IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v136-137y2015ip106-116.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How do living arrangements and intergenerational support matter for psychological health of elderly parents? Evidence from Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand

Author

Listed:
  • Teerawichitchainan, Bussarawan
  • Pothisiri, Wiraporn
  • Long, Giang Thanh

Abstract

Living arrangements and family support for older persons have become an increasingly important policy concern in developing and rapidly aging Asia. Formulating a sound elderly care policy for the region will benefit from empirically examining how living arrangements, particularly coresidence, and intergenerational exchanges of financial, instrumental, and emotional support are associated with old-age psychological health. This study analyzes data from nationally representative aging surveys in Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand for 2011–2012 to offer a comparative perspective from Southeast Asia where various kinship systems coexist. Results suggest that coresidence with a child of culturally preferred gender significantly improves the emotional health of Vietnamese and Thai elders but with different implications. In Vietnam, living with a married son is more beneficial to parents' psychological wellbeing than living with other children. In Thailand, coresidence regardless of the child's gender improves old-age psychological wellbeing but living with a daughter brings greater benefits than living only with son. Evidence points to the importance of understanding the dominant kinship system that may shape normative filial expectations and gender role expectations within the family. In Vietnam and Thailand, the positive association holds even after intergenerational support is controlled, suggesting that the value of culturally preferred coresidence goes beyond practical functions. In Myanmar, there are almost no significant differences in psychological wellbeing among elderly across various living arrangements, except between coresidence and network living arrangements. For all settings, we do not find evidence in support of network family arrangements as a complete substitute for coresidence in terms of promoting old-age psychological wellbeing after filial support is controlled. Our study highlights important cultural nuances for theorizing the nature of the relationship between living arrangements and old-age psychological health, and presents the important need for more rigorous investigation of the causal links between these two phenomena in future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Teerawichitchainan, Bussarawan & Pothisiri, Wiraporn & Long, Giang Thanh, 2015. "How do living arrangements and intergenerational support matter for psychological health of elderly parents? Evidence from Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 136, pages 106-116.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:136-137:y:2015:i::p:106-116
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.05.019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953615003019
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.05.019?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Silverstein, Merril & Bengtson, Vern L., 1994. "Does intergenerational social support influence the psychological well-being of older parents? The contingencies of declining health and widowhood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 943-957, April.
    2. Sheung-Tak Cheng & Alfred C. M. Chan, 2006. "Filial Piety and Psychological Well-Being in Well Older Chinese," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(5), pages 262-269.
    3. Merril Silverstein & Zhen Cong & Shuzhuo Li, 2006. "Intergenerational Transfers and Living Arrangements of Older People in Rural China: Consequences for Psychological Well-Being," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(5), pages 256-266.
    4. Okabayashi, Hideki & Liang, Jersey & Krause, Neal & Akiyama, Hiroko & Sugisawa, Hidehiro, 2004. "Mental health among older adults in Japan: do sources of social support and negative interaction make a difference?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(11), pages 2259-2270, December.
    5. Connelly, Rachel & Iannotti, Michael & Maurer-Fazio, Margaret & Zhang, Dandan, 2014. "Coresidency, Ethnicity, and Happiness of China's Rural Elders," IZA Discussion Papers 8194, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Julie DaVanzo & Angelique Chan, 1994. "Living arrangements of older malaysians: Who coresides with their adult children?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(1), pages 95-113, February.
    7. Young Kyung Do & Chetna Malhotra, 2012. "The Effect of Coresidence With an Adult Child on Depressive Symptoms Among Older Widowed Women in South Korea: An Instrumental Variables Estimation," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 67(3), pages 384-391.
    8. Li, Lydia & Liang, Jersey & Toler, Amanda & Gu, Shengzu, 2005. "Widowhood and depressive symptoms among older Chinese: Do gender and source of support make a difference?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 637-647, February.
    9. Elisabeth J. Croll, 2006. "The Intergenerational Contract in the Changing Asian Family," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 473-491.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bo Kyong Seo & Ji Hye Kim, 2022. "Intergenerational Coresidence and Life Satisfaction in Old Age: The Moderating Role of Homeownership," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 3199-3216, October.
    2. Tong, Yuying & Chen, Feinian & Su, Wenyang, 2019. "Living arrangements and older People's labor force participation in Hong Kong, 1986–2016," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 50-59.
    3. Teerawichitchainan, Bussarawan & Prachuabmoh, Vipan & Knodel, John, 2019. "Productive aging in developing Southeast Asia: Comparative analyses between Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 161-171.
    4. Thin Nyein Nyein Aung & Myo Nyein Aung & Saiyud Moolphate & Yuka Koyanagi & Mariko Ichikawa & Siripen Supakankunti & Motoyuki Yuasa, 2021. "Estimating Service Demand for Intermediary Care at a Community Integrated Intermediary Care Center among Family Caregivers of Older Adults Residing in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-14, June.
    5. Thin Nyein Nyein Aung & Myo Nyein Aung & Saiyud Moolphate & Yuka Koyanagi & Siripen Supakankunti & Motoyuki Yuasa, 2021. "Caregiver Burden and Associated Factors for the Respite Care Needs among the Family Caregivers of Community Dwelling Senior Citizens in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-15, May.
    6. Tosi, Marco & Grundy, Emily, 2018. "Returns home by children and changes in parents’ well-being in Europe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 99-106.
