| BackgroundAs China’s population ages,the number of migrant elderly is increasing,and most of them follow their children to move to other countries for the reason of helping their children and taking care of their grandchildren,and become migrant elderly following child(MEFC).In the traditional social paradigm women tend to take on more caregiving responsibilities.Therefore,among these MEFC,female elderly account for most of them and they are also a healthy vulnerable group.Loneliness is a common feeling of dissatisfaction with social relationships and is becoming a serious public health problem for the elderly.Women are more likely to feel lonely than men due to their more delicate minds and their ability to perceive negative emotions.With the accelerated urbanization and aging process in China,more female elderly people will follow their children to migrate to cities in the future,and the problem of loneliness faced by female MEFC needs to be solved,which is also an inevitable issue for the active aging movement.Previous studies have focused less on female MEFC,and there is a lack of research on the loneliness and its influencing factors among them.ObjectivesThis study aims to explore the situation of loneliness among female MEFC in Jinan and analyze the influencing factors.On the basis,to propose the measures and suggestions to alleviate the loneliness of female MEFC.Data sources and methodsThis study is a cross-sectional study,and the data were obtained from a survey of MEFC in Jinan City,Shandong Province,China,conducted in 2021.The participants were female elderly who were 60 years old and above and had moved to Jinan city for more than 6 months because of helping their children or taking care of their grandchildren.The eight-item version of the University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale(ULS-8)was used to measure the level of loneliness of female MEFC,and the Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS)was used to measure the social support status.The sociodemographic characteristics,health status,social media use,social integration and other variables were measured using self-administered scales.Data analysis methods included descriptive statistical analysis,chi-square test,ttest,one-way ANOVA,Pearson’s correlation analysis,and multiple linear regression analysis.ResultsA total of 418 female accompanying elderly were included in this study,of whom 371(88.8%)were from rural areas,201(48.1%)were up to 65 years old,and 334(79.9%)had migrated with their sons;93(22.2%)of female MEFC agreed that they had become local,and 187(44.7%)could understand the local language but can’t speak it.The mean score of social support for female MEFC was 39.5±6.0,and the mean score of loneliness was 12.9±4.0.Univariate analysis showed that personal monthly income,type of residence with the household,year of migrate-in,whether living with their spouses,the number of chronic diseases,the hearing status,frequency of using WeChat to contact friends and relatives,social integration,and social support were related to loneliness among female MEFC.Multiple linear regression analysis showed that monthly personal income,type of residence with the household,year of migratein,whether living with their spouses,social integration and social support were the influencing factors of loneliness among female MEFC.Conclusions and policy recommendationsThis study found that female MEFC had lower education and income levels,and mainly moved from rural to urban areas.And the level of their loneliness was lower than that of empty nest female elderly.Their loneliness was greatly influenced by social integration and social support.The loneliness of female MEFC was also influenced by personal economic status,type of residence with the household,year of migrate-in,and whether living with their spouses.In order to alleviate the loneliness of female MEFC,it requires the joint efforts of female MEFC themselves,their family members and the communities they migrated to.Communities need to improve the social integration of female MEFC,promote the attitude of inclusion,and carry out more activities such as mutual help and companionship among neighbors in the community.Female MEFC themselves should be more positive to face their new life and take the initiative to interact with local residents.The children of female MEFC need to pay more attention to the mental health of their parents.They should be more filial and encourage their parents to socialize and give them love and support. |
