Successful aging and subjective well-being among oldest-old adults

Abstract

Purpose of the study: This research integrates successful aging and developmental adaptation models to empirically define the direct and indirect effects of 2 distal (i.e., education and past life experiences) and 5 proximal influences (i.e., physical functioning, cognitive functioning, physical health impairment, social resources, and perceived economic status) on subjective well-being. The proximal influences involved predictors outlined in most extant models of successful aging (e.g., Rowe & Kahn, 1998 [Rowe, J. W., & Kahn, R. L. (1998). Successful aging. New York: Pantheon Books.]). Our model extends such models by including distal impact as well as interactions between distal and proximal impacts.

Design and methods: Data were obtained from 234 centenarians and 72 octogenarians in the Georgia Centenarian Study. Structural equation modeling was conducted with Mplus 6.1.

Results: Results showed significant direct effects of physical health impairment and social resources on positive aspects of subjective well-being among oldest-old adults. We also found significant indirect effects of cognitive functioning and education on positive affect among oldest-old adults. Social resources mediated the relationship between cognitive functioning and positive affect; and cognitive functioning and social resources mediated the relationship between education and positive affect. In addition, physical health impairment mediated the relationship between cognitive functioning and positive affect; and cognitive functioning and physical health impairment mediated the relationship between education and positive affect.

Implications: Integrating 2 different models (i.e., successful aging and developmental adaptation) provided a comprehensive view of adaptation from a developmental perspective.

Keywords: Developmental adaptation model; Georgia Centenarian Study; Oldest-old adults; Subjective well-being; Successful aging.