Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Aug 9:13:930857.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.930857. eCollection 2022.

Intergenerational relationship quality, sense of loneliness, and attitude toward later life among aging Chinese adults in Hong Kong

Chang Liu  1 , Shuai Zhou  1 , Xue Bai  1   2
Affiliations

Intergenerational relationship quality, sense of loneliness, and attitude toward later life among aging Chinese adults in Hong Kong

Chang Liu et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

A positive attitude toward later life is crucial for wellbeing among older adults. Maintaining a healthy relationship with adult children can help reduce older parents' sense of loneliness and nurture a positive life attitude. This study aimed to investigate the associations between multidimensional intergenerational relationship quality and attitudes toward later life among aging Chinese adults in Hong Kong and examine the mediating effects of a sense of loneliness. Representative survey data were collected from 801 participants (aged 50 years and over) with at least one adult child. Multiple linear regression was employed to investigate the associations between overall intergenerational relationship quality with a sense of loneliness as well as the attitude toward later life. To examine the mediating effects of a sense of loneliness, causal mediational analyses were performed. Results demonstrated that overall intergenerational relationship quality was positively associated with aging parents' attitude toward later life, and this relationship could be partially mediated by a sense of loneliness. Among the four subdomains of intergenerational relationship quality, the influences of structural-associational solidarity and intergenerational conflict on attitude toward later life were almost fully mediated by a sense of loneliness, whereas the influences of consensual-normative solidarity and affectual closeness were partially mediated. These findings contributed to an improved understanding of the relationship between intergenerational relationship quality, sense of loneliness, and attitude toward later life, and could inform future policies and service programs that promote aging adults' social integration and positive aging.

Keywords: aging Chinese adults; attitude toward later life; family; intergenerational relationships; sense of loneliness.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Results of the mediation analyses. Error bar shows 95% quasi-Bayesian confidence intervals. ACME, average mediation effect; ADE, average direct effect.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Atchley R. C., Robinson J. L. (1982). Attitudes toward retirement and distance from the event. Res. Aging 4 299–313. 10.1177/0164027582004003002 - DOI
    1. Bai X. (2018). Development and validation of a multidimensional intergenerational relationship quality scale for aging Chinese parents. Gerontologist 58 e338–e348. 10.1093/geront/gnx156 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bai X. (2019). Whom should I rely on for my future care? Patterns of care expectations and intergenerational correlates among ageing Chinese adults in Hong Kong. Health Soc. Care Community 27 115–125. 10.1111/hsc.12629 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bai X., Guo Y., Fu Y. Y. (2018). Self-image and intergenerational relationships as correlates of life satisfaction in Chinese older adults: Will gender make a difference? Ageing Soc. 38, 1502–1519. 10.1017/S0144686X17000113 - DOI
    1. Bai X., Liu C. (2020). Financial strain and attitude toward retirement among aging Chinese adults: The influence of family. Fam. Relat. 69 907–920. 10.1111/fare.12467 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources