Understanding Quality of Life in Older Adults

• Main Author: Cardona, Laura A.
• Other Authors: Neumann, Craig S.
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of North Texas 2010
• Subjects: Well-being; depression; elderly; physical functioning; life satisfaction; CASP-19; WHOQOL; Older people > Health and hygiene > United States.; Quality of life > United States.; Older people > United States > Psychology.; Older people > Social networks > United States.; Aging > United States.
• Online Access: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc28402/

I analyzed the 2004 and 2006 Health and Retirement Study data to test structural equation models of the quality of life (QOL) construct. The participants (N = 1352) were non-institutionalized individuals aged 42 and older (M = 65.70, SD = 10.88), with an average education of 12.73 years (SD = 2.96) and of varied ethnicities. The results indicated that physical functioning, affective experience, life satisfaction and social support could serve as indicators for a second order QOL factor. Furthermore, the developed QOL model explained 96% of the variance of the CASP-19 (Control, Autonomy, Self-realization and Pleasure), a QOL measure that reflects fulfillment of psychological needs. The results also indicated that Depression and Life Satisfaction are related through reciprocal causation and that Physical Functioning is more likely to cause a change in Depression than the reverse. The results suggest that QOL is a complex, multidimensional concept that should be studied at different levels of analysis.