title: Environment and subjective well-being of rural Chinese elderly: a multilevel analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of environment on the subjective well-being (SWB) of older Chinese villagers after controlling for personal and social characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data collected from the Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey Pilot Study were used to examine the relationship between (a) SWB (i.e., happiness and depressive symptoms) of Chinese rural elderly and (b) environmental characteristics, controlling for personal and social characteristics. A total of 850 older villagers from 2 Chinese provinces were analyzed using multilevel regression models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five of the 8 environmental variables had significant effects on SWB: A natural disaster in the past 5 years, rainy days, and use of coal in the home were associated with lower SWB, whereas village wealth and sewer system were associated with higher SWB. Personal and social characteristics of importance included health, age, place of birth, perception that future help is available if needed, and providing help to others.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The proposition that the environment of older Chinese villagers is associated with their SWB was supported after accounting for personal and social characteristics. SWB may be improved by improving environments as well as by changes to personal and social conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of North Texas, Denton. yeatts@unt.edu.
authors.forename: Dale E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Yeatts
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of North Texas, Denton.
authors.forename: Cynthia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cready
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaomei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock.
authors.forename: Yuying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Sau Po Centre on Ageing, The University of Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006240:Happiness; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012424:Rural Population; D012931:Social Environment
keywords: Functional limitations; Happiness; Mental health; Social capital; Village infrastructure.