Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Increased life expectancy in China implies that adults increasingly survive long enough to see their grandchildren reach adulthood and take on elevated importance—even as smaller family size reduces the number of children and grandchildren available. This article examined the prevalence with which older adults received support and care from grandchildren and the family conditions under which the likelihood of this assistance is enhanced. The data for our analysis derived from the 2014 wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, limited to 13.4% of respondents (n = 1,551) who reported requiring personal assistance to perform daily activities. Logistic regression revealed that grandparents were more likely to receive assistance from grandchildren when they had no son available or had daughters who did not provide assistance. Results were consistent across urban and rural regions. These findings support the compensatory or substitution role of grandchildren as sources of support and care for their grandparents within a gendered family system. Implications for policies and services serving older people in China are discussed.

Xu L, Chi I. Life satisfaction among rural Chinese grandparents: the roles of intergenerational family relationship and support exchange with grandchildrenInt J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: S148–S159 © 2011 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare.In this study, we examined how the life satisfaction of rural Chinese grandparents is affected by their intergenerational family relationship and support exchange with grandchildren. The study sample consisted of 9,704 grandparents aged 60 and older from the 2000 "Sample Survey on Aged Population in Urban/Rural China." Demographic variables, including health variables, support exchange with children, intergenerational family relationship, and support exchange with grandchildren, were entered hierarchically into four regression models to examine the effects of these variables on grandparents' life satisfaction. Results showed that rural grandparents who perceive their children as filial or their family as harmonious, or who receive instrumental support as well as less monetary support from their grandchildren, are more likely to have higher levels of life satisfaction. In addition, rural grandparents who are older, experience lower levels of financial strain, have better health, provide instrumental support to children, and receive greater monetary support from their children, are more likely to report higher levels of life satisfaction.

Li C, Chi I, Xu L. Family factors affecting perceived income adequacy among older adults in urban ChinaInt J Soc Welfare 2011: 20: S86–S98 © 2011 The Author(s), International Journal of Social Welfare © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare.This article examined how family‐related factors affect perceived income adequacy among older adults in urban China when socio‐demographic, income, and health factors are controlled. The data were derived from the 2006 Sample Survey on the Aged Population in Urban/Rural China. Hierarchical regression modeling was used to identify various factors affecting perceived income adequacy. The results showed that older adults who received more monetary or instrumental support from their children, who provided monetary support to their children, and who perceived their children as high in filial piety were more likely to report having adequate income. Respondents who were older, female, married, retired with pensions or still working, or who had higher actual income, more education, and better health status were also more likely to report adequate income. Programs and policies that can enhance or maintain intergenerational support should be developed to improve perceptions of income adequacy and general well‐being among Chinese older adults.

Abstract
Acculturation consists of a process of learning and adapting the behaviours and cultural values of another cultural group. However, the conceptualisation and measurement of acculturation is inconsistent across scholars. Therefore, the authors systematically reviewed the acculturation literature to identify and assess the psychometric properties of acculturation measures with African immigrants in the USA. This systematic review was conducted based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Studies were included if they used a quantitative methodology, were published in English and used acculturation measure, and involved immigrants from any African country. The search resulted in 1,882 studies, of which ten studies were included in the review. This review identified that studies utilised nine different acculturation measures originally developed for other ethnic groups. Findings also indicated that some studies reported reliability and validity scores, while others did not report psychometric analysis. Our findings highlight the need to adapt and test reliable and valid acculturation measures. Future studies should consider robust psychometric assessments to ensure the accuracy of the instrument with the target population. Such information is pertinent to social workers in understanding the acculturation experiences of African immigrants and refugees and developing cultural interventions.

Polysaccharides are an important class of bioactive components of medical mushroom and herbs and are now used as natural drugs or dietary supplements on a global scale. In this paper, we aimed to increase the polysaccharide production of Cordyceps militaris and the antioxidant activities of fermented rice by solid-state fermentation. The media components and culture condition were optimized by orthogonal design and mono-factor tests using rice as the raw material. The optimal media consisted of (g/L): rice (50), fructose (7), glycerin (7), peptone (1), MgCl(2) (0.11), VB(1) (0.05), VB(2) (0.05), CaCl(2) (1.5), corn bran (6), and a water–materials ratio of 100%. The fermentation condition was as follows: inoculum volume of 5.5% (v/w), rice weight of 50 g in one bowl with a diameter of 120 mm and a depth of 90 mm, incubation temperature of 26 °C, and incubation time of seven days. Under the optimized condition, the maximal C. militaris polysaccharide content and free radical scavenging ratio were 68.3 mg/g dry substrate and 98.9%, respectively. This study provides a new strategy for the production of healthy food from traditional food.