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Article
Worry about Medical Care, Family Support, and Depression of the Elders in Urban China
Research on Aging
  • Rongjun Sun, Cleveland State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1-2004
Abstract

This study examines the role of family support in reducing the elders’s depression in the face of the perceived inadequate public medical care in urban China. Using data from the Survey on Aging and Intergenerational Relations in Baoding City, this article investigates the overall depression level, somatic symptoms, and affective symptoms, respectively. The findings suggest that perceived inadequate public medical care, which results from dramatic changes in China’s socioeconomic transformation, has a stressful impact on all measures of depression. Family support, by its structure and function, shows both direct and moderating effects in counteracting such stress from the public domain. In light of China’s demographic transition, the state is called upon to adopt a comprehensive strategy in designing its socioeconomic development policy to meet the needs of an aging population.

DOI
10.1177/0164027504266467
Version
Postprint
Citation Information
Sun, R. (2004). Worry about Medical Care, Family Support, and Depression of the Elders in Urban China. Research on Aging, 26(5), 559-585.