Mental Health and Depressive Feeling of Empty-nest Elderly People in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1171-1185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lixia Wang ◽  
Wenbo Liu ◽  
Yuhui Liang ◽  
Yuewei Wei

Objectives: This paper reports on the first study in China that used nationally representative data to compare mental health and depressive feeling between empty-nest and non-empty-nest elderly people (over 60 years old), and examine whether the health disparities (if any) can be explained by differences in family, emotional, housework, and economic support. Methods: We used the 2010 China General Social Survey and multivariate regression models to examine mental health and depressive feeling of 556 non-empty-nest and 210 empty-nest elderly people in China. Results: After controlling for various socio-demographic characteristics, although the empty-nest elderly were significantly more likely to report depressive feeling and poor mental health than non-empty-nest elderly, the difference was only statistically significant for depressive feeling. Importantly, the disparity in both depressive feeling and mental health can be mediated by differences in family economic support and household economic pressure. Conclusions: Our results highlight the risks of depressive feeling arising from the empty-nest living arrangement of elderly people and suggest that a poorer economic situation may result from decreased mental health. Drawing upon these results, future public policies aimed at improving mental health of empty-nest elderly may need to be more targeted to improve their economic conditions such as ameliorating pension and social welfare system shortcomings.

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S659-S660
Author(s):  
M. Mentis ◽  
M. Gouva ◽  
E. Antoniadou ◽  
K. Mpourdoulis ◽  
I. Kesoudidou ◽  
...  

IntroductionFalls of the elderly to a degree been associated with poor mental health, poor social support and poor physical health.ObjectivesTo investigate the falls of elderly people in relation to their mental and physical healthy.AimsTo compare the effects of falls in the elderly in the areas of mental and physical health.MethodsThe current study used purposive sampling compromised from 48 people that visited the emergency department at the Patras University Hospital in 2016. The inclusion criterion for participation was age (> 65 years). Data was collected using WHO's questionnaire, the WHOQUOL-BREF. Finally, data was analyzed using the test t test for independent samples.ResultsThe sample constituted by 39.6% of male and 61.4% of female. The average age of the sample was M = 75.89 years. In relation to mental health, the average of the elderly with a history of falls found M = 57.26 (SD = ± 22.87), while the other was found M = 74.45 (SD = ± 15.81). The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05), while physical health although again the first group found to have a smaller average (M = 56.65, SD = ± 22.13) relative to the second group (M = 63.78, SD = ± 12.59) no statistical difference was observed.DiscussionsThese results demonstrates that falls beyond the physical damage that are immediately visible can as well create significant issues in the psychological state of the elderly exacerbating anxiety, fear and social isolation, which has been associated with depression event.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (12) ◽  
pp. 776-788 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracie O. Afifi ◽  
Harriet L. MacMillan ◽  
Tamara Taillieu ◽  
Sarah Turner ◽  
Kristene Cheung ◽  
...  

Objective: Child abuse can have devastating mental health consequences. Fortunately, not all individuals exposed to child abuse will suffer from poor mental health. Understanding what factors are related to good mental health following child abuse can provide evidence to inform prevention of impairment. Our objectives were to 1) describe the prevalence of good, moderate, and poor mental health among respondents with and without a child abuse history; 2) examine the relationships between child abuse and good, moderate, and poor mental health outcomes; 3) examine the relationships between individual- and relationship-level factors and better mental health outcomes; and 4) determine if individual- and relationship-level factors moderate the relationship between child abuse and mental health. Method: Data were from the nationally representative 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health ( n = 23,395; household response rate = 79.8%; 18 years and older). Good, moderate, and poor mental health was assessed using current functioning and well-being, past-year mental disorders, and past-year suicidal ideation. Results: Only 56.3% of respondents with a child abuse history report good mental health compared to 72.4% of those without a child abuse history. Individual- and relationship-level factors associated with better mental health included higher education and income, physical activity, good coping skills to handle problems and daily demands, and supportive relationships that foster attachment, guidance, reliable alliance, social integration, and reassurance of worth. Conclusions: This study identifies several individual- and relationship-level factors that could be targeted for intervention strategies aimed at improving mental health outcomes following child abuse.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002076402110454
Author(s):  
William Tamayo-Aguledo ◽  
Alida Acosta-Ortiz ◽  
Aseel Hamid ◽  
Carolina Gómez-García ◽  
María Camila García-Durán ◽  
...  

Background: The effect of the Colombian armed conflict on the mental health of adolescents is still poorly understood. Aims: Given social interventions are most likely to inform policy, we tested whether two potential intervention targets, family functioning and social capital, were associated with mental health in Colombian adolescents, and whether this was moderated by experience of violence and displacement. Methods: We examined the cross-sectional association between family functioning, cognitive social capital, structural social capital and 12-month prevalence of Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) diagnosed psychiatric disorder, using data on 12 to 17-year-old adolescents ( N = 1,754) from the 2015 National Mental Health Survey of Colombia, a nationally representative epidemiological study. We tested whether associations survived cumulative adjustment for demographic confounders, experience of non-specific violence and harm and displacement by armed conflict. Results: Neither structural nor cognitive social capital were associated with better mental health. Better family functioning was associated with reduced risk of poor mental health in an unadjusted analysis (OR 0.90 [0.85–0.96]), and after cumulative adjustments for demographic confounders (OR 0.91 [0.86–0.97]), non-specific violence and harm (OR 0.91 [0.86–0.97]) and social capital variables (OR 0.91 [0.85–0.97]). In the final model, each additional point on the family APGAR scale was associated with a 9% reduced odds of any CIDI diagnosed disorder in the last 12 months. Conclusions: Better family functioning was associated with better mental health outcomes for all adolescents. This effect remained present in those affected by the armed conflict even after accounting for potential confounders.


2020 ◽  
pp. 088626052091258
Author(s):  
Douglas A. Brownridge ◽  
Tamara Taillieu ◽  
Marcelo L. Urquia ◽  
Alexandra Lysova ◽  
Ko Ling Chan ◽  
...  

This study examined the elevated risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) among persons with mental health-related disabilities (MH-RD) and the extent to which known risk factors accounted for this phenomenon. Data were drawn from a nationally representative sample of 33,127 Canadians collected in 2014 as part of Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey. Results showed that respondents with MH-RD had more than three-fold increased odds of both overall and severe IPV victimization. Although females were more likely to possess a MH-RD, males and females with MH-RD reported similarly elevated odds of IPV victimization. Risk factors that contributed to a significant reduction in elevated odds of IPV for respondents with MH-RD were child maltreatment (CM), respondents’ nonprescription drug abuse, and perpetrators’ jealous, monitoring, and socially isolating behaviors. The inability to test additional risk factors and bidirectionality in the relationship between MH-RD and IPV may have contributed to the failure to fully account for these respondents’ elevated odds of IPV. Future research is needed to understand the complex mechanisms contributing to the elevated risk of IPV and enhance prevention and intervention strategies for this underresearched and underserved vulnerable population.


2002 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 573-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Hodge

While the profession is witnessing growing interest in addressing consumers' spiritual and religious strengths, no studies have explicitly sought to compare the religious values of social workers with those of the general public. This study uses a nationally representative data set, the General Social Survey, to compare the beliefs and practices of graduate-level (n = 53) and bachelor-level (n = 92) social workers with those of the lower, working, and middle classes. The results suggest that the contents of belief systems differ, particularly between graduate workers and the lower and working classes, with social workers being more likely to endorse liberal religious beliefs. Yet, while the belief systems differed, there was little variation in expression, as social workers were roughly as likely to attend services and consider themselves strong adherents of their faith as members of the lower, working, and middle classes. The paper concludes by discussing some of the implications of the difference in belief systems.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 88-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Burdett ◽  
Neil Greenberg ◽  
Nicola T. Fear ◽  
Norman Jones

