Abstract
Leisure participation plays an important role in healthy aging. With the increasing elderly population and its potential social and economic influences, examining the factors that contribute to leisure constraints can be meaningful in evaluating and shaping Chinese seniors’ leisure participation. Adopting a face-to-face cross-sectional design, this study interviewed 907 community-dwelling seniors in five cities across Eastern, Western, and Southeastern China to explore their leisure comprehension, participation, perceived constraints, and the relationship between demographic factors and perceived constraints. The results indicated that the participants were satisfied with their leisure participation in general; their leisure comprehension and participation were consistent with the literature. Various demographic factors influenced the perception of leisure constraints differently, with the city size of the participants’ residence standing out in terms of its impact on the number of constraints. Recommendations for future research and policy development to promote healthy aging are discussed.
Highlights
China is becoming an aging society quickly at a rate that no other country in the world can match (China Power Team, 2016)
We believe that more descriptive research, as in several of the papers cited above, is sorely needed before launching into extensive hypothesis testing” (p. 421). With all of this in mind, the purpose of the current study was to explore 1) leisure comprehension, 2) leisure participation, 3) leisure constraints, and 4) how demographic factors affect the perception of leisure constraints among Chinese retirees
The results of the current study indicate that demographic factors—education, income source, occupation before retirement, age, gender, city size of the residence, marital status, and self-perceived health status—affect the perception of leisure constraints differently
Summary
China is becoming an aging society quickly at a rate that no other country in the world can match (China Power Team, 2016). Leisure participation contributes to healthy aging (Gibson & Singleton, 2012). It has been well established that spending time in leisure activities is positively associated with physical health, life satisfaction, and psychological wellbeing for the elderly (Gibson & Singleton, 2012). Leisure is defined through time, activity, and experience (Hurd & Anderson, 2011; Kelly, 2012). Leisure is: 1) time free from the necessity to labor for a livelihood, such as work and daily chores, 2) activities that free one from his or her obligations, and 3) experience that is positive and pleasant in its participants’ view
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