A growing body of literature suggests that recent adversity impedes psychological well-being. Little is known about the potentially differential roles of family or neighborhood support in such associations. This study aims to examine the effect of family- and neighborhood-support on this association between recent adversity and psychological well-being, with a focus on rural-urban differences. Data were collected from 1775 community-dwelling older adults (60+) in Anhui Province, China. Multilevel ordered logit regressions with interaction terms were carried out. Stratified analyses by rural-urban residence were further conducted. Results indicated that 25.86% of the sample experienced at least one adverse event in the past two years, and the overall prevalence of psychological distress was 13.13%. Rural-urban differences in the effective support systems were observed: cohesive neighborhood buffered stress for rural older adults whereas good family relationship buffered stress for urban older adults. Findings highlight the critical role of family and neighborhood support in combating the negative psychological consequences of recent adversity among rural and urban Chinese older adults. The implications for future research and practice were discussed.