華人家庭價值下的老年心理健康及其性別差異：以子女非常規生活狀況的影響為核心

Abstract

受現代化進程與人口轉型的影響，人口老化成為台灣社會必要面對的重要 課題之一。如何讓晚年生活過得好，不只受個人也同時受到政策制定者的關注。儘管台灣社會變遷快速，有些根於台灣的文化體系並沒有因為社會變遷的力道而有太大的轉變。在這些變與不變的價值中，家庭價值特別值得討論。本文認為，關於晚年生活過得好不好，亦即如何擁有成功老化的過程，特別在台灣的脈絡中，需要對華人家庭價值所產生的影響多加探究與重視。 本文運用1999年與2003年中老年長期追蹤資料庫，試圖了解以華人家庭價值為底蘊的台灣社會，成年子女在人生階段中，若不符合這些價值期待時，會如何造成老年父母心理不健康。本文透過檢驗成年子女失婚失業、大齡不婚、與六歲以下孫子女同住有無，來了解老年父母是否因為這些在華人家庭價值體系下非常規(Non-normative)的子女狀況，而有較為負向的心理反應？更甚，本文試圖了解這些非常規子女狀況透過什麼樣的機制影響老年心理健康。 本文發現，成年子女非常規生活狀況，確實與老年父母的心理健康有顯著關聯，這層關係有(1) 非常規生活狀況作為近期事件與持續發生的影響差異、(2) 性別化的社會期待差異以及(3) 孫子女同住之於老年母親的特殊陪伴效果。本文發現只有在華人家庭價值中被視為老年未來生活最有機會成為主要照顧者的成年兒子持續有非常規生活狀況時，老年父母的心理健康顯著較差。顯然是視成年兒子生活出狀況為較嚴重的問題。其二，只有老年父親心理健康與成年女兒失婚有顯著關聯，是與過去文獻上較為不同的發現。本文認為，這與老年生活的情緒依附轉向以及女兒作為家庭中主要的情緒支持者有關。其三是與孫子女同住與老年母親有顯著的正向關聯。不論是近期或持續有六歲以下孫子女同住，老年母親的孤獨感受都顯著的較低。最後本文的中介可能機制考察中發現，絕大部分的持續發生的成年子女生活狀況，若對老年父母心理健康有影響，皆會經由喚起老年父母對於家人生活狀況的憂心這樣的覺察路徑，影響他們的心理健康。唯獨老年父親的心理健康，會因為遇到成年子女非常規生活狀況時而少有意識到這些狀況是個生活問題，衍生出家庭關係緊張感的壓力增生路徑。而六歲以下孫子女同住有無，則直接地影響老年母親的心理健康，再次證實孫子女同住的陪伴效果。 本文建基於心理不健康的社會關係源起以及生命歷程行動者相互牽引(linked lives, Elder et al., 2003)的視角，考察華人家庭價值下的成年子女非常規生活狀況與老年父母心理健康的關係及其影響機制，目的在於指認台灣老年人心理不健康的家庭關係影響面向，同時也希望能夠為台灣老年人的成功老化之路有一實證上的補充與建議，以協助台灣漸行老化的社會行動者，對自身心理可能不健康的成因有更為明確的認識。

This study explores how adult children’s life problems influence their parents’ psychological wellbeing, especially focusing on how cultural settings vary the effects. Taiwan as a case of which is a rapidly aging society surrounds with lasting Chinese traditional values, I put a further focus on how Chinese (traditional) familial values that set Taiwanese adult intergenerational relationships nowadays may or may not differ from their western counterparts. I phrase these adult children’s life problems which are contradictions to the view of Chinese familial values as their “non-normative life situations” to examine whether these situations will alter their older parents’ psychological wellbeing and how does the mechanism works. Using two waves of Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA 1999 &2003), I first test the association between adult children’s non-normative life situations and their parents’ psychological wellbeing. I then examine either non-normative life situations that happen to adult children may trigger parents’ awareness to these situations or more are implicit crises to sabotage their feelings about family relationships without recognizing them as family problems as to influence their psychological wellbeing. First of all, I find those adult children’s non-normative life situations are for sure significantly associated with their parents’ psychological wellbeing and these associations are differed by gender. Only those situations suffered by adult sons will have lasting effects to their parents’ psychological wellbeing. It seems that adult sons who mostly considered as major caregivers in Chinese parents’ later life, their situations that violateChinese familial values are more a problem than daughters who are not. Furthermore, those fathers with martial dissolved daughters have significantly lower psychological wellbeing status. This is a surprising finding that are not consistent with previous literature, most of them explained daughters with familiar life experiences with mothers, will have more connections and linked feelings. This may because fathers turn to seek more emotional attentions in their later life and since daughters mostly are the more emotional supported one in family, this association emerges. Finally, I find there are strong positive associations between living with younger grandchildren and mothers’ psychological wellbeing. Even controlling grandchildren caregiving effects, I still find these strong positive associations that implies living with grandchildren under age six protects mothers’ psychological wellbeing especially avoiding feeling lonely. Amongst all the mediation testing with bootstrapping method, it is more likely that children’s non-normative life situations will arouse parent’s awareness, which will make them worried about those situations as family problems, then strike their psychological wellbeing. It should be noticed that only fathers with non-normative children will rather not conceive them as problems, without these appraisals to non-normative situations, they may still indirectly feel bad about their current family relationships and eventually degrade their psychological wellbeing. This study contribute itself to not only the family relationship and mental health literature but also the understanding of adult intergenerational relationship under Chinese cultural settings especially how these non-normative situations may or may not be stumbling blocks for elderly heading their successful aging life. What this study demonstrate is not only the dynamics of gendered adult intergenerational relationships, but also highlights of potential threats to older Chinese parents such as the non-appraised pathway that hinder fathers’ psychological wellbeing which has been mentioned above. Since Taiwan a fastening aging society, clinical practitioners can find some more evident-based facts in this study and can do more to help elderly building a more successful, more meaningful aging life.