Background
Methods
Participants and survey design
Statistical analysis
Results
Individual characteristics and intergenerational transfer
Year | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 1993 | 1999 | 2007 | |||||||
n = 5070 | n = 914 | n = 1792 | n = 2292 | |||||||
Characteristics | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | chi-sq | p-value |
Gender | ||||||||||
Male | 2630 | 51.87 | 510 | 55.80 | 960 | 53.57 | 1160 | 50.61 | 8.07 | 0.018 |
Female | 2368 | 46.71 | 404 | 44.20 | 832 | 46.43 | 1132 | 49.39 | ||
Age (years) | ||||||||||
60 ~ 69 | 1717 | 33.87 | 270 | 29.54 | 358 | 19.98 | 1089 | 47.51 | 396.53 | <0.001 |
70 ~ 79 | 2243 | 44.24 | 451 | 49.34 | 1054 | 58.82 | 738 | 32.20 | ||
80 ~ 89 | 948 | 18.70 | 182 | 19.91 | 346 | 19.31 | 420 | 18.32 | ||
90 ~ 99 | 90 | 1.78 | 11 | 1.20 | 34 | 1.90 | 45 | 1.96 | ||
Education | ||||||||||
Illiterate | 1678 | 33.10 | 440 | 48.14 | 653 | 36.44 | 585 | 25.52 | 197.02 | <0.0001 |
under high school | 2737 | 53.98 | 359 | 39.28 | 935 | 52.18 | 1443 | 62.96 | ||
College and above | 261 | 5.15 | 36 | 3.94 | 81 | 4.52 | 144 | 6.28 | ||
can read | 318 | 6.27 | 76 | 8.32 | 122 | 6.81 | 120 | 5.24 | ||
Ethnicty | ||||||||||
Fuchien | 3374 | 66.55 | 617 | 67.51 | 1169 | 65.23 | 1588 | 69.28 | 21.97 | 0.001 |
Hakka | 851 | 16.79 | 155 | 16.96 | 296 | 16.52 | 400 | 17.45 | ||
Mainlander | 682 | 13.45 | 118 | 12.91 | 290 | 16.18 | 274 | 11.95 | ||
others | 79 | 1.56 | 22 | 2.41 | 28 | 1.56 | 29 | 1.27 | ||
Living place | ||||||||||
Large city | 716 | 14.12 | 104 | 11.38 | 249 | 13.90 | 363 | 15.84 | 26.07 | 0.001 |
Big city | 623 | 12.29 | 131 | 14.33 | 220 | 12.28 | 272 | 11.87 | ||
Small city | 1125 | 22.16 | 190 | 20.79 | 393 | 21.93 | 542 | 23.65 | ||
Township | 991 | 19.55 | 186 | 20.35 | 338 | 18.86 | 467 | 20.38 | ||
Rural area | 1543 | 30.43 | 303 | 33.15 | 592 | 33.04 | 648 | 28.27 | ||
Employment status | ||||||||||
No job | 4230 | 83.43 | 776 | 84.90 | 1582 | 88.28 | 1872 | 81.68 | 73.34 | <0.0001 |
Full time job | 593 | 11.70 | 79 | 8.64 | 167 | 9.32 | 347 | 15.14 | ||
Part time job | 175 | 3.45 | 59 | 6.46 | 43 | 2.40 | 73 | 3.18 | ||
Self-reported health status | ||||||||||
good to normal | 3338 | 65.84 | 630 | 68.93 | 1088 | 60.71 | 1620 | 70.68 | 47.49 | <0.0001 |
bad to very bad | 1659 | 32.72 | 283 | 30.96 | 704 | 39.29 | 672 | 29.32 | ||
Intergenerational emotional exchange | ||||||||||
Partnership status | ||||||||||
living with partner | 1772 | 34.95 | 432 | 47.26 | 696 | 38.84 | 644 | 28.10 | 118.67 | <0.0001 |
living without partner | 3225 | 63.61 | 482 | 52.74 | 1096 | 61.16 | 1647 | 71.86 | ||
