The effect of informal social support on the health of Chinese older adults: a cross-sectional study
Abstract Background This study aimed to assess the effect of informal social support (ISS) on the health of Chinese older adults, identify channels of the association between the two, and assess the magnitude of this effect in different groups of older adults. Methods Based on the data from the 2018...
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BMC
2023-05-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15837-y |
| _version_ | 1797811271738851328 |
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| author | Ciran Yang Changli Jia Shicheng Yin Zongfu Mao Dan Cui |
| author_facet | Ciran Yang Changli Jia Shicheng Yin Zongfu Mao Dan Cui |
| author_sort | Ciran Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background This study aimed to assess the effect of informal social support (ISS) on the health of Chinese older adults, identify channels of the association between the two, and assess the magnitude of this effect in different groups of older adults. Methods Based on the data from the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS), we first used both the Quality of Well-Being (QWB) scale and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to construct the QWB score that can objectively measure the health status of Chinese older adults. Next, we conducted an econometric equation controlling for various high-dimensional fixed effects, estimated the effects using the Tobit model, and used various robustness check strategies and the propensity score matching (PSM) method to ensure reliability and deal with the potential endogeneity, respectively. Finally, we performed staging and grouping regression for mechanism and heterogeneity analysis. Results The mean QWB score of Chinese older adults was 0.778. ISS has a significant positive effect on the health of older adults (P < 0.001), and there were similar patterns of findings for the effects of SE (P < 0.001), PSS (P < 0.001), and ES (P < 0.001). Additionally, the health promotion effect is higher in older adults who are male (P < 0.001), under the age of 80 (P < 0.001), with agricultural household registration (P < 0.001), or with high income (P < 0.001) than in the control group. Conclusion ISS, including SE, PSS, and ES, had significant promotion effects on the health of older adults, especially on those who are male, under the age of 80, with agricultural household registration, or with high income. Meanwhile, these effects could be reflected through two channels: alleviating loneliness and improving the positive emotional status of older adults. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:20:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6fd49d8800ae47c083ec120fc27d85cc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T07:20:09Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-6fd49d8800ae47c083ec120fc27d85cc2023-06-04T11:41:02ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582023-05-0123111210.1186/s12889-023-15837-yThe effect of informal social support on the health of Chinese older adults: a cross-sectional studyCiran Yang0Changli Jia1Shicheng Yin2Zongfu Mao3Dan Cui4School of Public Health, Wuhan UniversitySchool of Medicine and Health Managemen, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and TechnologySchool of Public Health, Wuhan UniversitySchool of Public Health, Wuhan UniversitySchool of Public Health, Wuhan UniversityAbstract Background This study aimed to assess the effect of informal social support (ISS) on the health of Chinese older adults, identify channels of the association between the two, and assess the magnitude of this effect in different groups of older adults. Methods Based on the data from the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS), we first used both the Quality of Well-Being (QWB) scale and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to construct the QWB score that can objectively measure the health status of Chinese older adults. Next, we conducted an econometric equation controlling for various high-dimensional fixed effects, estimated the effects using the Tobit model, and used various robustness check strategies and the propensity score matching (PSM) method to ensure reliability and deal with the potential endogeneity, respectively. Finally, we performed staging and grouping regression for mechanism and heterogeneity analysis. Results The mean QWB score of Chinese older adults was 0.778. ISS has a significant positive effect on the health of older adults (P < 0.001), and there were similar patterns of findings for the effects of SE (P < 0.001), PSS (P < 0.001), and ES (P < 0.001). Additionally, the health promotion effect is higher in older adults who are male (P < 0.001), under the age of 80 (P < 0.001), with agricultural household registration (P < 0.001), or with high income (P < 0.001) than in the control group. Conclusion ISS, including SE, PSS, and ES, had significant promotion effects on the health of older adults, especially on those who are male, under the age of 80, with agricultural household registration, or with high income. Meanwhile, these effects could be reflected through two channels: alleviating loneliness and improving the positive emotional status of older adults.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15837-yInformal social supportThe health of chinese older adultsThe quality of well-being scale (QWB)Cross-sectional studyEconometric methodsMechanism |
| spellingShingle | Ciran Yang Changli Jia Shicheng Yin Zongfu Mao Dan Cui The effect of informal social support on the health of Chinese older adults: a cross-sectional study BMC Public Health Informal social support The health of chinese older adults The quality of well-being scale (QWB) Cross-sectional study Econometric methods Mechanism |
| title | The effect of informal social support on the health of Chinese older adults: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full | The effect of informal social support on the health of Chinese older adults: a cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | The effect of informal social support on the health of Chinese older adults: a cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effect of informal social support on the health of Chinese older adults: a cross-sectional study |
| title_short | The effect of informal social support on the health of Chinese older adults: a cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | effect of informal social support on the health of chinese older adults a cross sectional study |
| topic | Informal social support The health of chinese older adults The quality of well-being scale (QWB) Cross-sectional study Econometric methods Mechanism |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15837-y |
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