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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The aim of this study was to build a structural model to explore the predictors of adjustment to aging
(AtA) in a community-dwelling older population. A community-dwelling sample of 1,270 older
adults aged between 75 and 102 years answered a questionnaire to determine sociodemographic
(sex, age, professional and marital status, education, household, adult children, family’s annual
income, living setting, and self-reported spirituality), lifestyle, and health-related characteristics
(perceived health, recent disease, medication, and leisure). Several instruments were used to assert
psychological variables, namely AtA, sense of coherence, and subjective well-being. Structural
equation modeling was used to explore a structural model of the self-reported AtA, encompassing
all variables. Significant predictors are self-reported spirituality (β = .816, p < .001); perceived
health (β = .455, p < .001); leisure (β = .322, p < .001); professional status (β = .283, p < .001); income
(β = .230, p = .035); household (β = –.208, p = .007); sense of coherence (β = −.202, p = .004); and
adult children (β = .164, p = .011). The variables explain, respectively, 60.6% of the variability of
AtA. Self-reported spirituality is the strongest predictor of AtA. Other predictors are perceived
health, leisure, professional status, income, household, sense of coherence, and adult children. This
study emphasizes the need for deepening the variables that influence older adults’ AtA—in particular,
perceived health and further lifestyle-related characteristics—as being relevant for promoting
aging well in later life, within a salutogenic context for health care.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Educational Gerontology, 40, 641-654
Publisher
Routledge