Sibling relationships of older adults in China: The role of gender composition and birth order

Many older adults in China are facing a severe shortage of social support. Although siblings play a crucial role in providing support for older adults, their importance has not received enough attention in China. Applying multilevel logistic regression models to the data from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, we explored the influence of gender composition and birth order on older adults’ sibling relationships in the context of Chinese cultures (Patrilocality, Patriarchality, and Ti). We found that the gender composition of the sibling and elder was significantly associated with the frequency of visits, with the male sibling-male elder dyad interacted most. Siblings were more likely to frequently visit an elder whose birth order was higher than their own. While the gender composition-frequency of visits association was only significant in the urban areas, birth order had a significant influence on the frequency of visits both in the rural and urban areas.