Objective To study the ability to engage in social participation activities and the influence of children′s emotional support on the ability of Chinese elderly, and to provide evidence for improving intergenerational harmony and the quality of life of the elderly.

Methods Relevant data of 6 775 residents aged 60 and above were extracted from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Participants′ social participation ability was analyzed using Stata 17.0 software, and participants′ ability was categorized using a latent class analysis (LCA) using RStudio software. In addition, a multivariate logistic model was used to examine the influence of children′s emotional support on elderly′s social participation ability and the mediating effect of loneliness on this influence.

Results The LCA revealed that about half (47.50%) of the participants had low ability to participate in social activities, obviously higher than those with moderate (7.36% and 36.49% for individual and household-centered activities) and high (8.65%) ability; more elderly women were classified as having moderate ability than elderly men (44.15% vs. 28.22%), and among those with moderate ability, the proportion was significantly higher in those aged ≥ 70 years (49.37% vs. 24.59%), with education of junior high school or higher (37.09% vs. 36.29%), and with non-agricultural household registration (56.60% vs. 30.46%) compared with those aged 60 – 69 years, with primary school education, and with agricultural household registration (P < 0.01 for all). The results of multivariate logistic model analysis showed that the elderly with higher emotional support from children were more likely to have moderate ability of social participation activity, with odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of 1.35 (1.03 – 1.77) and 1.37 (1.18 – 1.59) for ability of individual and household-centered activities. Emotional support from children could also improve the ability of social participation activities by reducing the loneliness of the elderly (β = – 0.14 – – 0.08, P < 0.05).

Conclusion The ability to engage in social participation activities was poor among the elderly in China in 2018. Emotional support from children is positively correlated with the elderly′s ability to engage in social participation activities, and the support plays a mediating role in the improvement by reducing the elderly′s loneliness.