Journal of Family Issues

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Register here for free online access to SAGE Family Studies journals

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (OnlineFirst[PDF])
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chen, F.
Right arrow Articles by Short, S. E.
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
First published on February 28, 2008
Journal of Family Issues 2008, doi:10.1177/0192513X07313602
© 2008 SAGE Publications

Article

Household Context and Subjective Well-Being Among the Oldest Old in China

Feinian Chen* and Susan E. Short

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: feinian_chen{at}ncsu.edu.


   Abstract
This article investigates the importance of household context to subjective well-being among the oldest old (aged 80 years and older) in China. Using data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, the authors find that living arrangements have strong implications for elderly emotional health. First, living alone is associated with lower subjective well-being. Second, coresidence with immediate family (spouse or children) is associated with positive subjective well-being. Third, compared to living with a son, the traditionally dominant type of living arrangement, coresidence with a daughter appears positively linked to the emotional health of the oldest old. Results highlight the importance of family and cultural context to subjective well-being of the oldest old. They also suggest that the gendered nature of caregiving merits further attention in China and other patrilineal societies.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?