Co-residence with children | ||||||||||
Yes | 3191 | 62.94 | 624 | 68.27 | 1164 | 64.96 | 1403 | 61.21 | 15.59 | <0.0001 |
No | 1807 | 35.64 | 290 | 31.73 | 628 | 35.04 | 889 | 38.79 | ||
Take care of grandchildren | ||||||||||
Yes | 833 | 16.43 | 83 | 9.08 | 270 | 15.07 | 480 | 20.94 | 71.34 | <0.0001 |
No | 4165 | 82.15 | 831 | 90.92 | 1522 | 84.93 | 1812 | 79.06 |
Elders’ CES-D scale responses and their scores
Year | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | 1993 | 1999 | 2007 | |||||||
n = 5070 | n = 914 | n = 1792 | n = 2292 | |||||||
Items | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | chi-sq | p-value |
In a bad mood | ||||||||||
none | 3317 | 65.42 | 600 | 65.65 | 1159 | 64.68 | 1558 | 67.98 | 32.66 | <0.0001 |
a little | 524 | 10.34 | 68 | 7.44 | 231 | 12.89 | 225 | 9.82 | ||
sometimes | 755 | 14.89 | 150 | 16.41 | 256 | 14.29 | 349 | 15.23 | ||
often or always | 402 | 7.93 | 96 | 10.50 | 146 | 8.15 | 160 | 6.98 | ||
Lonely | ||||||||||
none | 3905 | 77.02 | 665 | 72.76 | 1336 | 74.55 | 1904 | 83.07 | 106.87 | <0.0001 |
a little | 343 | 6.77 | 44 | 4.81 | 176 | 9.82 | 123 | 5.37 | ||
sometimes | 452 | 8.92 | 129 | 14.11 | 154 | 8.59 | 169 | 7.37 | ||
often or always | 298 | 5.88 | 76 | 8.32 | 126 | 7.03 | 96 | 4.19 | ||
Unfriendly | ||||||||||
none | 4508 | 88.92 | 805 | 88.07 | 1563 | 87.22 | 2140 | 93.37 | 52.03 | <0.0001 |
a little | 249 | 4.91 | 48 | 5.25 | 121 | 6.75 | 80 | 3.49 | ||
sometimes | 158 | 3.12 | 40 | 4.38 | 69 | 3.85 | 49 | 2.14 | ||
often or always | 83 | 1.64 | 21 | 2.30 | 39 | 2.18 | 23 | 1.00 | ||
Felt sad | ||||||||||
none | 3998 | 78.86 | 694 | 75.93 | 1379 | 76.95 | 1925 | 83.99 | 57.36 | <0.0001 |
a little | 379 | 7.48 | 62 | 6.78 | 167 | 9.32 | 150 | 6.54 | ||
sometimes | 402 | 7.93 | 103 | 11.27 | 152 | 8.48 | 147 | 6.41 | ||
often or always | 219 | 4.32 | 55 | 6.02 | 94 | 5.25 | 70 | 3.05 | ||
Have no energy for things | ||||||||||
none | 3548 | 69.98 | 613 | 67.07 | 1211 | 67.58 | 1724 | 75.22 | 51.75 | <0.0001 |
a little | 471 | 9.29 | 72 | 7.88 | 199 | 11.10 | 200 | 8.73 | ||
sometimes | 597 | 11.78 | 142 | 15.54 | 226 | 12.61 | 229 | 9.99 | ||
often or always | 382 | 7.53 | 87 | 9.52 | 156 | 8.71 | 139 | 6.06 | ||
Total CES-D scores | ||||||||||
0 ~ 5 | 4243 | 83.69 | 733 | 80.20 | 1483 | 82.76 | 2027 | 88.44 | 50.53 | <0.0001 |
6 ~ 10 | 561 | 11.07 | 127 | 13.89 | 223 | 12.44 | 211 | 9.21 | ||
11 ~ 15 | 194 | 3.83 | 54 | 5.91 | 86 | 4.80 | 54 | 2.36 |
Associations between elders’ intergenerational exchanges and depressive symptoms
Year | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total## | 1993### | 1999### | 2007### | |||||||||
