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Rural place attachment and urban community integration of Chinese older adults in rural-to-urban relocation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2020

Jinfeng Zhang Open the ORCID record for Jinfeng Zhang [Opens in a new window]  and
Bin Wang
Jinfeng Zhang*
Affiliation:
School of Public Affairs, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
Bin Wang
Affiliation:
Law School of Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: psyzhangjf@cqu.edu.cn
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Abstract

With China's rapid urbanisation, many residents, especially older adults, are suffering from psychological problems induced by rural-to-urban relocation. This study examines the association between older adults’ rural place attachment and their depression after relocation, as well as the protective roles of neighbourhood social cohesion and sense of community in the relocation place. Chinese older adults (N = 224) who relocated from rural villages to urban communities completed a survey for this study. The results showed that older adults with stronger rural place attachment experienced more depressive symptoms and a lesser sense of community in the relocation place. In addition, the association between rural place attachment and depression was weakened by neighbourhood social cohesion. That is, compared with older adults perceiving low neighbourhood social cohesion, the positive association between rural place attachment and depression was weaker for older adults perceiving high neighbourhood social cohesion. Furthermore, neighbourhood social cohesion's protective role depended on sense of community. In particular, neighbourhood social cohesion buffered the association between rural place attachment and depression for older adults with a strong sense of community but not for older adults with a weak sense of community. These results have implications for developing resources within neighbourhoods and communities to promote relocation adjustment for older adults.

Keywords

place attachmentneighbourhood social cohesionsense of communitydepressionrelocationolder adults
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 42 , Issue 6 , June 2022 , pp. 1299 - 1317
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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