中華心理衛生協會

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of informal social-support systems on the life satisfaction of elderly people in Taiwan. The household-based convoy, which is composed of four circles including household type, non-coresiding family members, relatives, and friends, is used as a proxy for informal social-support systems to establish whether the four circles of the household-based convoy and its completeness have an intermediate effect on elderly life satisfaction. Data from the first round survey of a 1989 panel study entitled ”Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan”, which was conducted by the predecessor of the Bureau of Health Promotion. Multiple regression analyses showed that income, health status, and leisure activities all have a Significant direct effect on life satisfaction via household-based convoy. In addition, the second and fourth circle and the completeness of the household-based convoy also have a significant direct effect on life satisfaction. The above results imply that non-coresiding family members and friends have a significant effect on life satisfaction. Meanwhile, number of circle of one's household-based convoy also has a significant direct effect on life satisfaction.