Publications

Background: Guided by an applied ecological framework, this study utilized nationally representative data to evaluate the longitudinal association between elder abuse, depression trajectories, coping strategies and support networks among urban and rural older adults in China.

Methods: A total of 4,080 participants (aged ≥ 60 years) were selected from the 2018, 2020, and 2023 waves of the China Longitudinal Ageing Social Survey. Mixed-effects linear regressions examined the association between elder abuse, coping strategies, and depression trajectories. Moderation analysis assessed the role of support networks in these relationships.

Results: Initially, rural older adults exhibited high levels of depressive symptoms following elder abuse, which subsequently declined and then stabilized over time. In contrast, urban victims experienced a worsening trajectory of depressive symptoms. Rural victims were more likely to adopt informal or formal help-seeking to buffer against depression symptoms, whereas urban victims tended to rely on tolerance, which did not significantly affect their depression trajectory. Notably, support networks demonstrated a buffering effect on depression symptoms only among urban victims.

Conclusions: This study suggests that rural and urban victims adopt distinct coping strategies in response to mistreatment, and that support networks function differently across urban and rural contexts. These findings underscore the need for a person-centered intervention framework that is sensitive to contextual differences and capable of delivering tailored support across diverse social environments.

This study aimed to examine the association between elder abuse, changes in older adults' social networks, and changes in social well-being among rural and urban community-dwellers in mainland China. A total of 7,125 participants (aged ≥60 years) were selected. This study conducted regression analyses to assess how exposure to elder abuse in 2018 affected subsequent changes in social networks and social well-being among older adults by 2020. We found that the victims who reported the abuse had better social well-being after two years compared to those who did not report. Among rural victims, a novel association was identified between elder abuse, reduced contact with friend network, relative emotional networks, and decreased social well-being. Conversely, among urban victims, elder abuse was associated with an expanded friend instrumental network and improved social well-being. Our findings underscore the critical role of social networks in reshaping the impact of elder abuse on social well-being.

This study examined the underlying types of intergenerational relationship and social support network among impaired older adults in China and explained how they may influence the home- and community-based service (HCBS) purchase intentions of these individuals. Based on the 2018 and 2020 waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Aging and Social Survey, a total of 3,397 older adults (aged 60 years, with at least one child) were selected. First, we used K-means cluster analysis to identify five types of intergenerational relationship among Chinese families: 'tight-knit and proximal', 'parent-oriented and intimate', 'distant but intimate', 'independent-intimate' and 'child-oriented but emotionally detached'. Second, we examined the sizes of three distinct types of social support network among older Chinese adults: contact, instrumental and emotional. Subsequently, binary logistic regression was conducted to examine the relative impact of intergenerational relationships and social support networks on impaired older adults' HCBS purchase intentions. Our findings revealed that under the moderation of social support networks, reciprocal intergenerational relationships exhibited fewer HCBS purchase intentions, while imbalanced intergenerational relationships exhibited diverse HCBS purchase intentions. The findings also underscore the 'bridge' function of older adults' social support networks and the importance of community participation in promoting older adults' utilization of support services.

With the rapid aging of Japanese society and increasing concerns over the welfare of people with psychiatric disorders, intellectual disability, and dementia, a renewed adult guardianship system based on the notion of respect for self-determination, the practical use of one's remaining abilities, and re-socialization, has now been in place for 20 years. Japanese adult guardianship practices are understudied in English language literature; thus, this article presents an overview of recent developments in Japan's adult guardianship system and geriatric social work initiatives adopted in Japan's adult guardianship practice. The authors found that the guardianship system not only helped the elderly live better with dementia but also contributed to the realization of "ageing in place" in the community-based integrated care system.

Background: This study investigated the effects of authoritarian filial piety (AFP) and caregiver self-efficacy on the caregiving experience of adult children of physically impaired older adults. Socio-cultural stress and coping model was applied to test the influence of AFP on caregiver gains.

