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Widowhood and the Subjective Well-Being of Older People in China: the Mediating Effects of Lifestyle

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Abstract

Previous research has illustrated that lifestyle is correlated with widowhood and subjective well-being amongst older people; however, few studies have examined the mediating effects of lifestyle behaviors on the relationship between widowhood and subjective well-being. As China has a large number of widowed older people, we sought to examine which lifestyle behaviors are associated with better (or worse) subjective well-being amongst widows. Using data from the 2013 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), this study uses ordered logit model (OLM), propensity score matching, and mediation analyses to explore the relationship between widowhood and subjective well-being, particularly the mediating effects of the three lifestyle dimensions: recreational involvement frequency, media use frequency, and interaction frequency with relatives and friends. We found that the lifestyles of widowed older adults differed from those with spouses: the frequency of leisure time and frequency of media use by widowed older adults were lower than those with spouses. Widowhood demonstrated a significant negative correlation with the subjective well-being of older adults. The frequency of leisure time activity had a partial mediating effect between widowhood and subjective well-being. Our results reveal a direct positive relationship between the frequency of leisure time and subjective well-being amongst widowed older adults. These findings have important implications for improving the experience of widowhood through lifestyle interventions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Population and Development Studies, School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi′an, China

    Xinfeng Cheng & Huijun Liu

  2. Management and Economics Department, Xi′an Technological University, Xi′an, China

    Xinfeng Cheng

  3. School of Management, Xi’an Polytechnic University, Xi′an, China

    Xiaomin Li

  4. Gerontology Research Center, Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada

    Theodore D. Cosco

  5. Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, UK

    Theodore D. Cosco

  6. Department of Sociology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Wenjie Duan

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  1. Xinfeng Cheng
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Correspondence to Xinfeng Cheng.

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CGSS (the Chinese General Social Survey), as a household survey, involved no patients in the design or development of the research question and outcome measures. No patients were involved in developing the hypothesis and plans for design of this study either. The results would not be disseminated to study participants or any other individuals or communities.

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Cheng, X., Li, X., Liu, H. et al. Widowhood and the Subjective Well-Being of Older People in China: the Mediating Effects of Lifestyle. Applied Research Quality Life 16, 875–890 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-019-09789-y

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