Cognitive and psychosocial predictors of subjective well-being in urban older adults

Prior research indicates that physical health and social support have substantial influences on subjective well-being among older adults. However, little research has examined the influences of coping style and cognitive functioning on subjective well-being among older adults. This study investigated cognitive and psychosocial predictors of subjective well-being among 129 adults, ages 65-89 years. Canonical correlation indicated that subjective well-being was characterized by two dimensions: life satisfaction and affective balance (happiness). The use of emotion-focused coping strategies and poor perceived health were associated with diminished perceptions of life satisfaction, whereas task-oriented and avoidance-oriented coping were positively related to happiness. Cognitive functioning was positively related to life satisfaction and pleasant emotions independent of education and income.     

The relationship between severity of dementia and subjective well-being

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between cognitive deficits and self-reported subjective well-being (depression, life satisfaction, and perceived social support). Sixty-three participants who suffered from mild to moderate dementia were interviewed with standardized measurements of subjective well-being. Reliability and validity of the instruments were satisfactory. Zero-order correlations showed significant correlations between depression, life satisfaction, and perceived social support. Cognitive functioning correlated negatively with perceived social support. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the interaction of physical diseases and cognitive functioning produced a significant change in depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Participants with mild dementia reported more depressive symptoms and less life satisfaction than persons with more severe dementia, if there were few constraints on physical health.     

Humor coping, health status, and life satisfaction among older adults residing in assisted living facilities

The present study examined the relationships between humor coping, health status, and life satisfaction among older residents of assisted living facilities. A structural equation model with latent variables was specified for the three variables. Health status was expected to directly affect humor coping and life satisfaction. Humor coping was hypothesized to have a direct association with life satisfaction and indirectly affect the relationship between health status and life satisfaction. Participants completed the Multidimensional Functional Assessment Questionnaire, Coping Humor Scale, and Life Satisfaction Index A. The relationships between health status and humor coping and health status and life satisfaction were statistically significant. Both the direct association of humor coping on life satisfaction and the intervening role between health status and life satisfaction were not supported. Humor as a coping strategy seems to be available to older adults who are in better health.     

Leisure Activities,Happiness, Life Satisfaction,and Health Perception of Older Korean Adults

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between types of leisure activities and happiness, life satisfaction, and health perception of older Korean adults during the COVID-19 era. Using snowballing and purposive sampling methods, 123 respondents participated in the study. The results show that participation in outdoor activities and home-based activities served as a strong predictor of happiness, life satisfaction, and health perceptions among older Korean adults. These findings suggest that engaging in outdoor activities and home-based activities is likely to increase the psychological and mental health of older Korean adults during the COVID-19 era.     

Subjective health and memory self-efficacy as mediators in the relation between subjective age and life satisfaction among older adults

Objective: Perceiving oneself as younger than one's actual age functions as a self-enhancing positive illusion that promotes life satisfaction. However, no research has yet focused on the mechanisms through which a youthful subjective age could be related to higher life satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to identify the mediating role of resources, such as subjective health and memory self-efficacy, in the relation between subjective age and life satisfaction among older adults.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 250 older individuals aged from 60 to 77 years who completed measures of subjective age, subjective health, memory self-efficacy, and life satisfaction.

Results: Path analysis revealed that subjective age was positively related to both subjective health and memory self-efficacy, and that subjective health and memory self-efficacy were both positively related to life satisfaction. Bootstrap procedures further indicated that subjective age has significant total and specific indirect contribution to life satisfaction through subjective health and memory self-efficacy.

Discussion: This study fills a gap in existing literature and suggests that a youthful subjective age is associated with higher life satisfaction because it is related to higher evaluation of health and memory self-efficacy. It provides an initial support for a resource-based explanation of the relation between subjective age and life satisfaction.     

Kin keepers and good providers: influence of gender socialization on well-being among USA birth cohorts

Previous research has suggested happiness and distress differ for men and women over the life course, but little attention has focused on whether the predictors of well-being vary for each group. The second wave of the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH2) data was used to study whether hypothesized differential exposure to traditional gender socialization has influenced perceptions of life achievement, global happiness and depression for adult men and women in distinct USA birth cohorts. Numerous findings illustrated similarity among cohort and gender groups in predictors of well-being. There was also evidence of a change in USA gender socialization, and determinants of the dependent variables varied according to these shifts by sex and cohort membership. For example, in the earliest born cohort, women's happiness was related to frequency of contact with relatives, consistent with the kin keeper role. Assets and income predicted depression and global happiness for older men, suggesting a link between well-being and the good provider role. In the latest born cohorts, not just androgynous, but opposite influences predominated as men and women demonstrated less evidence of traditional socialization shaping their satisfaction with achievements and psychological well-being.     

