Intergenerational Support and Frailty Trajectories Among Older Adults in China: Implications for Gerontological Social Work

Using four waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (2008-2018), we analyzed 6,881 older adults observed at every wave. Group-based trajectory modeling identified persistently low frailty, high frailty with slow change, and low initial frailty followed by rapid increase. In multinomial logit models, overall baseline intergenerational support was positively associated with both higher-risk trajectories before adjustment, but neither association remained statistically significant after adjustment for baseline demographic, health, and behavioral covariates. The rapid increase among some participants with low initial frailty underscores the value of repeated frailty assessment in gerontological social work.