Ye Minzhi, Chen Lin, Kahana Eva
1 Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
2 Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
J Aging Health. 2017 Jun;29(4):620-639. doi: 10.1177/0898264316641080. Epub 2016 Apr 21.
We examined the association between older adults' mealtime interactions at senior centers in Shanghai and their life satisfaction. Competing hypotheses, derived from socioemotional selectivity theory and activity theory, were tested.
Data were obtained from the 2011 Shanghai senior center service utilization survey ( N = 320). Relationships between respondents' mealtime interactions and life satisfaction were tested using multilevel regression modeling.
After adjusting for demographics, interactions with tablemates (companionship, self-disclosure, and instrumental support) were positively associated with respondents' life satisfaction. These associations varied by senior centers. However, the number of tablemates was not significantly associated with respondents' life satisfaction.
Findings support the activity-theory-based hypothesis that mealtime interactions are related to older adults' life satisfaction independent of the number of tablemates. This study illuminates the value of social interactions in the context of community dining programs for the rapidly increasing older population in urban China.
我们研究了上海老年活动中心老年人用餐时的互动与其生活满意度之间的关联。我们检验了源自社会情感选择理论和活动理论的相互竞争的假设。
数据来自2011年上海老年活动中心服务利用情况调查（N = 320）。使用多层次回归模型检验了受访者用餐时的互动与生活满意度之间的关系。
在对人口统计学因素进行调整后，与同桌伙伴的互动（陪伴、自我表露和工具性支持）与受访者的生活满意度呈正相关。这些关联在不同老年活动中心有所不同。然而，同桌伙伴的数量与受访者的生活满意度没有显著关联。
研究结果支持基于活动理论的假设，即用餐时的互动与老年人的生活满意度相关，且与同桌伙伴的数量无关。本研究揭示了在中国城市快速增长的老年人口中，社区用餐项目背景下社交互动的价值。
