Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T11:35:25.785Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social change and birth cohort increase in loneliness among Chinese older adults: a cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1995–2011

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2014

Zhimin Yan ,
Xun Yang ,
Lei Wang ,
Yuhan Zhao  and
Lin Yu
Zhimin Yan
Affiliation:
Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2 Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, P. R. China
Xun Yang
Affiliation:
Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2 Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, P. R. China
Lei Wang
Affiliation:
Department of Internal Medicine V, Medical Clinic, University Clinic Heidelberg, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
Yuhan Zhao
Affiliation:
Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2 Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, P. R. China
Lin Yu*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2 Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, P. R. China
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr Lin Yu, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2 Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, P. R. China. Phone: +86-13983627279; Fax: +86-68213242. Email: yulin@swu.edu.cn.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

In China, rapid economic growth and increasing social problems constitute the two basic characteristics underlying contemporary social change. With dramatic social change, loneliness in older adults may have changed across birth cohorts, thus altering older adults’ mental health. The present study aims to identify birth cohort changes in Chinese older adults’ loneliness and the social indicators underlying these changes.

Methods:

Cross-temporal meta-analysis was utilized to investigate changes in Chinese older adults’ loneliness from 1995 to 2011. We analyzed 25 studies (N = 13,280 adults; age ≥ 60 years) employing the University of California at Los Angeles Loneliness Scale. We correlated loneliness scores with social indicators and matched these correlations for three periods: ten years before the data collection, five years before data collection, and during the year of data collection.

Results:

Loneliness levels in Chinese older adults have increased by 1.02 standard deviations from 1995 to 2011. Social indicators such as increased urbanization level, personal medical expenditure, divorce rate, the Gini coefficient, and unemployment rate significantly predicted loneliness in Chinese older adults. Decrease in social connectedness and increase in levels of health threat may be responsible for the observed increase in levels of loneliness.

Conclusions:

Cross-temporal meta-analysis revealed a birth cohort increase in loneliness among Chinese older adults. We conclude that changes in social connectedness and levels of health threat likely play an important role in predicting loneliness in the population of Chinese elderly adults.

