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Correlates of parental satisfaction: a study of late life family relationships in a rural county in China

mental to parental wellbeing (Knoester, 2003; Milkie, Bierman, and Schieman, 2008). A study, for
instance, indicated that unfilial offspring was a risk factor for depression among older Chinese par-
ents (Li, Pang, Chen et al., 2010). Given the significance of filial piety as an overarching family
value in Chinese family and society, we formulated our last hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3: Offspring’s filial piety is positively associated with parental
satisfaction.

Briefly, the present study tests a late life parental satisfaction model in China including variables
tapping relationship quality with offspring, expectation of various forms of support from offspring,
and offspring’s filial piety. The key purpose is to identify important correlates of parental satisfaction
for older Chinese adults to provide evidence informing intervention design and policy formulation in
order to promote healthy aging in China more efficiently.
2. Methods

2.1 Data

Data were collected between June and August 2014 employing face-to-face interviews with a sample
of 432 older parents in Linxi County, a traditionally agricultural county located in the Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region of northern China. Linxi County is one of 592 “below poverty level” counties
nationwide as measured by the average annual disposable income of its residents (Central People's
Government, 2012), with 28% and 24% of its urban and rural residents living “below poverty level” as
of 2012, respectively, according to the documents from the county government. Survey data collection
at this level is rare.

2.2 Procedures
The sample were drawn from forty-five neighborhoods within seven community centers of the two
subdistricts of the county seat and a township (a subdistrict is the equivalent of a township). The
source of the sample was the electronic resident roster kept in the computer system of each commu-
nity center that records itemized demographic information of all household members in each house-
hold within all neighborhoods under its governance. The selection criteria included residents who
were 60 to 79 years old at time of survey, apparently cognitively capable of answering questions, from
different households (not couples), and had at least one living child.
A convenience sample method was employed to reach participants. At each participating commu-
nity center, a staff member first screened residents on the roster according to the selection criteria to
make a list of eligible residents. Then the staff member contacted eligible respondents and scheduled
interviews for those who were willing to take the survey. All face-to-face interviews were con-
ducted by a team of three interviewers (none of them were community staff and all were recruited
and trained by the first author) and the first author. Interviews were conducted mostly at communi-
ty centers, without the presence of persons other than the respondent and the interviewer. The dura-
tion of each interview varied from one hour and a half to two hours and a half. Participants received
¥50 ($7.60) on completion of the interview. Of the 464 eligible respondents that were contacted,
432 completed the face-to-face interview, yielding a response rate of 93%.

2.3 Measures
2.3.1 Dependent Variable
Parental satisfaction is the dependent variable based on a single-item question. Before asking this
question, interviewers read the following sentences to each interviewee, “Next we’ll move into the
Relationship and Exchange with Children section. Questions in this section are to ask your relation-

56 International Journal of Population Studies | 2016, Volume 2, Issue 1