How do living arrangements and intergenerational support matter for psychological health of elderly parents? Evidence from Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand

Abstract

Living arrangements and family support for older persons have become an increasingly important policy concern in developing and rapidly aging Asia. Formulating a sound elderly care policy for the region will benefit from empirically examining how living arrangements, particularly coresidence, and intergenerational exchanges of financial, instrumental, and emotional support are associated with old-age psychological health. This study analyzes data from nationally representative aging surveys in Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand for 2011-2012 to offer a comparative perspective from Southeast Asia where various kinship systems coexist. Results suggest that coresidence with a child of culturally preferred gender significantly improves the emotional health of Vietnamese and Thai elders but with different implications. In Vietnam, living with a married son is more beneficial to parents' psychological wellbeing than living with other children. In Thailand, coresidence regardless of the child's gender improves old-age psychological wellbeing but living with a daughter brings greater benefits than living only with son. Evidence points to the importance of understanding the dominant kinship system that may shape normative filial expectations and gender role expectations within the family. In Vietnam and Thailand, the positive association holds even after intergenerational support is controlled, suggesting that the value of culturally preferred coresidence goes beyond practical functions. In Myanmar, there are almost no significant differences in psychological wellbeing among elderly across various living arrangements, except between coresidence and network living arrangements. For all settings, we do not find evidence in support of network family arrangements as a complete substitute for coresidence in terms of promoting old-age psychological wellbeing after filial support is controlled. Our study highlights important cultural nuances for theorizing the nature of the relationship between living arrangements and old-age psychological health, and presents the important need for more rigorous investigation of the causal links between these two phenomena in future research.

Health problems and healthcare needs of elderly- community perspective from a rural setting in India

“…Culturally preferred co-residence is beneficial for psychological wellbeing of elderly. 16 In a study done in Karnataka, elderly preferred their own home to old-age home in spite of all the difficulties they experienced in the family. 15 Grandchildren were considered important relations of elderly in our study.…”

Mental health of working-age populations in Japan who provide nursing care for a person at home: A cross-sectional analysis

“…Like Japan, other Asian countries also face nationally unprecedented situations in their rapidly growing elderly populations. Because of this rapid increase and the shortage of standardized institutional solutions for long-term care in Asian countries [11][12][13][14] , working caregivers will presumably be increasingly called upon to provide home care for disabled older adults. The Japanese experience in arranging work-life balance between employment outside the home and nursing care in the home could beneficially contribute to other Asian countries.…”

Parental status and psychological distress among older Thais

“…Against a backdrop of rapid economic development, declining family size has been accompanied by the increasing migration of adult children and, thereby, declines in traditional and preferred living arrangements characterized by parents living with or adjacent to their children (Knodel, Kespichayawattana, Wivatvanit, & Saengtienchai, ). Although existing research has examined the well‐being implications of changing patterns of intergenerational living arrangements and support for older Thais (Teerawichitchainan, Pothisiri, & Long, ), an assessment of parenthood that includes childless older Thais has yet to be undertaken. In this study, we examine the relationship between parenthood and the experience of psychological distress among older Thais differentiating between childless older adults, coresident, and noncoresident parents.…”

“…Presently, despite improvements in formal care provision and income protection for older adults, adult children remain the primary source of financial, instrumental, and emotional support to older Thais, particularly women (Knodel & Chayovan, , ). Third, as in several other Asian societies, intergenerational coresidence is the preferred and most common living arrangement in Thailand as it is often perceived as the ideal opportunity structure for the exchange of economic and noneconomic support that can be mutually beneficial to younger and older cohorts (Teerawichitchainan et al., ; Yasuda, Iwai, Yi, & Xie, ).…”