Risk factors for poor mental health among UK veterans include demonstrating symptoms while in service, being unmarried, holding lower rank, experiencing childhood adversity and having a combat role; however, deploy ment to a combat zone does not appear to be associated with mental health outcomes. While presentation of late-onset, post-service difficulties may explain some of the difference between veterans and those in service, delayed-onset post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appears to be partly explained by prior subthreshold PTSD, as well as other mental health difficulties. In the longer term, veterans do not appear to suffer worse mental health than equivalent civilians. This overall lack of difference, despite increased mental health difficulties in those who have recently left, suggests that veterans are not at risk of worse mental health and/or that poor mental health is a cause, rather than a consequence, of leaving service.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 1154-1173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten L. Besemer ◽  
Steve G. A. van de Weijer ◽  
Susan M. Dennison

There is robust evidence of associations between parental imprisonment (PI) and a variety of harms to children, but the consequences of other forms of family imprisonment are largely unknown. Using Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA), a nationally representative Australian data set, this article looked at the direct effects of PI, household member imprisonment (HI), or close family member imprisonment (CFI) on the social support and mental health of nonincarcerated adults and young people. Recent PI, HI, or CFI had no association with social support. Recent CFI did increase men’s risk of poor mental health, but not women’s or young people’s. We consider the implications of these findings in the context of strong negative effects of paternal imprisonment on mothers in the United States.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Tamayo-Aguledo ◽  
Alida Acosta-Ortiz ◽  
Aseel Hamid ◽  
Carolina Gomez-Garcia ◽  
Maria Camila Garcia-Duran ◽  
...  

Background: The effect of the Colombian armed conflict on the mental health of adolescents is still poorly understood. Given social interventions are most likely to inform policy, we tested whether two potential intervention targets, family functioning and social capital, were associated with mental health in Colombian adolescents, and whether this was moderated by experience of violence and displacement. Methods: We examined the cross-sectional association between family functioning, cognitive social capital, structural social capital and 12-month prevalence of Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) diagnosed psychiatric disorder, using data on 12-17-year-old adolescents (N = 1754) from the 2015 National Mental Health Survey of Colombia, a nationally representative epidemiological study. We tested whether associations survived cumulative adjustment for demographic confounders, experience of non-specific violence and harm, and displacement by armed conflict. Results: Neither structural nor cognitive social capital were associated with better mental health. Better family functioning was associated with reduced risk of poor mental health in an unadjusted analysis (OR 0.90 [0.85 - 0.96]), and after cumulative adjustments for demographic confounders (OR 0.91 [0.86 - 0.97]), non-specific violence and harm (OR 0.91 [0.86 - 0.97]) and social capital variables (OR 0.91 [0.85 - 0.97]). In the final model, each additional point on the family APGAR scale was associated with a 9% reduced odds of any CIDI diagnosed disorder in the last 12 months. Conclusions: Better family functioning was associated with better mental health outcomes for all adolescents. This effect remained present in those affected by the armed conflict even after accounting for potential confounders.


2021 ◽  
pp. 215686932097879
Author(s):  
Jong Hyun Jung

Prior research has established that perceived distributive unfairness is associated with poor mental health. The purpose of this study is to examine whether religion moderates this association and whether gender conditions the moderating effects of religion. Using data from the 2012 Korean General Social Survey ( N = 1,375), the current analyses show that perceived distributive unfairness is positively associated with depression. However, each of the two indicators of religion—religious attendance and salience—weakens the positive association between perceived distributive unfairness and depression among women, but not men. These observations suggest that religion provides a stress-buffering effect against perceived distributive unfairness only for women. Thus, the findings of this study highlight the gendered ways that religion shapes the association between perceived distributive unfairness and mental health. I discuss the theoretical implications of these findings for views about the complex interrelationships among stress, coping resources, gender, and mental health.


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