The impact of independence on the subjective well-being of elder orphans: the mediating role of social support
- 1School of Nursing, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine
Abstract
Objective: To explore the relationship between independence and subjective well-being (SWB) among elder orphans, as well as the mediating role of social support.
Methods: From November 2025 to February 2026, a cluster sampling method was used to select 384 elder orphans in Changsha as the research subjects. General demographic questionnaires, the Memorial University of Newfoundland Scale of Happiness (MUNSH), the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and the WHO Quality of Life-100 (WHOQOL-100) Independence subscale were used for investigation. The SPSS PROCESS plugin was applied to test the mediating effect.
Results: (1) The scores of subjective well-being, social support, and independence among elder orphans were all at a moderate level; (2) Each dimension of independence was significantly positively correlated with subjective well-being. After incorporating covariates, activities of daily living (ADL) (c_cs approximately 0.53) and mobility (c_cs approximately 0.52) exhibited comparable, and the strongest completely standardized total effects, followed by work capacity (c_cs = 0.45) and dependence on medicinal substances (c_cs = 0.33). Among all dimensions, work capacity exerted the largest proportion of total effect through social support (27.69%); (3) Utilization of support was a significant mediating variable primarily in the three dimensions of mobility, activities of daily living, and work capacity. The mediating effect of subjective support is not significant, while the indirect effect of objective support on the dimension of work capacity has reached a statistically significant level, but the effect size is extremely small. The dependence on medicinal substances dimension showed no significant association with any of the three dimensions of social support, and its association with SWB was concentrated in the direct path (direct effect accounting for 90.27% of the total effect).
Conclusion: Independence is associated with higher subjective well-being, and utilization of support may mediate this association. Preliminary research suggests that in the practice of care services for older adults, establishing a functional independence assessment and monitoring mechanism, assisting in the development of individualized functional maintenance plans, and enhancing the utilization of support ability of elder orphans through social skills training, peer support groups, and other methods may serve as potential directions for promoting their subjective well-being.
Related
- The association between parental physical activity and the parent–child relationship in early childhood: the serial mediating roles of emotion regulation and subjective wellbeing
- The Mediating Role of Illness Perception Between Psychological Capital and Subjective Well-Being in Breast Cancer Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study.
- Exercise self-efficacy plays a mediating role between social support and physical function among patients transferred from the intensive care unit
- Chain mediating effect of resilience and disease acceptance on social support and self-management behavior in patients with liver cirrhosis
- Dissociation between muscle activation, spinal joint load, and subjective perception in passive back support exoskeleton use
BibTeX
@article{li2026impact,
title = {{The impact of independence on the subjective well-being of elder orphans: the mediating role of social support}},
author = {Yi Li and Yijia Ren and Qingyan Chen and Yang Xie and Jia Xiao and Juntao Wang and Chunyan Li},
journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1987876},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1987876/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The impact of independence on the subjective well-being of elder orphans: the mediating role of social support
AU - Yi Li
AU - Yijia Ren
AU - Qingyan Chen
AU - Yang Xie
AU - Jia Xiao
AU - Juntao Wang
AU - Chunyan Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/09
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1987876
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1987876/full
AB - Objective: To explore the relationship between independence and subjective well-being (SWB) among elder orphans, as well as the mediating role of social support. Methods: From November 2025 to February 2026, a cluster sampling method was used to select 384 elder orphans in Changsha as the research subjects. General demographic questionnaires, the Memorial University of Newfoundland Scale of Happiness (MUNSH), the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and the WHO Quality of Life-100 (WHOQOL-100) Independence subscale were used for investigation. The SPSS PROCESS plugin was applied to test the mediating effect. Results: (1) The scores of subjective well-being, social support, and independence among elder orphans were all at a moderate level; (2) Each dimension of independence was significantly positively correlated with subjective well-being. After incorporating covariates, activities of daily living (ADL) (c_cs approximately 0.53) and mobility (c_cs approximately 0.52) exhibited comparable, and the strongest completely standardized total effects, followed by work capacity (c_cs = 0.45) and dependence on medicinal substances (c_cs = 0.33). Among all dimensions, work capacity exerted the largest proportion of total effect through social support (27.69%); (3) Utilization of support was a significant mediating variable primarily in the three dimensions of mobility, activities of daily living, and work capacity. The mediating effect of subjective support is not significant, while the indirect effect of objective support on the dimension of work capacity has reached a statistically significant level, but the effect size is extremely small. The dependence on medicinal substances dimension showed no significant association with any of the three dimensions of social support, and its association with SWB was concentrated in the direct path (direct effect accounting for 90.27% of the total effect). Conclusion: Independence is associated with higher subjective well-being, and utilization of support may mediate this association. Preliminary research suggests that in the practice of care services for older adults, establishing a functional independence assessment and monitoring mechanism, assisting in the development of individualized functional maintenance plans, and enhancing the utilization of support ability of elder orphans through social skills training, peer support groups, and other methods may serve as potential directions for promoting their subjective well-being.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -