ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the urban community empty nesters' mental health status in Xi'an,analyze the causes,and thus to recommend some countermeasures.Methods:The general situation questionnaire,the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90),the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS) and the Memorial University of Newfoundland Scale of Happiness were used to investigate the mental health status of urban community empty nesters.A total of 280 old men have been investigated,of which 150 were empty nesters (research group) but 130 were not (control group).Results:There was no statistically significant difference in gender,age,education background between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).As for SCL-90,the average scores of somatization,interpersonal relationship,depression,anxiety,and horror in the research group were significantly higher than the control group (P ＜ 0.05),while there was no significant difference in other factors (P ＞ 0.05).The scores of SSRS,objective support,subjective support,and exploitation degree of support in the research group were all significantly lower than the control group (P ＜ 0.05).The subjective well-being was significantly lower in the research group than the control group (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion:In Xi'an,the overall mental health of community empty nester is at a low level.It suggests perfect the old-age care system in our country,appeal to social organizations to give full play in supporting role,strengthen psychological intervention of community health service center,strengthen the construction of ethics and filial piety culture,deepen the consciousness of family in order to improve the empty nesters' mental health.