Abstract: In the context of increasing global population aging trend, it is of vital importance to improve the well-being of the frail elderly and create an active aging society. Based on the survey of 31 provinces of China, this paper makes use of the macro data from the“China Statistical Yearbook”and“China Health Statistical Yearbook”from 2017 to 2021 and constructs a cross-hierarchy model (HLM) according to the social quality theory, the self-determination theory and the social class theory, so as to explore the mechanism of the influence of social and economic security on the well-being of the frail elderly. The findings show that: (1) social and economic security, social status, and personal psychological resilience all have a positive impact on the well-being of the frail elderly; (2) psychological resilience partially mediates the relationship between social and economic security and the well-being of the frail elderly, while no such mediating effect exists between social status and the well-being of the frail elderly; (3) both social and economic security and social status have a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between psychological resilience and the well-being of the frail elderly.

Key words: frail elderly, well-being, social and economic security, social status