Happiness and congruence in older adulthood: a structural model of life satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to determine how health impairment, socioeconomic status, and social support relate to life satisfaction in later life. Using data from a sample of 320 older adults from The Georgia Centenarian Study, we constructed a structural model of life satisfaction. LISREL analysis was performed to test a two-factor model that included Happiness and Congruence and to determine the relationship of health impairment, socioeconomic status (SES), and social support to Happiness and Congruence, two measures of the Life Satisfaction Index-A (LSI-A). Data were found to provide a satisfactory fit of the model (GFI = 0.94; AFGI = 0.91). Social support and SES were found to have direct effects on health impairment. Health impairment was a key predictor and mediating variable of Happiness and Congruence. Findings also support a relationship between social resources and subjective well-being in later life. In particular, the association between social resources and life satisfaction was mediated through health impairment. These findings offer understanding relative to how health and social resources influence past and present assessments of subjective well-being among the elderly.     

Cognitive rehabilitation in the elderly: an evaluation of psychosocial factors.

In this study, we report changes in psychosocial function in two groups of older adults that participated in the experimental trial of our cognitive rehabilitation program. The results, based on tests that measured a range of psychosocial attributes, showed that, following training, participants improved in terms of overall well-being, as well as in specific areas that included perceived happiness, coping strategies, and quality of life. An important finding was that improvements were also observed in long-term follow-up testing. Both groups benefited from training, but the effect was greater in the group that received training before undergoing a control procedure. The results, which show that the benefits of our rehabilitation program extend into the psychosocial domain, underscore the potentially important relationship between psychosocial factors and cognitive performance in older adults.     

Promoting older adults' well-being through Internet training and use

The purpose of the current research was to test the psychological impact of learning how to use computers and the Internet in old age, hypothesizing that such activities would contribute to seniors' well-being and personal sense of empowerment. Employing a quasi-experimental research design, we offered a course, conducted in small groups, in computer operation and Internet browsing to 22 older adults (mean age of 80) who went to day-care centers for the elderly or resided in nursing homes. A comparison group of 26 participants (similar in all major respects) was engaged in other activities. Both groups were administered measures of physical functioning, life satisfaction, depression, loneliness and self-control at pre- and post-intervention four months later. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants who finished the computer course. ANCOVA was employed for controlling the effects of control variables and pre-intervention differences on participants who completed the activities. Results showed a significant improvement among participants in the intervention group in all measures except physical functioning, whereas deterioration in all measures was detected in the comparison group. Computer and Internet use seems to contribute to older adults' well-being and sense of empowerment by affecting their interpersonal interactions, promoting their cognitive functioning and contributing to their experience of control and independence.     

Predictors of subjective cognitive difficulties in older adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe the relationship among cognitive test performance, psychological symptoms, and subjective cognitive difficulties in older adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease. METHOD: Participants were 80 adults over the age of 55 with an unequivocal diagnosis of atherosclerotic vascular disease. Participants completed measures of neuropsychological functioning, psychological symptoms, and two measures of subjective cognitive difficulties. RESULTS: Psychological symptoms were most strongly associated with higher levels of reported cognitive difficulties. Overall neuropsychological functioning was modestly related to subjective cognitive difficulties but did not remain significant after controlling for psychological symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample of older adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease, self-reported cognitive difficulties were most strongly related to overall level of psychological distress and not to actual cognitive test scores. Therefore, psychological factors may play an important role in the phenomenon of self-perceived cognitive decline in geriatric populations.     

Religiosity and subjective well-being

More than 200 studies showed correlations between religiosity and mental health, which are predominantly positive, but also negative and neutral. A model is proposed, which refers not only to clinical perspectives, but also to the sociological research concerning the relationships between religiosity and subjective well-being (life satisfaction, happiness etc.). This model conceptualizes subjective well-being as a protective counterpart to mental health deficits. More specifically, this model describes important processes of religiously motivated social interaction and intrapsychic regulation of emotions, and interprets them as interactions between religiosity and subjective well-being.     

