Lucy C. Yu

The Impact of Gender and Religion on College Students’ Spring Break Behavior

The authors investigated the influence of gender and religion on health-risk behavior potentials and destination-related expectations of college students on spring break vacation using a random sample of 534 students from two U.S. universities. Results indicated that gender and religion had a significant impact on students’ potential to engage in health-risk behaviors during spring break as well as their choice of spring break destinations and their expectations for hospitality service quality and characteristics of the destinations. Important social marketing and public policy implications for the tourism and hospitality industry are discussed.

Family and Cultural Correlates of Depression Among Chinese Elderly

This study hypothesized that depressive experiences of the elderly could be aggravated by universal factors such as low social status, poor health, financial strain, and unhealthy lifestyle, as well as by factors specific to an indigenous socio-cultural environment (stressful family dynamics) of a given population. Three hundred and fifty Chinese subjects aged 65 or older were interviewed either at their homes or in the geriatric out-patient clinic of Beijing Hospital. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to examine significant predictors of depression. Results showed that certain social status, poor physical health, financial strain, unhealthy lifestyle, and stressful family situation explained 47 percent of the variance in depression. However, stressful family situation alone explained 13 percent of the variance in depression, indicating that family factors were important predictors of depression for Chinese elderly. Furthermore, this study demonstrated for the first time that verbal abuse within Chinese families is a significant correlate of depression among the elderly. Cultural implications of these findings are discussed.

Profile of Urinary Incontinent Elderly in Long-Term Care Institutions

This article presents a profile of incontinent elderly in long‐term care institutions. One hundred thirty‐three frail elderly women were recruited from seven nursing homes in central Pennsylvania for a three‐year clinical trial to test the effectiveness of a behavioral therapy on urinary incontinence. All of the patients had more than one medical diagnosis. Eighty percent had cardiorespiratory conditions; the most prevalent diagnoses were cardiovascular diseases. Eighty percent had one or more neurological diseases, including “organic brain syndrome”(47%) and senile dementia (30%); 44% had arthritis/rheumatism. Half of the patients showed severe cognitive impairment; only 12% showed no cognitive impairment. Sixty‐three percent were totally dependent; 68% used wheelchairs, 61% were chairbound; 50% had impairments in vision, one‐third in hearing, and 14% in speech. Normal bladder capacity, absence of detrusor instability, and satisfactory bladder emptying, as evidenced by low residual urines, was found in 41% of the patients, suggesting that incontinence in this elderly group may not be a primary bladder problem, but rather that mental and physical disabilities may be a more important underlying cause of incontinence in these patients. An important finding in this study is that 34% of the patients had detrusor instability. It is theoretically possible that pharmacologic therapy with anticholinergic agents or imipramine could improve incontinence in this group. Five percent were found to have large residual urine volumes in association with high‐capacity bladders suggesting overflow incontinence as the cause of their daily leakage. Pelvic relaxation and stress leakage was far less common in this elderly group of nursing home patients than in young and middle‐aged women.

Life satisfaction among Chinese elderly in Beijing.

The present study examined correlates of life satisfaction among 350 Chinese elderly aged 65 or older. Subjects consisted of a clinic sample (n = 200) and a randomly selected community sample (n = 150) recruited from the same area in Beijing. Linear regression analysis was performed, using health, financial status, and family support as independent variables. Results showed that the regression model explained 38 percent of the variance in life satisfaction in the total sample, 34 percent and 43 percent of the variance respectively in the clinical and community samples. Life satisfaction was significantly predicted by health and financial status among community elderly and by health, financial status, as well as family support among outpatient elderly. Findings suggest that the socio-cultural context has exerted important impacts on the Chinese elderlys life satisfaction.

GENDER AND CHANGES IN SUPPORT OF PARENTS IN CHINA: Implications for the One-Child Policy

The Chinese traditionally have valued sons over daughters, depending on their sons to support them in old age. Recent changes, however, suggest a shift toward greater gender equality, with daughters also keeping elderly parents. The present study, undertaken in 1979 in the Peoples Republic of China, assessed attitudes of 48 university staff members toward financial support for aged parents and living arrangements in old age, with an emphasis on gender differences. We found that most sons and daughters gave financial support to their parents regularly and most men and women still believed adult children should share housing with their aged parents. In this sample, the sons assumed this responsibility far more than the daughters, and few of the respondents believed their parents should live with a daughter. However, when asked to project their own preferences in old age, sons thought they would prefer to live with a son, but daughters feel they would like to live with a daughter. These results are discussed in terms of two important cultural changes, the new marriage laws and the one-child policy, that were implemented at the time of the study.

Cultural correlates of self perceived health status among Chinese elderly

This study examines self-perceived physical and mental health among 213Chinese elderly who visited the Geriatric Outpatient Clinic of BeijingHospital, the People‘s Republic of China. The study hypothesizes thatcultural factors, specified by family relations, along with demographicfactors, number of diseases, economic well-being, and living conditionshave a significant impact on subjects self-perceived health status.Pearson correlation, linear and logistic regression analyses areperformed. Results indicate that age, number of diseases, perceived familyrespect, neighborhood relations, and percentage of income spent on rentare significant predictors of self-perceived physical health. These samefactors plus preference to live with a son and personal monthly income aresignificant predictors of self-perceived mental health. Socio-culturalimplications of these findings are examined.

Social status, physical, mental health, well-being and self evaluation of elderly in China.

This study examined self perceived physical and mental health, general well-being, social status and self evaluation among a group of Chinese elderly (N=240, age range 65–94) who visited a geriatric outpatient clinic in Beijing, Peoples Republic of China. The instrument measured five areas of interest: (1) disease patterns; (2) perceived physical and mental health; (3) general well-being; (4) social-economic status and (5) self evaluation. The results showed that the illiterate elderly reported lower self-evaluation scores than all other groups (p<0.05). In general, men gave themselves higher selfevaluation scores than women (p<0.05). The blue-collar group had lower general wellbeing scores (p<0.05) than the other occupational groups. These findings were discussed within social, cultural, political and historical contexts in China.