Methods: A total of 601 Chinese adult children caregivers and care-recipient dyads participated in this cross-sectional study in 2021. Four instruments were used to collect data: the 4-item Zarit Burden Interview, Positive Aspects of Caregiving Scale, Caregiver Task Inventory Scale, and Authoritarian Filial Piety Scale. All mediation and moderated mediation effects were estimated using SPSS 26.0.

Results: Caregiver self-efficacy was found to not only mediate but also help family caregivers convert their burden into positive gains. AFP moderates the association between caregiver burden and self-efficacy, as well as between caregiver burden and caregiver gains.

Conclusions: This study provides valuable insights into filial piety, elucidating AFP's comprehensive impact on cognitive appraisals of caregiving. Culturally sensitive psychoeducational therapy, addressing AFP expectations and boosting caregiver self-efficacy, is recommended to enhance positive caregiving outcomes.

To foster family caregiving resilience, helping care-givers find benefits to further promoting care-giver and care-recipient well-being has emerged as an efficacious intervention in geriatric social work practice. This cross-sectional mixed-methods study investigates how gender role attitudes influence the complex associations between care-giver self-efficacy, formal support utilisation and benefit-finding among spousal care-givers. A total of 210 spousal care-giver/care-recipient dyads from four Chinese cities participated in a survey from July to August 2021. The survey used the Positive Aspects of Caregiving Scale, Caregiver Task Inventory Scale and Gender Role Attitude Scale. Mediation and moderated mediation analysis found that care-giver self-efficacy partially mediated the path of the primary stressor and benefit-finding; formal support utilisation directly moderated the mediated pathways linking primary stressor, care-giver self-efficacy and benefit-finding; and gender role attitudes moderated these intersections. Qualitative analysis revealed that spousal care-givers with high self-efficacy, who used formal support services, and who had modern gender role attitudes found the most benefits in caregiving. The findings also suggested that professionals should recognise the influence of gender role attitudes in spousal caregiving and incorporate this understanding into the development of tailored psychoeducational interventions aimed at promoting care-giver well-being.

In lieu of a comprehensive adult guardianship law, voluntary guardianship notarization has become the main route to support the self-determination, autonomy, and decision-making of incapacitated older adults in China. This article is a first attempt to provide an overview of recent developments and current forms of voluntary guardianship notarization initiatives in mainland China. Besides highlighting the difficulties and challenges faced by the country, this article also outlines the types of guardians under the current legal framework, identifies the social functions of the notary office in adult guardianship socialization, and sets out the emerging initiatives to support decision making for incapacitated older adults.

The twenty-first century witnessed dramatic changes in family structure, demographics, and values in East Asian societies. However, little is known about how gender role attitudes influence values toward caring for older adults among contemporary East Asian societies. By using individual-level data from the 2012 China General Social Survey, the 2012 Japan General Social Survey, and the 2012 Korean General Social Survey, this study sheds light on how adult children (aged 20-60) think about caring for older adults in a context of changing family structure, demographics, and social norms. Binary logistic regression estimation results reveal that, first, compared with Japan, traditional filial piety was less eroded in China and South Korea. Second, gender role attitudes play a significant role in adult children's values toward caring for older adults, especially among Japanese adult children; maintaining traditional gender role attitudes would intensify adult children's familial filial piety. Third, compared with men, women are less likely to prefer individual and family as caregivers for their older parents.

While China has established a basic legal framework for adult guardianship, the development of its accompanying service system has received insufficient attention. Japan, which entered a super-aged society earlier, introduced an adult guardianship system in 2000 to address the guardianship challenges posed by demographic aging, and has since developed a relatively mature guardianship service system through more than two decades of practice. Drawing on statistical data from the Japanese Supreme Court and case-based interviews, this study identifies three key developmental trends in Japan's adult guardianship service system: socialization, professionalization, and institutionalization. Based on Japan's experience, the study proposes the following recommendations for China: (1) recognizing socialized guardianship demand and establishing a community-based service system; (2) developing professional certification standards and cultivating a qualified corps of professional guardians; and (3) building a civic guardian workforce to activate informal support networks.

