Abstract:  Base on the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey(1998-2005),We examine the relationship between the death of a spouse and mortality using Cox Proportional Hazard Model,and analyze the role of spousal care in this relationship.The results show that death of a spouse is a significant predictor of mortality of the elderly.Generally,the mortality of the continually widowed is higher than that of their continually married counterparts.Moreover,besides the oldest old female,transition from marriage to widowhood is associated with an initial increase in mortality,but this increase dissipates with age.However,we further find that the care from a spouse is an important factor which moderates the relationship between widowhood and mortality.Controlling for spousal care,the difference of mortality dramatically declines,which shows that the care from a spouse has an important effect on the life-span of the elderly.Finally,we find that there is to some extent gender difference and age difference in the role of spousal care.

Keywords:  Widowhood, Mortality, Spousal Care, Chinese Elderly

摘要： 文章基于"中国老人健康长寿影响因素研究数据"(1998~2005),利用Cox比例风险模型考察了中国老人丧偶对其死亡风险的影响机制,并深入分析了配偶照顾因素在降低老人死亡风险中的作用。结果发现:丧偶与死亡风险具有显著的关系,一般而言,长期丧偶老人的死亡风险显著地高于长期有偶的老人。而且,除了高龄女性老人之外,老人在丧偶初期,其死亡风险会大大增加。在解释丧偶是如何影响老人的死亡风险时,配偶的照顾是一个非常重要的因素,在控制配偶照顾的条件下,丧偶者与有偶者的死亡风险差异会大幅下降,这说明来自配偶的生活照顾对于老人的寿命发挥着重要影响。此外,本研究也发现配偶照顾的作用具有显著的性别差异和年龄组差异。

关键词:  丧偶, 死亡风险, 配偶照顾, 中国老人