Stressors and Subjective Well-Being among Chinese Older Adults: Uncovering the Buffering Roles of Tangible Support Patterns

Abstract

Using data from two waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study ( N ≈ 5,500), this study used latent class analysis to identify tangible support patterns among Chinese older adults based on types and sources of support. Furthermore, multivariate regression was used to examine the stress-buffering roles of tangible support patterns in the relationships between two stressors (i.e., poor health and functional dependence) and older adults’ subjective well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms and life satisfaction). We found four distinct tangible support patterns (i.e., semitraditional, traditional, formal financial-spousal instrumental, and restricted) among Chinese older adults. Poor health and functional dependence were significantly associated with lower subjective well-being. The moderating role of support differed significantly by patterns. Two patterns, formal financial-spousal instrumental and restricted, mitigated or reversed the negative relationships between both stressors and older adults’ subjective well-being. In addition, the traditional Chinese support pattern reduced the positive relationship between poor health and depressive symptoms. Implications for the well-being of the Chinese older adult population are discussed.