Relationship Quality with Parents: Implications for Own and Partner Well‐Being in Middle‐Aged Couples

Relationships with parents have significant implications for well‐being throughout the lifespan. At midlife, these ties are situated within both developmental and family contexts that often involve the adult offspring's spouse. Yet, it is not known how ties with aging parents are related to psychological well‐being within middle‐aged couples. This study examined how middle‐aged wives’ and husbands’ views of the current quality of relationships with their own parents (positive and negative) are linked to their own and their partner's psychological well‐being. Using a sample of 132 middle‐aged couples from Wave 1 of the Family Exchanges Study, we estimated actor–partner interdependence models to evaluate these dyadic associations while controlling for each spouse's marital satisfaction. Both actor and partner effects were observed. With respect to actor effects, wives who reported more negative relationship quality with their own parents had elevated depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction. Husbands who reported more negative relationship quality with their own parents had lower life satisfaction. In terms of partner effects, husbands had lower depressive symptoms and greater life satisfaction when wives reported more positive relationship quality with their own parents. Finally, the link between wives’ positive ties with parents and husbands’ lower depressive symptoms was intensified when husbands had less positive relationships with their own parents. Findings suggest that relationship quality with wives’ aging parents has implications for both spouses’ well‐being and may serve as a critical social resource for husbands.     

An Investigation of Quality of Life of the Elderly in South Africa, with Specific Reference to Mpumalanga Province

This paper is based on a research study that investigated the quality of life of elderly persons (aged 60 years and over) in South Africa in the wake of population aging, HIV/AIDS, the process of modernization which ushered in new challenges and the legacy of apartheid. A combination of all these factors among others has played a major role in lowering the quality of life of senior citizens in South Africa. For effective measurement purposes, a conceptual framework of broad categories of quality of life indicators for this proportion of the population are identified as: household structure, social inclusion, care of older persons and care burden on the elderly. Under these broad categories we investigate such specific indicators as: general health; satisfaction with basic needs of food, clothing and housing; emotional well-being; and their environmental harmony regarding access to amenities of transport, sanitation, safe water and security. The influence of socio-demographic factors on the above indicators is also examined. The long term goal of the study is to provide guidance for more creative policies including strategies of poverty reduction, housing older people in a dignified way and providing a wide range of options that facilitate healthy aging, in so doing, catering for the best interests and needs of senior citizens in South Africa. A representative sample of size 900 randomly selected elderly persons in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa is used. Structured interviews and direct observation are used to collect data, and bivariate statistical analyses performed.     

Aging,memory loss,and Alzheimer’s disease: What do refugees from the former Soviet Union think?

ABSTRACT

Since the mid-1970s, approximately 700,000 émigrés from the former Soviet Union (FSU), most of Jewish descent, settled in the United States. Now, 25 or more years post-emigration, they have “aged in place” in the United States, but their values, beliefs, and attitudes about growing old, memory changes, and Alzheimer’s disease remain grounded in their earlier life experiences. Based on findings from a study of the social and cultural factors affecting beliefs about Alzheimer’s disease, aging, and memory loss, this article examines how past life experiences, the immigration experience, and cultural values affect Russian-speaking refugees’ beliefs and views about aging, memory loss, and Alzheimer’s disease.     

Elderly Urban Catholic Ethnics:

Urban ethnic groups wony about their elderly. And they have good reason to worry. The decline of older ethnic communities and the churches they built as aspiring immigrants conjoins issues of aging, church and urban life. The capacity of churches has been strained by the eclipse of community. Yet, churches, families and other mediating institutions can cushion the effects of neighborhood deterioration and its influence on the elderly. No matter how efficient economic transfer programs and human services systems are, the reality of "soc~al poverty," caused by the breakdown of community support, is clear, and the number of neglected, isolated elderly will surely increase. Urban ethnic neighborhoods have an especially revealing incidence of such problems. However, these neighborhoods also provide models of social inventions that suggest new pathways and remedies. Our survey of 65 urban ethnic parishes indicates distinctive patterns and approaches, viable models for an effective ministry, and a glimpse into a relatively unknown world of religion and aging among urban ethnics of the Northeast and Midwest.     

Jewish values and sociopsychological perspectives on aging

The Jewish approach to aging and the aged is constructive. If one no longer works, guilt is inappropriate. Old age may be a sabbath of human life. In our culture, older people are led to low self-esteem less by their age than by occupational and economic status. Hence fundamental social change is needed if there is to be dignity and quality in life for older people. Old age can become, as it should, the high point of the human career.He is a rabbi in the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Among his books isEmpathy.     