Psychosocial Weil-Being and Epilepsy: An Empirical Study

The study examined the self-esteem, life fulfillments, social and interpersonal difficulties, general physical health, worries, and happiness of 392 adults with epilepsy using various psychometric instruments. A questionnaire method was used, and the sample was drawn from urban and rural epilepsy support groups in several regions of Great Britain and Ireland and a hospital outpatient population. The findings indicated general low well-being among the epilepsy sample when compared with a nonepilepsy sample matched for age and sex. Factors associated with high and low well-being within the epilepsy sample were also investigated. People's perceptions of themselves and of their epilepsy were strongly related to overall well-being, and seizure frequency, ratings of certainty of diagnosis, time since diagnosis, and a diagnosis of absence seizures also seemed of some significance. From a range of background factors, only employment status showed any significant association with well-being. The research findings have implications for the management of people with epilepsy and suggest that ratings of subjective experience could be usefully incorporated into future research into the quality of life of people with epilepsy.     

A program of positive intervention in the elderly: memories,gratitude and forgiveness

Objective: The main goal of this study has been to increase the quality of life in people of over 60 years through a positive psychology intervention.Method: We employed a program which consists of training based on autobiographical memory, forgiveness and gratitude. The sample consisted of 46 participants aged 60–93 years. State and trait anxiety, depression, general memory, specific memories, life satisfaction and subjective happiness were measured.Results: The results revealed that participants who followed the program (experimental group) showed a significant decrease in state anxiety and depression as well as an increase in specific memories, life satisfaction and subjective happiness, compared with the placebo group.Conclusion: Our program offers promising results and provides new evidence for the effectiveness of positive interventions in the field of psychogerontology, helping increase subjective well-being and quality of life in older adults by focusing interventions on the enhancement of personal and social resources for being happy.     

Social Support Moderates Caregiver Life Satisfaction Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Social support is an important determinant of adjustment following traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained by a family member. The present study examined the extent to which social support moderates the influence of characteristics of the person with injury on caregiver subjective well-being. Sixty pairs of individuals who had sustained a moderate to severe TBI and their caregivers (N = 120) participated. Years postinjury ranged from 0.3 to 9.9 (M = 4.8, SD = 2.6). Cognitive, functional, and neurobehavioral functioning of participants with TBI were assessed using neuropsychological tests and rating scales. Caregiver life satisfaction and perceived social support were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Results indicated that time since injury was unrelated to life satisfaction. Neurobehavioral disturbances showed an inverse relation with life satisfaction. Social support emerged as an important moderator of life satisfaction. Only among caregivers with low social support was cognitive dysfunction adversely related to life satisfaction. Similarly, a trend suggested that patient unawareness of deficit was associated with caregiver life dissatisfaction only among caregivers with low social support. In contrast, these characteristics were unrelated to life satisfaction among caregivers with adequate social support.     

Downward social comparison and subjective well-being in late life: The moderating role of perceived control

Objective: Drawing from Heckhausen and Schulz's Motivational Theory of Life-span Development, this study examined perceived control as a moderator of the protective relationship between downward social comparison and subjective well-being among older adults.

Methods: Community-dwelling older adults (N?=?97, 63% female, ages 79–97) were interviewed in their own homes at three time-points over a nine-year period. Interviews assessed older adults’ perceived control over daily tasks, their use of downward social comparison in response to task restriction, and their subjective well-being.

Results: Regression analyses yielded a significant interaction between downward social comparison and perceived control for three subjective well-being outcomes: life satisfaction, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms. Follow-up analyses revealed that downward social comparison was associated with greater subjective well-being at low levels of perceived control; but was unrelated to subjective well-being at high levels of perceived control.

Conclusion: These findings corroborate Heckhausen and Schulz's theorized goal-opportunity congruence premise and have implications for quality-of-life interventions to assist community-dwelling older adults.     

Ageing with an intellectual disability: the impact of personal resources on well‐being

Background The population of ageing people with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities (ID) is growing rapidly. This study examines how personal resources (physical health, mental health and social networks) impact the well‐being of ageing people with ID. Methods Longitudinal survey data on 667 people with a mild or moderate ID were acquired via interviews in 2006 and 2010. Indicators of personal resources (physical health, mental health and social networks) were assessed, as were indicators of well‐being (satisfaction with life, happiness and loneliness). Additionally, data on background characteristics and autonomy were gathered. Results The results show that age is positively related to decreased mobility and auditory disabilities and negatively related to independent living, autonomy in how one spends one's leisure time and autonomy in decision‐making. Longitudinal analyses demonstrated that, with the exception of health that deteriorated, and social satisfaction that improved, almost all variables remained stable over the 4‐year period. Further, good physical health in 2006 predicted happiness in 2010. Conclusion Despite the fact that age is associated with poorer physical and mental health and a smaller social network, this study showed that older people with ID have relatively high levels of well‐being. Findings are discussed in the light of coping with ageing and impact of life events.     

