THE WELL-BEING OF OLDER PEOPLE IN ANHUI PROVINCE CHINA

中国安徽省老年人的福祉

• 批准号: 2908672
• 负责人: Merril D. Silverstein
• 金额: $ 3.27万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-09-30 至 2003-09-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/2908672
• 关键词: China; behavioral /social science research tag; clinical research; family structure /dynamics; functional ability; generation difference; human middle age (35-64); human old age (65+); human population study; human subject; locus of control; longitudinal human study; psychological aspect of aging; quality of life; social change; young adult human (21-34)

The goal of this research is to investigate the effects of social change on family functioning and its consequence for the physical and psychological health of elderly people living in Anhui Province, China. As it makes the transition to a free-market economy, China is undergoing rapid economic development and unprecedented rural-to-urban migration. Since a large majority of migrants are young working-age adults, there is fear that the elderly are being left to fend for themselves in rural areas a violation of the strong familial role (usually occupied by the son) in caring for older relatives in Chinese families. Accompanying economic change and geographic mobility is the weakening of filial piety long a cornerstone of Chinese society that mandated profound respect and responsibility for older citizens. These changes are of particular concern for the welfare of the aged, as China does not have universal social security or health care available for its older citizens. This project seeks to answer the question of whether economic, structural, and normative changes in China have put the elderly at-risk of psychological distress and physical impairment. The project will consist of a longitudinal study of 3,000 randomly selected elderly (60+) Chinese living in Anhui Province a largely rural province, but one that has experienced unprecedented out- migration from its rural areas. Surveys will be conducted at two time periods, 18 months apart, to identify how household and family structure, intergenerational transfers of social and economic support, and norms of filial piety among the elderly influence their psychological being (depression, affect balance, locus of control and morale) and physical well-being (functional health, self-assessed health, disease states). After the second wave of data is collected, longitudinal analyses will identify whether social and family deficits cause change in the well-being of the elderly. The longitudinal design of the research is crucial for understanding the dynamic process by which family support affects the quality of life of older people. This research brings together a scholar from the Andrus Gerontology Center, at the University of Southern California (with extensive experience studying intergenerational relationships among the elderly in the United States) and a scholar from the Population Research Institute of Anhui University (who has performed studies on population aging and family life in China). This investigation will capitalize on the historical contingency of rapid social and economic change in contemporary China, enhancing the Principle Investigator s funded research to study the effects of social changes on family functioning and well-being of older people in the United States. The speed with which economic change is occurring in China make it an excellent laboratory for capturing the effects of social change within a relatively small window of time and within an older population experiencing the erosion of filial piety and radical change in family structure and function.

本研究的目的是探讨社会变迁对家庭功能的影响及其对安徽省老年人身心健康的影响。 在向自由市场经济过渡的过程中，中国正在经历快速的经济发展和前所未有的农村向城市的移民。 由于大多数移民都是处于工作年龄的年轻人，人们担心老年人被留在农村地区自己照顾自己，这违反了中国家庭在照顾年长亲属方面的强大家庭角色（通常由儿子承担）。伴随着经济变化和地理流动性的是孝道的削弱，孝道长期以来是中国社会的基石，要求对老年人给予深刻的尊重和责任。 这些变化特别关系到老年人的福利，因为中国没有为其老年公民提供普遍的社会保障或医疗保健。 该项目旨在回答中国经济、结构和规范的变化是否使老年人面临心理困扰和身体损伤的风险。 该项目将包括一项纵向研究，随机选择3,000名生活在安徽省的老年人（60岁以上）。安徽省主要是一个农村省份，但经历了前所未有的农村人口外流。 调查将分两个时期进行，间隔18个月，以确定家庭和家庭结构、社会和经济支持的代际转移以及老年人的孝道规范如何影响他们的心理存在（抑郁、情感平衡、控制点和士气）和身体健康（功能健康、自我评估健康、疾病状态）。 收集第二波数据后，纵向分析将确定社会和家庭赤字是否会导致老年人福祉的变化。 研究的纵向设计对于了解家庭支持影响老年人生活质量的动态过程至关重要。 本研究由南加州大学安德鲁斯老年学中心的一位学者（在美国老年人代际关系研究方面有丰富经验）和安徽大学人口研究所的一位学者（在中国进行过人口老龄化和家庭生活研究）共同完成。 这项调查将利用当代中国快速的社会和经济变化的历史偶然性，加强主要研究者资助的研究，以研究美国社会变化对家庭功能和老年人福祉的影响。 中国经济变化的速度使其成为一个很好的实验室，可以在相对较短的时间内，在经历孝道侵蚀和家庭结构和功能急剧变化的老年人口中，捕捉社会变化的影响。