Social contact, socioeconomic status, and the health status of older Malaysians

We tested the applicability of the stress buffering hypothesis in a develop ing country setting with data from the Senior Sample of the Malaysian Famil y Life Survey-2. Using ordered logistic regression methods, we examined whe ther having daily contact with adult children moderates the effect of low s ocioeconomic status (SES; conceptualized as a chronic stressor) on self-ass essed health status. We found that low SES is associated with poorer health for all three ethnic groups-Malay, Chinese, and Indian. Further, for Malay s and Chinese, we found that the negative effects of low SES on health tend to be stronger for older people with less frequent contact with adult chil dren than for those who have daily contact. These results provide general s upport for the buffering model and suggest that, as found in developed coun tries, active intergenerational relationships in developing country setting s may have protective effects on the health of older people experiencing ch ronic stressors.