Longitudinal Stress-Buffering Effects of Social Integration for Late-Life Functional Health

Niu

2021

Healthcare

With the increase in aging in China, the health problems of older adults, especially mental health problems, have become a concern for the whole society. This article selected urban and rural older adults and analyzed the impact of social support on their mental health using a binary logistic model. It was found that under the current urban–rural dichotomy, the effects of social support on the mental health of urban and rural older adults are significantly different. In social support, first, the fairness and satisfaction with the social security system only had a significant effect on the mental health of urban older adults and had no significant effect on the rural older adults. Second, the closeness of contact with grassroots community workers had a significant impact on the mental health of older adults in urban and rural areas. From informal social support, the mental health of rural older adults was mainly influenced by the support of their children, reflecting the influence of the traditional culture of “filial piety”. Furthermore, the mental health of urban older adults was mainly influenced by neighborhood support, reflecting the importance of “close neighbors are better than distant relatives”. Based on the results of the empirical study, this article suggests that to promote the mental health of older adults, we should start by strengthening the formal social support system, establishing high-quality community service facilities, and emphasizing the role of informal social support.

Section: Hypothesis and Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Perspective of Urban–Rural Differences: The Impact of Social Support on the Mental Health of the Older Adults: A Case from Shaanxi Province, China

Niu

2021

Healthcare

“…Older adults can gain social support, a sense of belonging, fulfillment, and achievement when they participate in leisure activities [ 16 ]. Leisure behaviors help older adults to reduce anxiety and cultivate their emotions by communicating with relatives and friends, reducing their perceived stress, and providing them with spiritual comfort [ 17 ]; at the same time, adequate leisure activities not only increase older adults' subjective well-being but also improve their positive emotions [ 18 ], leading to a more positive and optimistic attitude toward life [ 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Leisure Activities on the Mental Health of Older Adults: The Mediating Effect of Social Support and Perceived Stress

Niu

Journal of Healthcare Engineering

2021

As the aging continues, China has become the country with the largest older population. In order to ensure the well-being of older adults in their later years, the whole society is increasingly concerned about the mental health of older adults. In 2019, we conduct a questionnaire survey in Shaanxi Province. Stratified random sampling is used to select three representative cities, and 677 samples are selected from the survey results for research. By using the structural equation model, we aim to reveal the mechanism of leisure activities’ influence on mental health of the older adults and verify whether social support and perceived stress play a mediating role. The study finds that the older adults’ leisure activities have no significant direct impact on mental health. Social support has a significant mediating effect between leisure activities and mental health of the older adults. Leisure activities indirectly affect the mental health of the older adults through social support, and participation in leisure activities can improve the social support of the older adults, thus improving the mental health level of the older adults. Perceived stress plays a significant mediating role between leisure activities and mental health of the older adults. By participating in leisure activities, the perceived stress of the older adults will be reduced, thus improving their mental health. Social support and perceived stress play a sufficient mediating role in the influence of leisure activities on mental health.

Developmental Psychology

“…The 4-item version has demonstrated good psychometric properties in English- and Spanish-speaking samples (Cohen et al, 1983; Karam et al, 2012; Vallejo et al, 2018). Total scores across timepoints were moderately to highly correlated ( r s = .46–.72) and were averaged to depict overall levels of maternal perceived stress across infancy (e.g., Toyama & Fuller, 2020). Alpha scale reliability for the sample ranged from .61 to .70.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The integrative model of family stress underlying Spanish and English vocabulary development in Mexican American children: Unique effects of financial and sociocultural hardships.

Yeo¹,

Flagg²,

Lin³

et al. 2021

Early oral language development lays an essential foundation for academic and socioemotional competencies but is vulnerable to the impact of family stress. Despite robust evidence that family stress affects early oral language development in monolingual samples, little is known about whether the family stress processes affecting language acquisition are similar among dual language learners. Furthermore, although Mexican American families often face stressors related to their ethnic minority and immigrant status, no studies to date have tested whether exposure to sociocultural stressors may likewise have negative consequences for early language acquisition. The present study examined whether financial and sociocultural stressors were associated with maternal stress perception, parenting sensitivity, and child Spanish and English receptive vocabulary at child age 3 and 4.5 years. Participants included 322 lowincome Mexican American mothers and their children followed from pregnancy through 4.5 years postnatal; most mothers preferred to speak Spanish (82%). Results of a path model indicated that links between family stress and child receptive vocabulary varied by language (Spanish or English) and stress type (financial or cultural). Specifically, Spanish acquisition was more closely related to the quality of mother-child interactions, whereas English acquisition was more susceptible to the direct impact of family stress. The consequences of family stress on children's vocabulary acquisition were evident earlier in development for Spanish than English, and appeared more pronounced for financial versus sociocultural stressors. Findings underscore a need to attend to the impact of poverty on children's Spanish and English language development in low-income, Mexican American children.