Assessing Community Quality of Life in the Context of Tourism Development

One of major purposes of tourism development in a destination is to improve the quality of life (QOL) of host community. This study aims to assess tourism-related community quality of life (TCQOL). The study applied Sirgy and Cornell’s community QOL model (2001) and modified the measuring approach incorporating resident perceptions of satisfaction, importance, and tourism effects (Andereck and Nyaupane 2010) to evaluate resident perceptions of community quality of life in the context of tourism development. The assessment incorporating the community quality of life model and the modified measuring approach that could be a useful tool for tourism practitioners and scholars to understand resident perceptions of community QOL, assess changes of resident perceived community QOL in a host community, and compare the community QOL experiences to other areas.     

Perceptions de la qualité de vie et de la bientraitance par des personnes âgées résidant en institution gériatrique et par leurs proches

Introduction

The present study focuses on patient-centered care and quality of life in dependent aging people living in nursing home.

Emergent Values and the Experience of Aging

This study examined the role of values or guiding principles emerging from the life histories and reflections of 111 older adults as predictors of the experience of aging. Participants completed a detailed life history interview in which they described themselves on 10 major life dimensions. They also completed standardized questionnaires of well-being, personality traits, and intolerance of uncertainty. Participants expressed a mix of prosocial and self-interest values in their interviews. Multiple regression analyses indicated that social support and intolerance of uncertainty positively predicted the extent of values articulated in the interviews. Better quality of aging was predicted positively by extent of emergent values and greater well-being and negatively by age. The results indicate that an examination of values provides a unique contribution to the understanding of the experience of aging.     

Depressive Symptoms Among Delinquent Youth: Testing Models of Association with Stress and Support

The high prevalence of depression among incarcerated youth indicates a need to better understand factors that contribute to depression within this vulnerable subgroup. Previous research in general community samples has suggested that high levels of stress and low levels of parental support are associated with depression in young people, but it is unclear whether or how they might be associated with depression among incarcerated youth who are already vulnerable. Using a sample of 228 adolescents (aged 13–18 years) who were detained in the juvenile justice system, stress and support were modeled as independent main effects and as interactive risk factors in relation to depressive symptoms. More stressful life events and less caregiver support were each independently associated with depressive symptoms, but no evidence was found for the buffering hypothesis in this sample. Stressful life events were more strongly associated with depressive symptoms among boys compared to girls.     

Quality-of-Life Determinants of Happiness in Thailand: the Moderating Roles of Mental and Moral Capacities

This study investigates the influences of quality of life (QoL) in Thailand in terms of quality of family life, quality of community life, and quality of work life as determinants of happiness. Additionally, the moderating effects of mental capacity and moral capacity in relation to the influences of different QoL determinants of happiness are also investigated. The results indicate that quality of family life, quality of community life, and quality of work life have positive effects on happiness in Thailand. Further, our results indicate that mental capacity and moral capacity are significant as moderators in relation to the influences of two QoL determinants of happiness: quality of community life and quality of work life.     

An Integrated Conceptual Model of Quality of Life for Older Adults Based on a Synthesis of the Literature

Quality of life is fast becoming a standard of measure of long-term care and gerontological service outcomes. Although the issue of quality of life has been of increasing interest in the field of aging, there has been little agreement as to the clarity and definition of the concept and how to measure it, especially as it relates to older adults. Presented here is a comprehensive, integrated model of quality of life that was developed by synthesizing existing constructs within the literature into six major life domains—(1) social well-being, (2) physical well-being, (3) psychological well-being, (4) cognitive well-being, (5) spiritual well-being, and (6) environmental well-being. Consistent with a general systems framework, this holistic model expands the predominant Health-Related Quality of Life constructs to incorporate non-physical aspects of well-being. Each of these domains was broken down into several dimensions in an effort to operationalize the concept of quality of life so that it can have some common standard of useful measurement. These major life domains and indicators are important factors in determining the perceptions of quality of life of older adults. Understanding what constitutes quality of life and how to measure it comprehensively has significant implications for social policy and practice in the field of aging.     

基于年龄建构的老化心理——一项深度访谈研究报告

为考察年龄建构的老化心理,采用质化深度访谈法收集资料,结合现象学分析法和使用扎根理论资料分析法分析资料,结果发现,年龄建构了“增龄即老化”以及拒老、服老、怯老、终老等老化心理。老年人先以“不老之心”抵抗生理性老化;后屈服于并认可“落伍者”和退休者的老年身份;再因老年病的常态化对成为“累赘”和“负担”感到担忧;最后在恐惧和无奈中向人生告别。研究评估了结果的描述型、解释型和评价型效度作,分别为5、4.77、4.38分。     

Finishing the Story: Aging,Spirituality, and the Work of Culture

ABSTRACT

Society projects its death anxiety onto old age and the aging, who are isolated from generative human contact, with no conversation expected. Any shared, common language atrophies. Broken connection becomes a cultural expectation. Society and the aging lose sight of developmental tasks appropriate to old age. We do not seek or foster last careers devoted to finishing the human story, to completing a sense of meaning about life. Such a last career would raise questions about soul-making and invite awe and wonder at life and death. But no one is called to do such work today, so unfinished cultural business accumulates. We should anoint or commission the aging for their last career because of its significance for them and for culture. When the aging take up such last careers and find themselves immediately confronted with the task of life review, they may discover opportunities for repenting, mythologizing, and sacralizing. The work of culture gets done, and gifts to the future are offered by the aging. The broken circle of conversation is closed, re-connections are made, and human communities, including the worlds of the living and the dead, are made whole.     