    7. Andre Pekerti & Quan-Hoang Vuong & Tung Manh Ho & Thu-Trang Vuong, 2017. "Health Care Payments in Vietnam: Patients’ Quagmire of Caring for Health versus Economic Destitution," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-23, September.
    8. Zi-qing Yuan & Xian Zheng & Eddie C. M. Hui, 2021. "Happiness Under One Roof? The Intergenerational Co-residence and Subjective Well-Being of Elders in China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 727-765, February.
    9. Joseph Asumah Braimah & Mark W. Rosenberg, 2021. "“They Do Not Care about Us Anymore”: Understanding the Situation of Older People in Ghana," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-15, February.
    10. Zoya Gubernskaya & Zequn Tang, 2017. "Just Like in Their Home Country? A Multinational Perspective on Living Arrangements of Older Immigrants in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(5), pages 1973-1998, October.
    11. Na Li & Mang He, 2023. "Intergenerational Support and Subjective Wellbeing of the Elderly in Mainland China: The Role of Perceived Health," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, March.
    12. Curtis Huffman & Ricardo Regules-García & Delfino Vargas Chanes, 2019. "Living arrangement dynamics of older adults in Mexico: Latent class analysis in an accelerated longitudinal design," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(50), pages 1401-1436.
    13. Zhan Shu & Jinguang Xiao & Xianhua Dai & Yu Han & Yingli Liu, 2021. "Effect of family "upward" intergenerational support on the health of rural elderly in China: Evidence from Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-21, June.
    14. Pataporn Sukontamarn & M. Niaz Asadullah & Nopphawan Photphisutthiphong & Yen Thi Hai Nguyen, 2023. "Happiness in Old Age: The Daughter Connection," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 1729-1757, June.
    15. Ke Shen & Feinian Chen & Hangqing Ruan, 2021. "The mixed blessing of living together or close by: Parent–child relationship quality and life satisfaction of older adults in China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(24), pages 563-594.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kumar, Sneha, 2021. "Offspring's labor migration and its implications for elderly parents' emotional wellbeing in Indonesia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    2. Aranda, Luis, 2015. "Doubling up: A gift or a shame? Intergenerational households and parental depression of older Europeans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 12-22.
    3. Tosi, Marco & Grundy, Emily, 2018. "Returns home by children and changes in parents’ well-being in Europe," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 99-106.
    4. Maruyama, Shiko, 2015. "The effect of coresidence on parental health in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 1-22.
    5. Yixuan Liu & Liumeng Li & Guomei Miao & Xinyan Yang & Yinghui Wu & Yanling Xu & Yonghong Gao & Yongzhi Zhan & Yiwei Zhong & Shujuan Yang, 2021. "Relationship between Children’s Intergenerational Emotional Support and Subjective Well-Being among Middle-Aged and Elderly People in China: The Mediation Role of the Sense of Social Fairness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Teerawichitchainan, Bussarawan & Low, Timothy Qing Ying, 2021. "The situation and well-being of custodial grandparents in Myanmar: Impacts of adult children's cross-border and internal migration," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    7. Wang, Shuhong & Li, Shengxiao (Alex) & Hu, Wanyang, 2022. "Grandparenting and subjective well-being in China: The moderating effects of residential location, gender, age, and income," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    8. Fan, Ying & Fang, Shuai & Yang, Zan, 2018. "Living arrangements of the elderly: A new perspective from choice constraints in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 101-116.
    9. Pataporn Sukontamarn & M. Niaz Asadullah & Nopphawan Photphisutthiphong & Yen Thi Hai Nguyen, 2023. "Happiness in Old Age: The Daughter Connection," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 1729-1757, June.
    10. Lingguo Cheng & Hong Liu & Ye Zhang & Zhong Zhao, 2018. "The heterogeneous impact of pension income on elderly living arrangements: evidence from China’s new rural pension scheme," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 155-192, January.
    11. Laishram Ladusingh & Melody Thangjam, 2021. "Policy reforms and changing intergenerational support of elderly in India," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 401-416, December.
    12. Qi Xu & Jinshui Wang & Jingjing Qi, 2019. "Intergenerational coresidence and subjective well-being of older adults in China: The moderating effect of living arrangement preference and intergenerational contacts," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(48), pages 1347-1372.
    13. Bo Kyong Seo & Ji Hye Kim, 2022. "Intergenerational Coresidence and Life Satisfaction in Old Age: The Moderating Role of Homeownership," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 3199-3216, October.
    14. Xiaocui Ren & Chen Lu, 2021. "Effect of Children’s Support on Depression among Older Adults Living Alone or with a Spouse: A Comparative Analysis between Urban and Rural Areas of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Huiying Liu & Wei Qun Lou, 2016. "Patterns of productive activity engagement among older adults in urban China," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 361-372, December.
    16. Lin Yu & Zhimin Yan & Xun Yang & Lei Wang & Yuhan Zhao & Glenn Hitchman, 2016. "Impact of Social Changes and Birth Cohort on Subjective Well-Being in Chinese Older Adults: A Cross-Temporal Meta-analysis, 1990–2010," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 795-812, March.
    17. Cheng, Cheng, 2017. "Anticipated support from children and later-life health in the United States and China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 201-209.
    18. Zheng Wu & Margaret J. Penning, 2019. "Children and the Mental Health of Older Adults in China: What Matters?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(1), pages 27-52, February.
    19. Yi Zeng & Melanie D. Sereny Brasher & Danan Gu & James W. Vaupel, 2015. "Older parents benefit more in health outcome from daughters’ than sons’ care in China," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2015-004, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    20. Zhenhua Zheng & Ning Sun & Liu Yang & Wanting Liu & Yingchen Lu & Yusu Chu & Hong Chen, 2023. "The socioeconomic status of adult children, intergenerational support, and the well-being of Chinese older adults," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:136-137:y:2015:i::p:106-116. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.