Anqi Chen

Objectives: This study examines the bidirectional relationships between social support (family vs. friend) and cognitive function among older Chinese adults, and whether these associations differ by source of support and by urban and rural settings. Methods: Data were from 3 waves (2014, 2016, and 2018) of the Chinese Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (N = 2,700; mean age = 68). Dynamic panel models with fixed effects were applied to examine the reciprocal relationships between social support and cognitive function and determine whether these associations are moderated by hukou status (rural vs. urban). Results: In the overall sample, higher levels of friend support but not family support predicted subsequent cognitive function. In contrast, influences from cognitive function on subsequent family or friend support were not detected. However, hukou status moderated these associations. Both family and friend support promoted enhanced cognitive function only among rural older adults. Conversely, cognitive function was positively associated with subsequent family support among urban older adults but negatively associated among rural older adults. Discussion: The results provide evidence for the social benefit and health selection mechanisms that operate in source-specific (family, friend) and context-specific (rural, urban) ways in China. These findings also indicate the need to consider the cultural norms and structural context when examining the bidirectionality of social support and cognitive function in later life.

As a nascent field, little is known about eco‐social policy, and to an even lesser extent, within emerging economies. This article examines how eco‐social policies are framed and practiced in this context using a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of 20 peer‐reviewed articles, selected from an initial pool of 985 records following a multi‐stage screening and eligibility assessment process. The findings reveal that eco‐social policy in developing countries has evolved as a sub‐agenda within ongoing developmental expansion, operating alongside broader responses to structural complexities rooted in poverty, inequality, and labor informality. It is reflected in the central emphasis on preventive‐institutionalized measures (i.e., long‐term planning, community‐based resource governance, just transition strategies ), complemented by compensatory short‐term interventions (i.e., social assistance, job training, and climate‐related risk support ), aimed at realigning welfare regimes with environmental and social welfare objectives. Nevertheless, these policies are not conditioned to supporting industrial decarbonization, but instead function as risk reducers for the just transition and the climate crisis–particularly given widespread informality and (environmental‐related) structural vulnerability. Based on this pattern, the article argues that eco‐social policy in emerging economies most likely follows a green‐buffering rather than a production‐oriented, decarbonization‐driven trajectory characteristic of mature welfare states. The article concludes by outlining limitations and future research directions, calling for empirical testing and contextual refinement of the framework across diverse post‐colonial settings and emerging just transition coalitions.

Objectives: Recent studies suggest that the association between social participation (SP) and mental health may change with age, although the direction of this relationship is unclear. Although some suggest that the mental health benefits of SP decline with age, others argue they become more important in later life. In this article, we suggest a context-dependent divergence in aging trajectories: whereas urban older adults continue to gain mental health benefits from SP, their rural counterparts gradually stop deriving such benefits over time. Methods: We drew on four waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011–2018; N = 16,233; 53,056 person-years) to examine how SP shapes depressive symptoms among adults aged 45 and older. Growth curve models were employed to assess the age-related trajectories of the effects of SP on depressive symptoms, and interaction terms were introduced to analyze urban–rural differences. Results: A significant three-way interaction (Informal Social Participation × Rural × Age) revealed that the mental health benefits of informal SP increased with age among urban older adults but gradually declined among their rural counterparts. This divergence became statistically significant at around age 60 and continued to widen thereafter, indicating a growing urban advantage in the protective effects of informal engagement over time. Discussion: These findings suggest that the mental health benefits of SP change with age in ways shaped by residential context, highlighting the need to consider how urban and rural environments differently influence aging trajectories.

Purpose: The significance of well-being in social development policy and practice is increasingly acknowledged by scholars and practitioners worldwide. Nevertheless, when examining well-being within the context of Global South trends, existing conceptualisations seem to yield incongruent indicators. Given the background, this paper aims to synthesise theoretical and empirical literature on well-being to foster an understanding of well-being in contemporary Global South.Design/methodology/approach: This article reviews the now large literature on the well-being in the Global South. The article begins with a discussion of the contributions of state-of-the-art developments in well-being studies, a realm experiencing remarkable growth in social policy studies. It then turns to the prominent well-being constructs that have garnered considerable attention within the literature, with an examination of the Global North and Global South context followed by reinterpretation of these concepts to facilitate a comprehensive study of well-being beyond the realms of welfare states. Concluding the narrative, a succinct outline of potential pathways for future research is presented in the final section.Findings: The review reveals that the concept of well-being in the Global South does not necessarily deviate entirely from the prevailing belief that the region is fundamentally distinct from the Global North on a conceptual level. The authors have discovered that three core dimensions of well-being, namely objective, subjective and relational, are observable across societal boundaries due to the diffusion of knowledge and social and cultural practices that have progressively aligned them with Global North-style modernisation. An exception arises in the relational aspect, where the attainment of positive collective relationships precedes individual happiness to some extent. The paper advances a renewed perspective on well-being, portraying it as a situational, interconnected, collective undertaking and continuous process. These approaches empower the researchers to address the overarching question of which analytical foundations can most effectively uncover the intricacies of well-being in diverse and contemporary circumstances.Originality/value: This paper helps the researchers to address the overarching question of which analytical foundations can most effectively uncover the intricacies of well-being in diverse and contemporary circumstances, thereby facilitating future enhancements in social policy design.