Study On The Effect Of Moderate Intergenerational Care On The Mental Health Of Female Elderly People

Since entering the aging society in 1999,the number of elderly people in my country has been increasing,the growth rate has been accelerating,and the aging trend has been deepening.Data from the sixth census showed that the number of elderly women aged 60 and over is 3.5million more than the elderly population of men.The increase in the average life expectancy of women and the accumulation of survival advantages for women make the size of the female elderly population higher than that of the male elderly population.In the context of increasing population aging,"active aging" has increasingly entered the public eye.Active aging encourages the elderly to actively participate in family and social life to prove and demonstrate their own existence and value.Under the combined effect of the population aging trend and traditional social norms,inter-generational care is still an important way of care for minors in China,and female elderly persons are the main undertakers of inter-generational care.This article takes female elderly as the research object and uses the data from the 2018 China Health and Pension Tracking Survey to study the impact of moderate intergenerational care on the mental health of female elderly,and to test the robustness of the regression results.On the theoretical level,based on the theory of role tension and role promotion,this paper studies the impact of moderate intergenerational care on the mental health of female elderly people.Individuals need to assume multiple roles in society.In the process of assuming roles,when too much energy and time are invested in the same role,the relationship between the different roles of the individual will be out of balance,which will have a negative effect on their mental health.The role promotion theory refers to the privileges and resources of taking on a certain role.When female elderly start to take care of their grandchildren,they will get corresponding material and spiritual resources,which is beneficial to improving the mental health of female elderly.At the level of empirical analysis,a multiple linear regression model is used to analyze the impact of moderate intergenerational care on the mental health of female elderly people,and to explore the differences of moderate intergenerational care on the mental health of different urban and rural areas and different age groups of female elderly.Moderate intergenerational care refers to the type where there is only one intergenerational care and the care time is within 40 weeks.Through analysis,this article draws the following conclusions: First of all,in the total sample,a moderate number of intergeneration care and inter-generation care time have a positive effect on the mental health of female elderly people.Secondly,in the urban and rural samples,a moderate amount of intergenerational care has a significant positive effect on urban female elderly people,and a moderate intergenerational care time only has a positive effect on rural female elderly.Thirdly,in the age-specific samples,a moderate amount of intergenerational care has a positive effect on low-age women and elderly people,and a moderate intergenerational care time only has a significant positive effect on older women and elderly people.Finally,in order to increase the robustness of the regression results,by changing the setting of the dependent variables,the relationship between moderate intergenerational care and the mental health of female elderly people was re-regressed.The re-regression results proved the robustness of the conclusion.Compared with elderly females who provide inadequate care,the level of mental health of elderly females who provide adequate care is relatively higher.The reasons may have the following three aspects: First,providing adequate care is conducive to enriching the content of the role and satisfying the sense of responsibility of female elderly.Second,providing appropriate care is conducive to obtaining additional spiritual and material support from the offspring.Third,providing moderate care is conducive to the enjoyment of knee-jerk pleasure brought by grandchildren.In response to the return results and discussions,three suggestions were made: respect the wishes of the elderly and affirm the value of care;increase social support and advocate appropriate care;promote gender equality and encourage joint care.