| China has entered a stage of accelerated development of population aging.With the development and progress of social economy,the government and society pay more and more attention to the health problems of the elderly.Although China's social pension system is constantly improving,family support is still the main force of pension.This article studies the impact of family support on the mental health of the elderly from the perspective of intergenerational support,paying particular attention to the impact of two-way intergenerational support on the mental health of the elderly.This study uses a combination of quantitative research and qualitative research.The quantitative study used data from the 2014 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey(CLHLS)to analyze the effects and differences of intergenerational support on the mental health of younger and older people.In the qualitative research,seven senior respondents from different regions were interviewed in depth on the related topics of the impact of intergenerational support on the mental health of the elderly.The study found:1?The financial support provided by the elderly to their children has a significant positive effect on the mental health of the elderly,and the effect on the younger elderly is greater than that of the older elderly.However,if the elderly are more passive or provide financial support to their children unilaterally,the mental health of the elderly will decline.Only when the elderly are within their ability and subjectively willing to provide financial support for their children will the mental health of the elderly be significantly improved.The financial support provided by the children to the elderly has a significant positive impact on the mental health of the younger elderly,and has no significant impact on the mental health of the older elderly.The physical support can improve the mental health of the elderly more than the monetary support.However,if the elderly accept the financial support of their children unilaterally for a long time,or if the elderly need to rely on the financial support of their children as their main source of living,they will have a negative impact on the mental health of the elderly.2?There is no significant correlation between the elderly providing life support to their children and the mental health of the elderly.However,in qualitative research,it has been found that a certain degree of intergenerational care behavior will improve the mental health of the elderly;when the elderly provide life care directly for their children,short-term,low-intensity life care support will allow the elderly to help their children,medium to enhance its sense of value.And long-term,high-intensity life care support,on the one hand will increase the burden on the elderly,on the other hand will make the elderly worry about the future life of their children,will reduce their mental health.The support provided by the children to the elderly for life care has a positive impact on the mental health of the elderly,especially when the elderly are ill,child care can greatly promote the mental health of the elderly.However,there is no significant correlation between the children's support to the younger elderly and their mental health.3?Emotional support has a significant positive effect on the mental health of the elderly,and has a greater effect on the older elderly.The elderly,especially the older elderly,need the companionship and emotional comfort of their children.This will effectively ease the loneliness and depression of the elderly and greatly improve their mental health.4?There is great heterogeneity between the younger(65-79 years old)and the older(80 years old and above),the impact of different forms of intergenerational support on their mental health is different.For the younger elderly,economic exchanges with their children are more frequent,and economic support behaviors can significantly improve the mental health of the elderly.For the older elderly,the role of children's life care and emotional support is very significant.As the age of the elderly increases,children should pay more attention to the care and emotional care of the elderly in life.5?A balanced and mutually beneficial intergenerational support situation will often bring a better psychological experience to the elderly;while the one-way contribution of the elderly or their children will also bring certain positive emotions to the elderly,but long-term one-way payment will not bring long-term happiness to the elderly or their children,and will affect the mental health of the elderly... |
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