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Association of the intergenerational structure with the onset of depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older adults in China.
Ma, Jun; Liu, Wenwen; Chai, Yangfan; Wang, Jiayu; Kong, Guilan.
Affiliation
  • Ma J; National Institute of Health Data Science, Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • Liu W; National Institute of Health Data Science, Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • Chai Y; National Institute of Health Data Science, Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • Wang J; National Institute of Health Data Science, Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • Kong G; National Institute of Health Data Science, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Int J Soc Psychiatry ; 70(6): 1083-1092, 2024 Sep.
Article in En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38847406
ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:

Chinese family structure has undergone tremendous changes over the past few decades. Moreover, the association of the intergenerational structure with depression remains controversial.

AIMS:

This study aimed to find out the association of the intergenerational structure and the onset of depressive symptoms among Chinese middle-aged and older adults.

METHODS:

This study included 4,868 participants of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), who were enrolled in 2011 without depressive symptoms and followed up at least once later in 2013, 2015, 2018, and 2020. Taking the time-varying confounding effect into account, the time-dependent Cox regression models were used to estimate the association of the intergenerational structure and the onset of depressive symptoms.

RESULTS:

Among the studied middle-aged and older adults, compared to one-generation households, higher hazard ratios (HR) of developing depressive symptoms were found in three-generation households in the study population (HR = 1.21, 95% CI [1.08, 1.36]). Further, for female participants, skipping-generation households (HR = 1.38, 95% CI [1.05, 1.83]) and three-generation lineal households (HR = 1.21, 95% CI [1.02, 1.43]) were found to be significantly associated with new-onset depressive symptoms compared to empty-nest couples. For male participants, living alone (HR = 1.65, 95% CI [1.30, 2.11]), living in standardized nuclear households (HR = 1.27, 95% CI [1.06, 1.54]), impaired nuclear households (HR = 1.80, 95% CI [1.18, 2.76]), or three-generation lineal households (HR = 1.34, 95% CI [1.12, 1.60]) were found to have a significant association with the onset of depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study found that males living alone, with unmarried children, or in three-generation lineal households, and females living with grandchildren were more likely to suffer from depressive symptoms. Therefore, special attention should be paid to people in these intergenerational structure subtypes.
Subject(s)
Key words

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Proportional Hazards Models / Family Characteristics / Intergenerational Relations / Depression Limits: Aged / Female / Humans / Male / Middle aged Country/Region as subject: Asia Language: En Journal: Int J Soc Psychiatry / Int. j. soc. psychiatry / International journal of social psychiatry Year: 2024 Document type: Article Affiliation country: China Country of publication: Reino Unido

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Proportional Hazards Models / Family Characteristics / Intergenerational Relations / Depression Limits: Aged / Female / Humans / Male / Middle aged Country/Region as subject: Asia Language: En Journal: Int J Soc Psychiatry / Int. j. soc. psychiatry / International journal of social psychiatry Year: 2024 Document type: Article Affiliation country: China Country of publication: Reino Unido