Keywords

birth cohortlonelinessChinese older adultssocial indicatorscross-temporal meta-analysis
Type
Review Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 26 , Issue 11 , November 2014 , pp. 1773 - 1781
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrew, M. K. and Rockwood, K. (2010). Social vulnerability predicts cognitive decline in a prospective cohort of older Canadians. Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 6, 319–325.Google Scholar
Bowman, C. C. (1955). Loneliness and social change. American Journal of Psychiatry, 112, 194–198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Cacioppo, J. T. et al. (2002). Loneliness and health: potential mechanisms. Psychosomatic Medicine, 64, 407–417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cacioppo, J. T., Hughes, M. E., Waite, L. J., Hawkley, L. C. and Thisted, R. A. (2006). Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Psychology and Aging, 21, 140–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Charles, S. T. and Carstensen, L. L. (2007). Emotion regulation and aging. In Gross, J. J. (ed.), Handbook of Emotion Regulation (pp. 307–327). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1992). Statistical power analysis. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 1, 98–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Jong Gierveld, J. (1987). Developing and testing a model of loneliness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 119–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Jong Gierveld, J. and Dykstra, P. A. (2008). Virtue is its own reward? Support-giving in the family and loneliness in middle and old age. Ageing and Society, 28, 271–287.Google Scholar
de Jong Gierveld, J., Dykstra, P. A. and Schenk, N. (2012). Living arrangements, intergenerational support types and older adult loneliness in Eastern and Western Europe. Demographic Research, 27, 167–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Jong Gierveld, J. and Tesch-Römer, C. (2012). Loneliness in old age in Eastern and Western European societies: theoretical perspectives. European Journal of Ageing, 9, 285–295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Jong Gierveld, J., Van, T. and Dykstra, P. A. (2006). Loneliness and social isolation. In Vangelisti, A. L. and Perlman, D. (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships (pp. 485–500). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dykstra, P. A. and de Jong Gierveld, J. (2004). Gender and marital-history differences in emotional and social loneliness among Dutch older adults. Canadian Journal on Aging, 23, 141–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Epley, N., Akalis, S., Waytz, A. and Cacioppo, J. T. (2008). Creating social connection through inferential reproduction loneliness and perceived agency in gadgets, gods, and greyhounds. Psychological Science, 19, 114–120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gow, A. J., Pattie, A., Whiteman, M. C., Whalley, L. J. and Deary, I. J. (2007). Social support and successful aging. Journal of Individual Differences, 28, 103–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halleröd, B. (2009). Ill, worried or worried sick? Inter-relationships among indicators of well-being among older people in Sweden. Ageing and Society, 29, 563–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkley, L. C. and Cacioppo, J. T. (2007). Aging and loneliness downhill quickly? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 187–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkley, L. C. and Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). Loneliness matters: a theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 40, 218–227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Katz, R., Lowenstein, A., Phillips, J. and Daatland, S. O. (2005). Theorizing intergenerational family relations: solidarity, conflict and ambivalence in cross-national contexts. In Bengston, V. L., Acock, A. C., Klein, D. M. and Dilworth-Anderson, P. (eds.), Sourcebook of Family Theory and Research (pp. 393–402). New York, NY: Sage.Google Scholar
Li, L., Liang, J., Toler, A. and Gu, S. (2005). Widowhood and depressive symptoms among older Chinese: do gender and source of support make a difference? Social Science & Medicine, 60, 637–647.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, L. J. and Guo, Q. (2008). Life satisfaction in a sample of empty-nest elderly: a survey in the rural area of a mountainous county in China. Quality of Life Research, 17, 823–830.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry of Civil Affairs. (2012). Social Service Development Statistical Bulletin. Beijing, China: China Statistic Press.Google Scholar
Ministry of Health. (2012). China Health Statistical Yearbook. Beijing, China: China Statistic Press.Google Scholar
National Bureau of Statistics of China. (2012). China Statistical Yearbook. Beijing, China: China Statistic Press.Google Scholar
Oliver, M. B. and Hyde, J. S. (1993). Gender differences in sexuality: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 29–51.Google ScholarPubMed
Ogunseitan, O. A. (2005). Topophilia and the quality of life. Environmental Health Perspectives, 113, 143–148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, D. W. and Cutrona, C. E. (1988). Development and Evolution of the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Unpublished manuscript, Center for Health Services Research, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.Google Scholar
Shao, J. J., Li, D., Zhang, D. J., Zhang, L., Zhang, Q. and Qi, X. (2013). Birth cohort changes in the depressive symptoms of Chinese older adults: a cross-temporal meta‐analysis. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 28, 1101–1108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shiovitz-Ezra, S. and Ayalon, L. (2010). Situational versus chronic loneliness as risk factors for all-cause mortality. International Psychogeriatrics, 22, 455–462.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tian, W. (2002). The collapse of traditional large family system. Zhejiang Academic Journal, 3, 97–98.Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M. (2000). The age of anxiety? The birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952–1993. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 1007–1021.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Twenge, J. M. (2011). The duality of individualism: attitudes toward women, generation me, and the method of cross-temporal meta-analysis. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35, 193–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Twenge, J. M. and Im, C. (2007). Changes in the need for social approval, 1958–2001. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 171–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Twenge, J. M. and Kasser, T. (2013). Generational changes in materialism and work centrality, 1976–2007: associations with temporal changes in societal insecurity and materialistic role modeling. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39, 883–897.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Victor, C., Scambler, S., Bond, J. and Bowling, A. (2000). Being alone in later life: loneliness, social isolation and living alone. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 10, 407–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Victor, C. R., Scambler, S. J., Bowling, A. and Bond, J. (2005). The prevalence of and risk factors for, loneliness in later life: a survey of older people in Great Britain. Ageing & Society, 25, 357–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, X. D., Wang, X. L. and Ma, H. (1993). Handbook of Mental Health Assessment. Beijing, China: Chinese Mental Health Journal Press.Google Scholar
Warner, D. F. and Kelley-Moore, J. (2012). The social context of disablement among older adults does marital quality matter for loneliness? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 53, 50–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wenger, G. S., Davies, R., Shahtahmasebi, S. and Scott, A. (1996). Social isolation and loneliness in old age: review and model refinement. Ageing and Society, 6, 333–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xin, Z. Q, Zhang, L. and Liu, D. (2010). Birth cohort changes of Chinese adolescents’ anxiety: a cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1992–2005. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 208–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xin, Z. Q., Niu, J. H., and Chi, L. P. (2012). Birth cohort changes in Chinese adolescents’ mental health. International Journal of Psychology, 47, 287–295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Xing, D. F. (2011). Ideal society in the traditional thought of China. Journal of Renmin University of China, 4, 136–140.Google Scholar
Yang, K. and Victor, C. R. (2008). The prevalence of and risk factors for loneliness among older people in China. Ageing and Society, 28, 305–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, C. et al.(2013). Urbanization and impact of rural-urban migration on Chinese cities. Science Journal of Economics. doi: 10.7237/sje.132 Google Scholar
Yárnoz, S., Plazaola, M. and Etxeberria, J. (2008). Adaptation to divorce: an attachment-based intervention with long-term divorced parents. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 49, 291–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhan, H. J. and Montgomery, R. J. (2003). Gender and elder care in China: the influence of filial piety and structural constraints. Gender & Society, 17, 209–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Yan Supplementary Material

Table 1

Download Yan Supplementary Material(PDF)
PDF 282.8 KB