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In the past 20 years, Hong Kong and Shanghai's total fertility rates (TFR) have undergone drastic changes: first declining and then rebounding. We use a decomposition method to assess changes in the TFRs of these two cities during the period 1990–2010. During the period of decline from 1990 to 2000, the decrease in marital fertility rate (MFR) was the major cause behind Shanghai's TFR decline; the decrease in nuptiality and MFR were equally responsible for the decline in Hong Kong's TFR. During the 2000–2010 period, although the decline in nuptiality exerted downward pressure on TFR, both cities experienced an increase in TFR mainly due to an increase in the MFR. Analysis of the difference in TFR between the two cities in 2010/2011, also reveals that Hong Kong's marriage delay has a negative impact on fertility and it is the higher MFR that leads to a higher TFR than Shanghai's TFR. It also shows that a reduction of first- and second-order births is equally responsible for Shanghai's lower MFR. Despite the one-child policy in Shanghai, some couples continue to postpone their first births, while others have even chosen to be childfree (a preferred term to ‘childless’). The tempo distortion is diminishing more prominently in Hong Kong, while the decline in fertility aspiration adds much uncertainty to future fertility trends in Shanghai. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Research has highlighted that satisfaction in health, and instrumental support (IS) are key areas of life affecting an individual's wellbeing. Many social and public health initiatives use these two intervention mechanisms to improve individual's wellbeing. For the purpose of cost-benefit assessment, there has been growing interest in expressing these intervention effects in economic terms. However, only a handful of studies have ever estimated these effects in economic terms, none of which examined them in a Chinese context. The aim of this study is to extend this line of valuation work to the Chinese population, estimating the implicit willingness-to-pays on the effects of improving individuals' self-rated health (SRH) status and IS on their life satisfaction (LS)., Methods: Using data from a two-wave representative panel survey in Hong Kong (n = 1,109), this study conducted a cross-lagged analysis with a structural equation modelling technique to examine the causal effects of SRH and IS on LS. The use of this cross-lagged approach was an effort to minimise the endogeneity problem. Then, substituting the respective estimates to the formulae of compensating surplus, the marginal rate of substitution of SRH and IS with respect to individual's equivalised monthly household income (HI) were estimated and were then expressed as the implicit willingness-to-pays on the effect of improving individuals' SRH and IS on their LS., Results: The cross-lagged analysis ascertained the causal effects of SRH (β = 0.074, 95% Confidence Interval: 0.021, 0.127) and IS (β = 0.107, 95% Confidence Interval: 0.042, 0.171) on individuals' satisfaction with life. Translating into the concept of compensating surplus, the implicit monetary values of improving the sample's SRH from "poor health" to "excellent health" and their perceived IS from "little support" to "a lot of support" are equivalent to an increase in their equivalised monthly HI by US$1,536 and US$1,523 respectively., Conclusions: This study is the first to derive the implicit monetary values of SRH and IS on individual's LS in a predominantly Chinese society, and it has implications for the cost-benefit assessment in wellbeing initiatives within the population., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Objective: This present study aims to estimate the structural validity, internal consistency reliability of the LSNS-6 and examine the associations between the LSNS-6 and suicidal outcomes among mainland Chinese older adults., Methods: This validation study used a big representative sample (N = 2819) of older adults in Beijing from the Sample Survey on Aged Population in Urban/Rural China. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were applied to examine the factor structures of the Chinese version of LSNS-6. Internal consistency reliability of the LSNS-6 was examined by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the corrected item-total correlation. Logistic regression analyses were used to explore the associations between the LSNS-6 and late-life death wishes, suicidal ideation in mainland Chinese., Findings: This present study showed good internal consistency and consistent factor structure of the LSNS-6 as well as its subscales. The present data demonstrated the LSNS-6 could be a useful tool for assessing social networks among older mainland Chinese. Interestingly, among the mainland Chinese, late-life suicidality was highly associated with the LSNS-6 family subscale, rather than the friends subscale., Conclusion: The LSNS-6 could be a useful tool for assessing social networks among older mainland Chinese. In addition, suggestion is made to improve social networks, especially in family bonds and support, as a promising strategy in reducing late-life suicide risks in mainland China., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

There is increasing recognition that chronic pain is a problem affecting women survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), and in Western literature evidence is emerging about significant factors mediating the relationship between IPV and chronic pain. However, little is known about the factors mediating IPV and chronic pain in Chinese women for whom prior research has shown that Chinese culture may influence their response to IPV. This study was conducted to assess the roles of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depressive symptoms, and IPV-related injury on the relationship between IPV and chronic pain in Chinese women, using structural equation modelling (SEM). Data were collected from 308 Chinese women survivors of IPV recruited at community setting (n = 228) and at domestic violence shelters (n = 82). Results showed that only the relationship between psychological abuse severity and chronic pain severity was mediated by PTSD symptom severity (β = .30, 95% CI = 0.14-0.45, p < .001). Furthermore, although depressive symptom severity was strongly correlated with PTSD symptom severity (β = .69, 95% CI = 0.61-0.76, p < .001), it was not found to be mediating the relationship between any types of IPV and chronic pain. Similarly, IPV-related injury severity was not shown to have a significant mediating effect on the relationship between IPV and chronic pain. The findings affirm the importance of recognizing the complex interrelationships among IPV, mental health symptoms, and physical health problems as well as the need for considering PTSD symptoms when designing interventions for abused Chinese women with complaints of chronic pain.