Social support exchange among elderly Chinese people and their family members in Hong Kong: A longitudinal study

Abstract

This study examines the pattern of social support exchange between the elderly and their family members, focusing on financial aid and household care (both instrumental and emotional). The second objective of this study is to identify resource capacity factors (including education, physical health, and size of social network) that generate differences in the exchange of financial aid and household care between elderly people and their family members. The respondents were 213 people who had family members living in Hong Kong aged 70-years-old or older from a longitudinal study of a representative community sample of the elderly population in Hong Kong. Using multiple regression models, we found that the elderly subjects who received more household care from their family members were likely to provide more household care to their family members three years later, even after controlling for the impact of resource capacities; and the elderly subjects who provided more household care to their family members were more likely to receive more household care from their family members three years later. In assessing the impact of the resource variables on support exchange, functional disability and the number of close relatives were significantly associated with the amount of household care the old people provided, whereas the number of close family members were significantly associated with the amount of household care the old people received. Policy implications of the findings in this study were discussed.