Number of Births and Later-Life Depression in Older Adults: Evidence from China

Kaiyun Xue, Yafeng Nie, Yue Wang and Zhen Hu ()
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Kaiyun Xue: College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China
Yafeng Nie: School of Economics, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
Yue Wang: College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China
Zhen Hu: College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 18, 1-13

Abstract: Previous studies on the number of births and the health of the elderly have been highly focused on physical health and used samples from developed countries. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect of the lifetime number of births on depression in Chinese older adults. We used panel data for men and women aged 50 and over from the 2013–2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. Depressive symptoms were assessed through a short form of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. We found that depression levels in women were significantly higher than in men, with a mean difference of 2.44 ( p < 0.001). The model estimation results indicated that the number of births affected depression in older adults, and its increase could exacerbate depression in older adults. The number of births significantly impacted depression among the elderly aged 50–69. Furthermore, there was a negative relationship between the proportion of sons and older adults’ depression, which was significant in older males; the number of abortions may exacerbate depression in older adults, especially in females.

Keywords: fertility behavior; depressive symptoms; abortions; gender differences; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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