目前我国初步建立了成年监护法律制度，但服务体系建设却未能受到足够的重视。已经迈入深度老龄化社会的日本，为了应对老龄化带来的老年人监护挑战，2000年开始实行成年监护制度，经过20余年的实践探索形成了较为成熟的成年监护服务体系。本文通过对日本最高法院统计数据及访谈案例的综合分析，总结了日本成年监护服务体系社会化、专业化、组织化的发展趋势，并基于日本实践经验对中国成年监护服务体系建设提出建议：（1）重视社会化监护需求，建立社会监护服务体系；（2）制定职业认定标准，培养专业监护人才队伍；（3）培养市民监护人队伍，激活非正式支援网络。

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the state has made many efforts to promote the employment of disabled people. Through a multiple welfare supply strategy, China has built a multi-level and wide-disciplinary employment policy system for the disabled. However, the overall situation of low-employment and poor employment stability among disabled people has not changed. From the perspective of the compatibility of policy value and policy tools, based on the three-dimensional analysis framework of "policy evolution stage — disability conceptual model — policy tool theory", this paper systematically maps the different stages, the various types and characteristics of the different policy tools by conducting bibliometrics and content analysis of the employment policy texts for the disabled by the central and local governments initiated since 1978. We find that the current employment policy for disabled people in China focuses mainly on the use of supply-side and environmental-side tools. There is a mismatch between policy value and policy tools in the employment policies for disabled which restricted the effectiveness of service provision for welfare-responsible entities. Finally, combined with qualitative interviews, the paper discusses the policy tools that are consistent with the concept of disability conceptual model and the path of future government policy tool innovation.

新中国成立以来，国家为促进残障人士就业作出了诸多努力，通过多元福利供给构筑了一套多层次、宽渠道的残障人士就业政策体系，然而，残障人士就业层次低、就业稳定性差的总体形势并没有改变。从政策"价值理念－工具"匹配的视角出发，基于"政策演进阶段－残障概念模型－政策工具理论"三维分析框架，首次通过Python对1978年以来中央和地方出台的917份残障人士就业政策文本进行了文献计量和内容分析，图谱化系统分析不同政策阶段，促进残障人士就业的三大类18种政策工具的类型与特征，深入剖析政策工具承载的价值理念和福利思想。研究发现，当前中国残障人士就业政策侧重使用供给侧和环境侧工具，"价值理念－工具"错配制约了福利责任主体服务供给的有效性。结合质性访谈，探讨了与残障理论概念相吻合的政策工具及未来政府政策工具创新的路径。

Cooperation between government and social forces in the field of social assistance scheme is an important way to improve the social assistance system. Based on theory of coordination, this paper compares three representative cases in social assistance experimental cities of China by discussing the different interaction modes and coordination patterns of government-society interaction. The key to successful coordination of the dependent coordination of Shanghai, the plug-in type coordination of Wenzhou and the independent coordination of Quanzhou lies in the similar tension resolution mechanism, which is embodied in the following aspects: the local government's mining and appropriate intervention in local resource endowment; on the basis of increasing legal independence and autonomy, social organizations have made good use of benign capital and exchange cooperation to make collaborative innovation. The coordination innovation of the three cases in the field of social assistance scheme have important reference significance for local governments in China to explore inherent governance resources and shape government-society interaction.