Reasons for living,meaning in life,and suicide ideation: investigating the roles of key positive psychological factors in reducing suicide risk in community-residing older adults

Objectives: To investigate the roles of reasons for living (RFL) and meaning in life (MIL) in potentially promoting mental health and well-being and protecting against suicide ideation among community-residing older adults and to investigate the psychometric properties of the Reasons for Living Scale-Older Adult version (RFL-OA).

Method: Of 173 older adults initially recruited into a longitudinal study on late-life suicide ideation, 109 completed the RFL-OA and measures of cognitive and physical functioning and positive and negative psychological factors at a two-year follow-up assessment. We tested a model in which RFL and MIL protect against suicide ideation, controlling for demographic and clinical factors. We also assessed the psychometric properties of the RFL-OA in community-residing older adults, investigating its internal consistency and its convergent (MIL, perceived social support, and life satisfaction), divergent (loneliness, depressive symptom severity, and suicide ideation), and discriminant validity (cognitive and physical functioning).

Results: RFL-OA scores explained significant variance in suicide ideation, controlling for age, sex, depressive symptom severity, and loneliness. MIL explained significant unique variance in suicide ideation, controlling for these factors and RFL, and MIL significantly mediated the association between RFL and suicide ideation. Psychometric analyses indicated strong internal consistency (α = .94), convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity for the RFL-OA relative to positive and negative psychological factors and cognitive and physical functioning.

Conclusion: These findings add to a growing body of literature suggesting merit in investigating positive psychological factors together with negative factors when assessing suicide risk and planning psychological services for older adults.     

Residential environment and quality of life among seriously mentally ill residents of board and care homes

This study examined the relationship between residential environment of seriously mentally ill patients living in board and care homes and quality of life. Participants included 162 seriously mentally ill veteran patients living in 26 board and care homes in Los Angeles. Data from structured interviews were used to assess subjective quality of life (satisfaction with living situation and general well-being) and objective quality of life (social functioning and daily activities). Independent variables examined in multivariate analyses included individual socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, objective characteristics of the home, and subjective resident assessments of social climate within the home. Adjusting for individual characteristics, social climate was significantly and positively associated with both satisfaction with current living situation and with general well-being. Interpersonal conflict was negatively associated with general well-being. Number of beds within the home and median income in the neighborhood were significantly associated (positively and negatively, respectively) with social functioning outside the home. Living environment characteristics explained between 3 and 9% of the total variation in three of four quality of life measures, and 27% of the variation in the fourth, satisfaction with living situation. Satisfaction with living situation among seriously mentally ill residents of board and care homes may be enhanced by making the social climate more positive, and reducing conflict within the home. Social functioning outside of the home may be enhanced by placing patients into a home with more beds, and/or a home located in a lower income neighborhood.     

Self-reported well-being of women and men with intellectual disabilities in England

We investigated the association between indicators of subjective well-being and the personal characteristics, socioeconomic position, and social relationships of a sample of 1,273 English adults with intellectual disabilities. Mean overall happiness with life was 71% of the scale maximum, a figure only marginally lower than typically reported among the general population. Variation in subjective well-being was strongly and consistently related to indicators of socioeconomic position and, to a lesser extent, social relationships. For women, being single was associated with greater well-being on all indicators. For men, there was no association between marital status and well-being. Relationships with friends who also had intellectual disabilities appeared to be protective against feeling helpless.     

The impact of health status on work, symptoms, and functional outcomes in severe mental illness

This study evaluated the relationships between self-ratings of physical role functioning and general health, two components of the MOS SF-36, and a variety of demographic, quality of life, clinical, functional, and attitudinal variables in a cohort of adults living with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). We hypothesized that poorer self-perceptions of physical functioning and general health would be significantly related to more severe symptoms and poorer functioning and quality of life. Study subjects were 218 adults with SPMI enrolled in a randomized controlled trial comparing two vocational interventions for persons who were unemployed. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine whether psychiatric symptoms, poorer self-perceptions of role limitations due to physical health problems and overall general health independently contributed to more severe symptoms and poorer functioning and quality of life. Psychiatric symptoms were inversely related to size of social network and satisfaction with safety. Increased role limitations were associated with reduced medication compliance, general life satisfaction, and satisfaction with health, daily activities, and safety. Reduced general health was significantly associated with reduced work motivation, self-esteem, current inability to work, self-report of functioning, and almost all subjective life satisfaction domains. Within this group of people with severe mental illness, psychiatric symptoms were minimally associated with outcomes. Physical role limitations contributed more, and an integrated global measure of overall health perception was most important. If we are to help persons with severe mental illness maximize their quality of life and functioning, our clinical interventions should employ an approach that appreciates and recognizes the importance of the patients' experience of a holistic and integrated experience of health.