Dataset Information

Successful Aging as the Intersection of Individual Resources, Age, Environment, and Experiences of Well-being in Daily Activities.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We conceptualize successful aging as a cumulative index of individual resources (the absence of disease and disability, high cognitive and physical functioning, social embeddedness) in the service of successful aging outcomes (global well-being, experienced well-being, and vital status), and conditioned by age, social structure, and environment.

Method

The study used baseline and follow-up data from the 2008-2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 17,230; age = 51-101). Linear, multilevel, and logistic models compared individual resources at baseline as independent, cumulative, and binary predictors of outcomes 4 years later.

Results

Individual resources were unequally distributed across age group and social structures (education, wealth, race, gender) and had a cumulative effect on all successful aging outcomes. For experienced well-being, individual resources were most important at midlife and for groups with lower education. Person-environment congruence (social cohesion, city satisfaction) was associated with all successful aging outcomes and conditioned the effect of individual resources on experienced well-being.

Discussion

A cumulative index allows for gradations in resources that can be compensated for by external factors such as person-environment congruence. This index could guide policy and interventions to enhance resources in vulnerable subgroups and diminish inequalities in successful aging outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Mejia ST

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5939703 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Successful Aging as the Intersection of Individual Resources, Age, Environment, and Experiences of Well-being in Daily Activities.

Mejía Shannon T ST Ryan Lindsay H LH Gonzalez Richard R Smith Jacqui J

The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences 20170301 2

<h4>Objective</h4>We conceptualize successful aging as a cumulative index of individual resources (the absence of disease and disability, high cognitive and physical functioning, social embeddedness) in the service of successful aging outcomes (global well-being, experienced well-being, and vital status), and conditioned by age, social structure, and environment.<h4>Method</h4>The study used baseline and follow-up data from the 2008-2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 17,230; age ...[more]

PMID: 28077430

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Project description:Background and objectivesPhysical impairments affect a substantial number of older adults in the United States, with rates increasing with advancing age. Impairment is linked with compromised well-being, although the reasons are not fully understood. We explore the extent to which linkages between impairment severity and well-being are accounted for by older adults' daily activities. We speculate that activities may influence global appraisals of well-being by offering the opportunity to fulfill productive and social roles and may influence daily emotions by shaping the context (places, people) in which life occurs.Research design and methodWe examine the effects of impairment severity on life satisfaction and four diary-based experienced well-being measures (happiness, frustration, worry, and sadness). Data are from the Disability and Use of Time supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (n = 1,606), a national sample of adults ages 60 years and older in the United States. We estimate nested regression models, taking into account within-person correlations for experienced well-being.ResultsImpairment severity is associated with poorer assessments of life satisfaction and all four dimensions of experienced well-being. Activity measures, which encompass eight productive (e.g., household chores) and three leisure (e.g., socializing) activities, account for 10% of the association between impairment and life satisfaction, and virtually none of the association between impairment and experienced well-being. However, psychosocial factors including higher neuroticism, lower self-efficacy, and poorer quality social relationships account for a sizeable share of the associations.Discussion and implicationsRole-fulfilling aspects of activities appear to be more central than contextual aspects of activities to the impairment-well-being relationship. However, potentially modifiable psychosocial factors account for a much greater share of this relationship. Further research is needed on whether interventions targeting these psychosocial factors might bolster emotional well-being for older adults experiencing impairments.

Dataset Information

Successful Aging as the Intersection of Individual Resources, Age, Environment, and Experiences of Well-being in Daily Activities.

Objective

Method

Results

Discussion

Publications

Successful Aging as the Intersection of Individual Resources, Age, Environment, and Experiences of Well-being in Daily Activities.

Similar Datasets

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