政府与社会力量在社会救助领域的协同合作是完善社会救助体系的重要路径。本文基于协同理论，以社会力量参与社会救助为研究对象，对三类协同治理模式进行了综合分析。研究发现，以上海市为代表的依附式协同、温州市为代表的插件式协同、泉州市为代表的独立式协同，之所以取得较好的协同效果，关键在于拥有相同的张力化解机制，具体表现为：地方政府对当地资源禀赋的挖掘和适度干预；社会组织在合法性、独立性和自主性不断增强基础上，善用良性资本，协作性互换。三地在社会救助领域的协同创新，对我国地方政府如何在社会救助中发掘固有治理资源和形塑政社关系具有重要借鉴意义。

The current social assistance system in China faces persistent structural weaknesses owing to institutional rigidity, fragmentation of relief resources, and bureaucratic segmentation, leaving the social safety net unable to fully protect those in greatest need. Drawing on exemplary cases of synergistic coordination in last-resort social assistance programs, this study examines at the practical level how diverse assistance actors integrate resources to achieve structural and procedural synergy, and at the theoretical level identifies the key factors enabling the successful coupling of these two forms of synergy. The findings reveal that goal alignment, authoritative government intervention, and information-sharing mechanisms constitute the driving force, critical lever, and core foundation of successful coordination. The collaborative innovations demonstrated in these cases carry significant implications for local governments seeking to mobilize extra-departmental social forces and establish integrated resource-pooling mechanisms in the delivery of last-resort social assistance.

由于制度刚性、救助资源碎片化、制度条块分割的存在，当前中国的社会救助体系仍存在顽固性短板，民生安全网尚且无法真正兜底。通过对托底性社会救助机制协同突出案例的分析，从实践层面探讨了托底性社会救助中，多元救助主体如何整合资源实现结构性协同和程序性协同；从理论层面探讨了结构性协同与程序性协同成功耦合的关键因素。研究发现，目标一致性、政府权威介入、信息共享机制是协同成功耦合的动力、关键和核心。同时，本案例在托底性社会救助中的协同创新，对我国地方政府如何协同部门外社会力量，搭建资源统筹机制具有重要借鉴意义。

Drawing on data from the 2012 General Social Surveys conducted in China, Japan, and South Korea, this study innovatively incorporates "gender ideology" into a theoretical framework of social change and intergenerational interaction, comparatively analyzing the characteristics and determinants of eldercare responsibility attitudes across the three countries and testing the applicability of family modernization theory in East Asian societies. Binary logistic regression analyses reveal that, despite similar patterns of demographic transition and intergenerational reciprocity norms, the three countries exhibit substantial divergence in eldercare responsibility attitudes: Chinese respondents show a stronger preference for family-based care, Japanese respondents lean toward socialized care, and Korean respondents hold a neutral position. Gender ideology exerts a direct and independent influence on eldercare responsibility attitudes, though the two do not evolve in tandem and their interaction patterns differ across the three countries. Crucially, modernization has not eroded traditional values; rather, the coexistence of modernity and tradition in East Asian attitudinal dispositions constitutes the enduring source of the region's commitment to family-based eldercare.

通过对2012年中国、日本、韩国综合社会调查数据的分析，论文创新性地将"性别意识"引入了社会变迁与代际互动理论分析框架，比较分析了三国居民养老责任态度的特点及影响因素，对家庭现代化理论在东亚社会的适用性进行了检验。二元Logistic回归模型分析结果表明：随着现代化及社会支持体系的变化，尽管三国人口转型模式和代际互惠传统相似，但在养老责任态度方面却表现出巨大的差异：中国居民更倾向家庭养老，日本居民更倾向社会养老，韩国居民态度中立；性别意识对养老责任态度存在直接影响，两者变迁并不同步，三国的互动模式亦不一致；现代化进程并没有导致传统性的消逝；东亚社会态度现代性与传统性的兼容共生，正是延续东亚社会家庭养老的动力源泉。

This article examines the evolution of grassroots governance in Uzbekistan through the lens of government-society relations, employing a network-structure perspective to analyze the strategic alignment between the state and social organizations across different historical phases. The study finds that the local traditional organization of Mahallas has persisted through three successive stages — from "traditional communal self-organization," through "compatible coexistence under totalitarian authoritarian rule," to "post-transition mutual dependence" — owing to the Mahallas' continuously strengthened organizational legitimacy and their strategic capacity for proactive embeddedness and timely self-restraint. As social organizations develop, their varying positions and structural roles within governance networks give rise to distinct government-society interaction mechanisms. The mutual dependence between Mahallas and the state represents, on one hand, a strategic response through which social organizations secure autonomy and political support, and, on the other, a rational choice by a transitional state constrained by limited mobilization capacity and administrative resources. The experiences and lessons of Uzbekistan's grassroots governance carry significant implications for China's efforts to strengthen community-level governance and the broader governance system.

