Traditional parent-child relations played a vital role in securing the material and
psychological well-being of Chinese aging parents. Yet the dynamics of
parent-child relations resulting from the dramatic sociodemographic changes since
1950s have not been systematically examined in China as a whole. Furthermore,
few efforts have ever been made to explore the possible linkage between parent-child
relations in contemporary China and parent psychological well-being.
Using a random probability sample with 999 older parents aged 50 years or
above from Baoding City, the present study described the profile of parent-child
relations in inland urban China in the mid 1990s from a comprehensive perspective
of structural and functional dimensions. In addition, the study also examined how
different dimensions of parent-child relations are associated with parent
psychological well-being. Results showed that until the mid 1990s, parent-child
relations in inland urban China were still close. The older parents generally had a
large network of children with great proximìty and maintained frequent contact with
them. The favorable structural characteristics of parent-child relations also made
possible the greater reciprocity in instrumental, economic and emotional support
between parents and their children. On the other hand, there were also frequent
negative interactions and varied extent of difference in lifestyles and ideas between
generations.
In terms of the association between different dimensions of parentchild
relations and parent psychological well-being, results showed that each dimension
has independent association with parent psychological well-being, with the negative
fimctional dimension having the greatest association, followed by the positive
functional dimension, and least of all, the structural dimension. In addition, the
results also indicated that different model specifications derived from different
conceptualizations of parent-child relations and different nature of measures of
negative stressors will affect the association patterns between parent-child relations
and parent psychological well-being.
The findings imply that on the one hand, the aging policy in China should take
into account the possible impact of rapid sociodemographic changes and
countermeasures adopted by the government on the issues of psychological
well-being of the older parents. On the other hand, the whole nation, including its
government, academics, practitioners, and the people, should pay more attention to
the role that parent-child relations may play in healthy aging. Finally,
conceptualization and measures of parent-child relations and negative stressors used
in this type of study should be carefully developed, if reliable findings are to be
produced in future studies of parent-child relations and parent psychological
well-being.