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Marriage, parenthood and social network: Subjective well-being and mental health in old age

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  • Christoph Becker
  • Isadora Kirchmaier
  • Stefan T Trautmann

Abstract

Parenthood, marital status and social networks have been shown to relate to the well-being and mental health of older people. Using a large sample of respondents aged 50 and older from 16 European countries, we identify the associations of well-being and mental health with family status. Making use of detailed social network data of the respondents, we also identify how different social support networks correlate with the well-being and health indicators. We observe positive associations for all network types, over and beyond any direct associations of family status with well-being. Results suggest that non-residential children are important providers of social support for their parents at older age.

Suggested Citation

  • Christoph Becker & Isadora Kirchmaier & Stefan T Trautmann, 2019. "Marriage, parenthood and social network: Subjective well-being and mental health in old age," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-20, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0218704
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218704
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    Cited by:

    1. Bruno Arpino & Jordi Gumà & Albert JuliÃ, 2021. "Deviations From Standard Family Histories and Subjective Wellbeing at Older Ages," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2021_16, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    2. Lisa Becker & Sarah Negash & Nadja Kartschmit & Alexander Kluttig & Rafael Mikolajczyk, 2021. "Association between Parenthood and Health Behaviour in Later Life—Results from the Population-Based CARLA Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Siok Swan Tan & Irene N. Fierloos & Xuxi Zhang & Elin Koppelaar & Tamara Alhambra-Borras & Tasos Rentoumis & Greg Williams & Tomislav Rukavina & Rob van Staveren & Jordi Garces-Ferrer & Carmen B. Fran, 2020. "The Association between Loneliness and Health Related Quality of Life (HR-QoL) among Community-Dwelling Older Citizens," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-12, January.
    4. Lucía I. Llinares-Insa & Ana M. Casino-García & Josefa García-Pérez, 2020. "Subjective Well-Being, Emotional Intelligence, and Mood of Parents: A Model of Relationships. Impact of Giftedness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-22, October.
    5. Christoph K. Becker & Stefan T. Trautmann, 2022. "Does Happiness Increase in Old Age? Longitudinal Evidence from 20 European Countries," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 3625-3654, October.
    6. Veerle Garrels & Hanne Marie Høybråten Sigstad, 2023. "Caregivers’ Experiences with School–Work Transitions for Their Children with Disorders of Intellectual Development," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-13, January.

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