Digital and Non-Digital Solidarity between Older Parents and Their Middle-Aged Children: Associations with Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1. Intergenerational Solidarity
2.2. Digital Solidarity in Intergenerational Relationships
2.3. Intergenerational and Digital Solidarity and Older Adults’ Mental Heath
2.4. The Current Study
3. Methods
3.1. Sample
3.2. Measures
3.3. Analytic Strategy
4. Results
4.1. Results of Descriptive Analysis
4.2. Results of Latent Class Analysis
4.3. Associations between Intergenerational Solidarity Latent Classes and Mental Health
5. Discussion
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variables | Older Adults (n = 519) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Range | M (SD) | n (%) | |
Demographic Variables | |||
Age | 69.07 (3.78) | ||
Gender | |||
Male | 219 (42.2) | ||
Female | 297 (57.2) | ||
Race | |||
White | 497 (95.8) | ||
Other ethnic groups | 22 (4.2) | ||
Education | 1–6 | 3.58 (1.28) | |
Marital status | |||
Married or cohabitating | 410 (79.0) | ||
Others | 108 (20.8) | ||
Annual income | 1–11 | 5.68 (3.03) | |
Health status | |||
Healthy | 400 (77.1) | ||
Unhealthy | 119 (22.9) | ||
Children’s age | 43.27 (7.22) | ||
Children’s gender | |||
Son | 270 (52.0) | ||
Daughter | 247 (47.6) | ||
Parent–child relations | |||
Biological or adoptive children | 442 (85.2) | ||
Stepchildren | 76 (14.6) | ||
Number of children | 2.75 (1.47) | ||
Intergenerational Solidarity | |||
Affectual solidarity | 1–6 | 4.26 (1.48) | |
Low group (range 1–3) | 134 (25.8) | ||
High group (range 4–6) | 385 (74.2) | ||
Consensual solidarity | 1–6 | 3.97 (1.31) | |
Low group (range 1–3) | 169 (32.6) | ||
High group (range 4–6) | 341 (65.7) | ||
Associational solidarity: In-person contact | 1–6 | 3.32 (1.38) | |
Low group (range 1–3) | 289 (55.7) | ||
High group (range 4–6) | 228 (43.9) | ||
Associational solidarity: Phone contact | 1–6 | 3.91 (1.41) | |
Low group (range 1–3) | 173 (33.3) | ||
High group (range 4–6) | 344 (66.3) | ||
Digital solidarity: Texting | 1–6 | 3.88 (1.66) | |
Low group (range 1–3) | 194 (37.4) | ||
High group (range 4–6) | 324 (62.4) | ||
Digital solidarity: Video call | 1–6 | 2.05 (1.56) a | |
Low group (range 1–2) | 361 (69.6) | ||
High group (range 3–6) | 155 (29.9) | ||
Intergenerational Solidarity | |||
Digital solidarity: Social media | 1–6 | 1.96 (1.34) a | |
Low group (range 1–2) | 363 (69.9) | ||
High group (range 3–6) | 152 (29.3) | ||
Structural solidarity | 1–6 | 3.29 (1.94) | |
Low group (range 1–3) | 251 (48.4) | ||
High group (range 4–6) | 267 (51.4) | ||
Conflict | 1–6 | 2.02 (1.30) a | |
Low group (range 1–2) | 388 (74.8) | ||
High group (range 3–6) | 128 (24.7) | ||
Mental Health | |||
Depressive symptoms | 1–4 | 1.59 (0.44) | |
Psychological well-being | 0–10 | 7.46 (1.98) | |
Self-esteem | 1–4 | 3.43 (0.46) |
Model | Classes (n) | BIC | CAIC | Entropy |
---|---|---|---|---|
Model 1 | 1 | 5902.04 | 5911.04 | - |
Model 2 | 2 | 5386.61 | 5405.61 | 0.80 |
Model 3 | 3 | 5255.24 | 5284.24 | 0.81 |
Model 4 | 4 | 5236.76 | 5275.76 | 0.80 |
Model 5 | 5 | 5249.59 | 5298.59 | 0.83 |
Model 6 | 6 | 5276.17 | 5335.17 | 0.82 |
Variables | Older Adults (n = 519) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Depressive Symptoms | Psychological Well-Being | Self-Esteem | |
b (SE) | b (SE) | b (SE) | |
Class Memberships (ref: Detached) | |||
Distant-but-digitally connected | −0.12 (0.06) † | 0.65 (0.28) * | 0.26 (0.06) *** |
Tight-knit-traditional | −0.11 (0.06) † | 0.73 (0.27) ** | 0.24 (0.06) *** |
Ambivalent | 0.17 (0.08) * | −0.59 (0.36) | 0.04 (0.08) |
Covariates | |||
Age | −0.00 (0.05) | 0.02 (0.02) | −0.00 (0.00) |
Female (ref: male) | 0.02 (0.03) | −0.22 (0.17) | −0.06 (0.04) |
White (ref: others) | −0.02 (0.08) | −0.93 (0.33) ** | −0.09 (0.07) |
Education | −0.01 (0.01) | 0.01 (0.07) | 0.00 (0.01) |
Married/cohabiting (ref: others) | −0.16 (0.05) ** | 0.59 (0.23) * | 0.11 (0.05) * |
Annual income | −0.01 (0.00) | 0.04 (0.03) | 0.01 (0.00) * |
Healthy (ref: unhealthy) | 0.08 (0.04) | −0.06 (0.20) | −0.04 (0.04) |
Children’s age | 0.00 (0.00) | −0.00 (0.01) | −0.00 (0.00) |
Daughters (ref: sons) | −0.00 (0.03) | −0.14 (0.17) | 0.00 (0.03) |
Biological/adoptive children (ref: stepchildren) | 0.14 (0.05) * | −0.77 (0.26) ** | −0.15 (0.06) * |
Class 1 Distant-But-Digitally Connected | Class 2 Tight-Knit-Traditional | Class 3 Detached | Class 4 Ambivalent | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mental health | M (SE) | M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) | p-value |
Depressive symptoms | 1.52 (0.03) | 1.53 (0.03) | 1.64 (0.05) | 1.82 (0.06) | 4 > 1 & 2 *** 4 > 3 * 3 > 1 & 2 † |
Psychological well-being | 7.77 (0.15) | 7.85 (0.15) | 7.12 (0.22) | 6.52 (0.28) | 1 & 2 > 4 *** 1 > 3 * 2 > 3 ** |
Self-esteem | 3.54 (0.03) | 3.52 (0.03) | 3.27 (0.05) | 3.32 (0.06) | 1 & 2 > 3 *** 1 & 2 > 4 ** |
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Hwang, W.; Fu, X.; Brown, M.T.; Silverstein, M. Digital and Non-Digital Solidarity between Older Parents and Their Middle-Aged Children: Associations with Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 12560. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912560
Hwang W, Fu X, Brown MT, Silverstein M. Digital and Non-Digital Solidarity between Older Parents and Their Middle-Aged Children: Associations with Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(19):12560. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912560
Chicago/Turabian StyleHwang, Woosang, Xiaoyu Fu, Maria Teresa Brown, and Merril Silverstein. 2022. "Digital and Non-Digital Solidarity between Older Parents and Their Middle-Aged Children: Associations with Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 19: 12560. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912560