Children | Partner | Grandchildren | Children | Partner | Grandchildren | Children | Partner | Grandchildren | Children | Partner | Grandchildren | |
Depression symptoms\intergenerational exchanges# | ORs(95% CI) | ORs(95% CI) | ORs(95% CI) | ORs(95% CI) | ORs(95% CI) | ORs(95% CI) | ORs(95% CI) | ORs(95% CI) | ORs(95% CI) | ORs(95% CI) | ORs(95% CI) | ORs(95% CI) |
In a bad mood | ||||||||||||
none | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
a little to always | 1.06(0.93-1.21) | 1.27(1.10-1.47)** | 1.19(0.99-1.21) | 1.10(0.79-1.53) | 1.60(1.14-2.24)* | 1.06(0.61-1.84) | 1.23(0.98-1.53) | 1.26(0.99-1.60) | 1.19(0.87-1.64) | 0.93(0.76-1.13) | 1.16(0.93-1.45) | 1.17(0.92-1.50) |
Lonely | ||||||||||||
none | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
a little to always | 1.30(1.12-1.51)** | 2.68(2.29-3.14)*** | 1.44(1.14-1.81)** | 1.60(1.13-2.26)** | 2.67(1.87-3.82)*** | 1.52(0.79-2.92) | 1.30(1.01-1.66)* | 2.94(2.26-3.81)*** | 1.19(0.81-1.73) | 129(1.02-1.63)* | 216(1.68-2.78)*** | 1.46(1.05-2.03)* |
Unfriendly | ||||||||||||
none | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
a little to always | 0.96(0.78-1.18) | 1.59(1.29-1.97)*** | 1.39(1.02-1.89)* | 0.84(0.52-1.36) | 1.65(1.03-2.66)* | 2.83(0.97-8.31) | 1.15(0.85-1.57) | 1.83(1.32-2.54)*** | 1.15(0.73-1.84) | 0.94(0.66-1.33) | 1.03(0.70-1.53) | 1.29(0.81-2.06) |
Felt sad | ||||||||||||
none | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
a little to always | 0.99(0.85-1.16) | 1.61(1.37-1.90)*** | 1.38(1.11-1.73)** | 1.07(0.74-1.55) | 1.86(1.28-2.70)** | 1.57(0.79-3.10) | 1.07(0.83-1.38) | 1.79(1.37-2.33)*** | 1.17(0.81-1.70) | 0.96(0.75-1.22) | 1.18(0.91-1.55) | 1.40(1.02-1.92)* |
Have no energy for things | ||||||||||||
none | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
a little to always | 0.99(0.86-1.14) | 1.15(0.98-1.33) | 1.16(0.95-1.40) | 0.75(0.53-1.06) | 1.38(0.98-1.95) | 1.42(0.79-2.55) | 1.15(0.92-1.45) | 1.00(0.78-1.28) | 1.11(0.81-1.54) | 0.98(0.79-1.22) | 1.07(0.84-1.36) | 1.03(0.79-1.35) |
Total CES-D scores | ||||||||||||
0 ~ 5 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
6 ~ 10 | 1.09(0.90-1.32) | 1.65(1.34-2.02)*** | 1.30(0.98-1.72) | 1.38(0.89-2.13) | 1.86(1.19-2.91)** | 0.83(0.40-1.73) | 1.17(0.86-1.60) | 1.79(1.28-2.50)** | 1.10(0.69-1.74) | 0.99(0.72-1.34) | 1.25(0.89-1.75) | 1.54(1.02-2.34)* |
11 ~ 15 | 0.95(0.69-1.31) | 2.66(1.90-3.72)*** | 1.95(1.12-3.43)* | 0.84(0.42-1.69) | 3.43(1.65-7.11)** | 5.71(0.71-45.58) | 1.20(0.74-1.95) | 2.94(1.73-4.98)*** | 1.24(0.53-2.86) | 0.87(0.48-1.57) | 1.45(0.79-2.69) | 1.78(0.77-4.16) |