文章基于政社互动关系，从网络结构视角对乌兹别克斯坦基层治理变迁进行了国家与社会组织各自策略的匹配分析。研究发现，从"传统社会自我组织"到"全能主义威权统治下相宜共生"，再到"转型后的双向依赖"，当地传统组织马哈拉之所以能够一直存续，在于其不断增强的组织合法性和灵活适时地主动嵌入和自我克制；随着社会组织的发展，其在治理网络中位置和结构的不同会产生不同的政社互动机制，马哈拉与国家的双向依赖，既是社会组织获得自主性和政治支持的策略应对，更是转型时期国家在动员能力和行政成本有限条件下的理性选择。乌兹别克斯坦在基层治理方面的经验和教训对于我国基层治理和治理体系建设具有重要的借鉴意义。

This study examines the underlying types of intergenerational solidarity and informal support networks among impaired older adults in China, and explains how they may influence the home- and community-based service purchase intention of these individuals. Based on the 2018 and 2020 waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Aging and Social Survey, a total of 3,564 older adults (aged 60 and above, with at least one child) were selected. First, we use K-means cluster analysis to identify four types of intergenerational solidarity among Chinese families: tight-knit, distant-but-intimate, independent-intimate, and emotional-detached. Secondly, we examined the size of three distinct types of informal support networks among Chinese older adults: general social networks, functional support networks, and emotional support networks. Subsequently, binary logistic regression was conducted to examine the relative impacts of intergenerational solidarity and informal support networks on impaired older adults' purchase intention. Our findings highlighted the diverse impacts of informal functional/emotional support networks on older adults' purchase intentions. These networks exhibit the potential to either substitute for or complement formal care, contingent upon the specific types of intergenerational solidarity.

Based on Interactive Biopsychological Model, this study examined how multi-dimensional social well-being and filial piety influence the association between elder abuse and depression among older adults in China. The participants were 7,700 older adults (aged 60 years or older) enrolled in the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey. Moderated mediation models were applied to test the mediating effects of multidimensional social well-being (social isolation, loneliness, social network, and social participation) and the moderating effect of filial piety. Different dimensions of social well-being have a partial mediating effect on the association between elder abuse and depression. Traditional attitudes towards filial piety exacerbated the effects of elder abuse on depression by improving social isolation and loneliness while reversing the negative effects of elder abuse on depression through improving the social network. Although particular sociodemographic factors are associated with a greater risk of depression for elder abuse victims, our findings suggested that victims with traditional attitudes towards filial piety are more likely to feel isolated subjectively and more depressed.

As the most aging society in East Asia, a renewed adult guardianship system for the idea of respect for self-determination, practical use of remaining abilities, and re-socialization have been practiced in Japan for 20 years. While, compared with Japan, in lieu of a comprehensive adult guardianship regime, not until 2017, voluntary guardianship notarization has become the main alternative for supported decision-making and self-determination for incapacitated adults and a tool for mitigating the social risks of the frail elderly in China. Based on secondary data and semi-structured interviews, this study is the first attempt that demonstrates a comprehensive comparison of the recent developments and current forms of adult guardianship initiatives in mainland China and Japan. Besides highlighting the difficulties and challenges faced by these two countries, this article also outlined the types of guardians under their current legal framework, identified the social functions of guardians, the notary office in adult guardianship socialization, and the emerging geriatric social work initiatives adopted.