overall life satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of enhancing awareness among social and health care service providers about the negative effects of insufficient social support on older adults’ sense of loneliness and life satisfaction. Family and friendship networks should be expanded for solitary older adults. Keywords: life satisfaction, path analysis, solitary older adults, sense of loneliness, social support

Alongside changes in society and the economy, the family’s function of taking care of older people is weakening and the formal care mode is becoming more accepted. Older Chinese people are facing diverse choices of long-term care (LTC) modes. Acknowledging this situation, to optimize older people’s arrangements for LTC services and improve quality of later life, this study sets out to explore and make theoretical sense of older people’s LTC needs and to identify the factors influencing their LTC needs. Questionnaire data were collected from 1090 participants in four Chinese cities in 2014. A conceptual framework was established based on the Anderson Model (i.e., predisposing factors, enabling factors, and need factors), and further strengthened by adding several psychosocial factors (i.e. intergenerational relationships, unmet care service needs, and self-image). Multinomial logistic regression was adopted to explore the influencing factors of LTC needs. Participants choosing home-and-community-based care were regarded as the reference group. After controlling for predisposing, enabling, and need factors, those with better self-image (OR = 1.027, p = 0.021) and fewer unmet care service needs (OR = 0.936, p = 0.009) were identified as being more likely to choose family care; those with less close intergenerational relationships (OR = 0.676, p = 0.019), fewer unmet care service needs (OR = 0.912, p = 0.027), and better self-image (OR = 1.044, p = 0.026) were more likely to choose institutional care. Gender- and age-related differences in the determinants of LTC needs were observed. The findings of this study suggest that professionals and service providers should pay more attention to the important role of psychosocial factors in affecting older people’s LTC needs and be more sensitive to gender- and age-related differences. Effective efforts to improve intergenerational relationships, to further develop care services for older people, and to foster a more positive image of aging should be emphasized.

Intergenerational coparenting has become increasingly prevalent globally. Based on 42 papers identified from a comprehensive search of published studies in five databases, this scoping review identified five major themes related to intergenerational coparenting: power and authority, division of labor, conflict, coping and adaptation, and reciprocity. Guided by family systems theory and an intersectionality perspective, we developed an integrative intergenerational coparenting framework that covers five key themes, illustrates their interrelationships, and links them to influential factors at the individual, familial, sociocultural, and policy levels. This framework can guide future studies on intergenerational coparenting and inform the development of interventions for effectively addressing pragmatic needs of joint childcare, preventing conflict in intergenerational and coparenting relationships, devising useful coping and adaptation strategies for obtaining desirable coparenting outcomes, and nurturing cooperation and reciprocity in the process of coparenting to safeguard the well‐being and functioning of the entire family system.

This article represents an attempt to look at the impact of modernization on how older people in China perceive their own image and status. Findings from a study conducted in Wuhan, China reveal that modernization has tarnished the image and lowered the status of older people, who still welcome their country’s modernization as it has made marked improvements in their standard of living. Differences in reactions towards modernization are also found to exist between urban and rural older residents — an issue that the Chinese Government must redress to promote positive ageing.