A Longitudinal Effect of Intergenerational Support on Psychological Well-Being of Rural Elderly

Using the data from a 5-wave longitudinal survey “Well-being of Elderly in Anhui Province, China” conducted in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012 by the Institute for Population and Development Studies of Xi’an Jiaotong University. This study employs Hierarchical Linear Models to analyze longitudinal effect of intergenerational support on the psychological well-being of the rural elderly. The results show that intergenerational financial support, assistance with household chores provided to adult children, receiving personal care, and emotional support between the elderly and children promoted psychological well-being of the elderly, however receiving assistance with household chores from adult children decreased psychological well-being of the elderly. This study suggests that family intergenerational support, which is mainly needs based, and conditional on culturally prescribed expectations, can enhance psychological well-being of the elderly in rural. This study reflects influential mechanism of intergenerational support on the psychological well-being of rural elderly. In the background of rural labor migration, what the author finds, for us to understand effects of intergenerational support from the different family structure on the rural elderly’s health, make public policy analysis or construct social support system, has certain practical significance.