In the eye of the beholder: views of psychological well-being among middle-aged and older adults

Although the topic of psychological well-being has generated considerable research, few studies have investigated how adults themselves define positive functioning. To probe their conceptions of well-being, interviews were conducted with a community sample of 171 middle-aged (M = 52.5 years, SD = 8.7) and older (M = 73.5 years, SD = 6.1) men and women. Questions pertained to general life evaluations, past life experiences, conceptions of well-being, and views of the aging process. Responses indicated that both age groups and sexes emphasized an "others orientation" (being a caring, compassionate person, and having good relationships) in defining well-being. Middle-aged respondents stressed self-confidence, self-acceptance, and self-knowledge, whereas older persons cited accepting change as an important quality of positive functioning. In addition to attention to positive relations with others as an index of well-being, lay views pointed to a sense of humor, enjoying life, and accepting change as criteria of successful aging.     

The Impact of Third Places on Community Quality of Life

Older cities struggling with issues of survival focus on jobs and the economy, but competition requires all cities to pay attention to the quality of life that attracts residents. Creating such an inviting environment includes “third places” that foster community and communication among people outside of home and work, yet we have little empirical evidence that speaks to the subject, or their importance for a community’s quality of life. Here we report on a national U.S. survey that asked people to identify such places in their community, producing a wide variety of “third places” that ranged from the most popular community centers, coffee shops and restaurants to parks and malls. While a few relationships are found between population/diversity and the popularity of particular third places, the most important result confirms a hypothesized relationship between perceptions that third places are accessible in their community and the perceived quality of life.     

Maintaining Successful Aging: The Role of Coping Patterns and Resources

One of the main challenges of aging societies is maintaining quality of life despite inevitable changes that occur in the lives of elderly people. This study examined the contribution of coping resources and coping patterns to successful aging among elderly persons following a decline in health and function. Data were collected from 262 elderly Israelis during two home interviews carried out at an interval of 12 months. Successful aging was assessed using a number of measures of subjective well-being. Predictive variables included change in health/functioning, coping resources, and coping patterns (proactive and reactive). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the coping resources self-efficacy and social support and the proactive coping pattern of concrete planning positively predicted successful aging, while the proactive coping pattern deciding on preferences had a negative influence. These results indicate that elderly people have the ability to shape their quality of life in the presence of decline in health and functioning by using appropriate coping resources and coping patterns. Controlled interventions are recommended to help older people acquire and maintain effective resources and coping skills, thus further promoting their successful aging process.     

Religion and aging

Life history data and cultural values are used to suggest ways in which personal and social beliefs influence the quality of experiences of aging. Central questions are the extent to which an individual can select beliefs that lead to a longer, more meaningful life and the special influence that religion may have in enhancing aging. Responsiveness to needs of the elderly is a necessary component of enlightened planning for the future. Secularization and industrialization have diminished roles and expectations for the elderly. Religion may be an effective means to identify these concerns and improve the quality of life of older people.     

Spiritual Care: Recognizing Spiritual Needs of Older Adults

SUMMARY

This paper explores aspects of spiritual needs and assessment, while emphasizing the importance of aged care providers being spiritually self-aware. The context of this exploration is meaning in life, spirituality and quality of life as experienced by older adults. Depression and dementia are frequently seen among older adults in residential aged care with resultant lowered quality of life. Pastoral and spiritual care may be used effectively to help alleviate depression and support older people who have dementia. However, to be able to provide appropriate spiritual care, spiritual needs should be assessed. Ways of assessing spiritual needs are suggested.     

Bullying,Cyberbullying, Student Life Satisfaction and the Community of Chilean Adolescents

Feeling support from the community is a vital aspect of adolescents’ quality of life. Negative experiences at school, such as bullying and cyberbullying can have an adverse impact on adolescents’ life satisfaction that can expand to different domains of their lives including community variables. The goal of the present study was to examine the association between peer victimization, life satisfaction and community support among Chilean adolescents. We used a sample of 497 youths enrolled in grades 9 to 12 of public and private schools in different Chilean districts. Results indicate a negative association between bullying and cyberbullying behavior on community support through life satisfaction. Peer victimization can have negative consequences for youths at a personal level on their assessments of life satisfaction, which can expand to feeling less support from the community. Feeling less support from the community can be detrimental to healthy youth development and adolescents’ quality of life. Community prevention efforts can thus provide emotional support for youth victims of bullying and cyberbullying.