Correlates of subjective well-being of Chinese elderly in Hong Kong

Abstract

Hong Kong is proud of achieving the world's second highest life expectancy for its senior citizens; however, the maintenance and enhancement of their subjective well-being (SWB) has increasingly become a challenge of our society. This article reports the findings and implications of a study that explored the relationships among the basic demographic variables, health status, psychological resources, informal and formal social resources, and SWB of Chinese elderly in Hong Kong. The researchers randomly selected and interviewed 393 seniors aged 60-93 from two public housing estates. Results identified eight independent variables and one interactive variable as predictive of SWB. Among these significant predictors are marital status, self-esteem, internal locus of control, attitude in help seeking, frequency of financial, emotional and physical health problems, and age with number of chronic illnesses. Findings provide relevant information and guidelines for service delivery and future policy directions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)