The Onset of Empty Nest Increases Subjective Well-Being Amongst Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Longitudinal National Evidence From Thailand, 2015–2022

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the longitudinal association between the transition to an empty nest and subjective well-being (positive affect, negative affect and life satisfaction) amongst ageing adults in Thailand from 2015 to 2022. Methods: The Health, Aging and Retirement in Thailand study's four waves of longitudinal data were used. The pooled analytic sample of individuals with live children consisted of 6535 observations of men and 8521 observations of women from four study evaluations conducted in 2015, 2017, 2020 and 2022. The average age of the entire analytical sample was 68.7 years (SD = 11.9 years, range 45–107 years). Empty nest, positive affect, negative affect and life satisfaction were measured using established methods. The longitudinal association between the shift to an empty nest and subjective well-being was estimated using linear fixed-effects (FE) regressions. Results: Adjusted FE regressions showed a positive association between the transitions into an empty nest and positive affect in men (β = 0.32, p < 0.001) and in women (β = 0.17, p < 0.05), and a positive association between the transitions into an empty nest and greater life satisfaction in women (β = 0.12, p < 0.05) but not in men. Transitions into an empty nest were not significantly associated with negative affect in both sexes. Conclusions: The study adds to the body of knowledge on the empty nest sequelae of subjective well-being using longitudinal data. Panel regression models are needed in future longitudinal investigations in other Southeast Asian countries to confirm our results.