scholarly journals Relationships among inner strength, health and function, well-being, and negative life events in old people: a longitudinal study

Author(s):  
Kerstin Viglund ◽  
Birgitta Olofsson ◽  
Berit Lundman ◽  
Astrid Norberg ◽  
Hugo Lövheim

AbstractInner strength is a conceptualization of a human resource that is generally considered beneficial for health and well-being. Previously, it has been examined in qualitative and cross-sectional studies, but longitudinal data are lacking. The aim of this study was to examine how inner strength, health and function, well-being, and negative life events, namely crises and diseases, affect each other over time in old people. A longitudinal two-wave design was used with data from 2010 and 2016. A total of 4023 participants, living in Finland and Sweden, and born in 1930, 1935, 1940, or 1945 were included. Data were collected using the Inner Strength Scale, the Life Orientation Scale, a short version of the Geriatric Depression Scale, one item from the SF36, and five items from the Katz ADL-index. Structural equation modeling was used to test for cross-lagged effects. Crises and diseases were found to be a positive predictor of inner strength, a negative predictor of well-being, and to have no significant effect on health and function over time. Inner strength and well-being had a reciprocal positive relationship, and health and function was a positive predictor inner strength. The study expands findings by providing perspectives of inner strength across time indicating that inner strength in old people increases when they have to face a disease or crisis. From a health perspective, the present findings reinforce the importance of healthcare professionals’ awareness and knowledge of the construct of inner strength.

2022 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 455-490
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Martínez-Zelaya ◽  
Marian Bilbao Ramírez ◽  
Darío Páez Rovira

Perceived changes in basic beliefs and growth related to life events were examined in three studies. A representative sample (N = 885), a sample of students and their families (N = 291) and a sample of students (N = 245) responded with a list of positive and negative life events, a scale of changes in basic beliefs and a post-traumatic growth scale. Positive events were strongly associated with changes in basic beliefs, while only weak associations were found for negative events. In addition, negative changes in basic beliefs were associated with growth only in negative life events and positive changes in basic beliefs were generally associated with growth.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Nikki L. Hill ◽  
Sakshi Bhargava ◽  
Emily Bratlee-Whitaker ◽  
Jennifer R. Turner ◽  
Monique J. Brown ◽  
...  

Background: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) may be an early indicator of cognitive impairment, but depressive symptoms can confound this relationship. Associations may be influenced by differences between individuals (i.e., between-persons) or how each individual changes in their experiences over time (i.e., within-persons). Objective: We examined depressive symptoms as a mediator of the between- and within-person associations of SCD and objective memory in older adults. Methods: Coordinated analyses were conducted across four datasets drawn from large longitudinal studies. Samples (range: n = 1,889 to n = 15,841) included participants 65 years of age or older with no dementia at baseline. We used multilevel structural equation modeling to examine the mediation of SCD and objective memory through depressive symptoms, as well as direct relationships among SCD, objective memory, and depressive symptoms. Results: Older adults who were more likely to report SCD had lower objective memory on average (between-person associations), and depressive symptoms partially mediated this relationship in three of four datasets. However, changes in depressive symptoms did not mediate the relationship between reports of SCD and declines in objective memory in three of four datasets (within-person associations). Conclusion: Individual differences in depressive symptoms, and not changes in an individual’s depressive symptoms over time, partially explain the link between SCD and objective memory. Older adults with SCD and depressive symptoms may be at greater risk for poor cognitive outcomes. Future research should explore how perceived changes in memory affect other aspects of psychological well-being, and how these relationships influence cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease risk.


Author(s):  
Fatemeh Mahmoudi ◽  
Mohammad Reza Bliad ◽  
Masoumeh Jian Bagheri ◽  
Mehdi Shah Nazari ◽  
Kianoosh Zahrakar

Aim: Students are one of the most talented and promising segments of society and future builders of their country, and their level of health and psychological well-being will have a significant impact on learning and increasing their scientific awareness and academic success. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate a structural model of psychological well-being based on negative life events and mindfulness with emphasis on the mediating role  of coping styles. Methods: The method of conducting the present study was descriptive correlational of structurequational type. The statistical population of the study were the undergraduate students of Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, 365 of whom participated through cluster sampling. They responded to questionnaires on negative life events, mindfulness, coping styles, and psychological well-being. The reliability and validity of the instruments were confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and confirmatory factor analysis. To analyze the data, structural equation method was used with Amos software. Results: The results showed that the effect of negative life events on the problem-oriented style and psychological well-being is negative and significant. The effect of mindfulness on the problem-oriented style and psychological well-being is positive and significant. The effect of problem-oriented style on psychological well-being is positive and significant. The mediating role of problem-focused coping style in the relationship between negative life events and mindfulness with psychological well-being is meaningful. Conclusion: The results showed that the model presented among the students of Shahid Beheshti University has a good fit and confirmed the role of the variables of negative life events, mindfulness and problem-oriented coping style in psychological well-being.


Author(s):  
Nancy A. Pachana

How we interact with others, with the physical and social environment, as well as how well we cope with life events, role changes, and positive and negative stresses all affect how we age. Later life is also intimately connected to, and affected by, circumstances and decisions earlier in life. Social support and engagement are critical for physical and emotional well-being. ‘Social and interpersonal aspects of ageing’ explores ageing in a social and societal context. The ways in which older adults engage with younger cohorts and their contribution to their family, communities, and society more broadly have changed over time and have also been affected by social and technological advances.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avi Besser ◽  
Gordon L. Flett ◽  
Simon B. Sherry ◽  
Paul L. Hewitt

Perfectionistic automatic thoughts have been linked with depressive symptoms in numerous cross-sectional studies, but this link has not been assessed in longitudinal research. An investigation with two timepoints was conducted to test whether perfectionistic automatic thoughts, as assessed by the Perfectionism Cognitions Inventory (PCI), are contributors to subsequent depression or vice versa. The possible role of a third factor (major life events stress) was also evaluated. A sample of 118 university students completed the PCI, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Life Experiences Survey on two occasions with a 5-month interval. A cross-lagged analysis using structural equation modeling showed that above and beyond within-time associations and across-time stability effects, perfectionism automatic thoughts contributed to subsequent depressive symptoms and not vice versa. Negative life events stress was correlated significantly with both depressive symptoms and perfectionism automatic thoughts but did not have an influence on Time 2 depressive symptoms or on perfectionistic automatic thoughts. Our discussion focuses on perfectionistic automatic thoughts as a contributor to depressive vulnerability according to the perfectionism cognition theory.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deva Rangarajan ◽  
Michael Peasley ◽  
Bert Paesbrugghe ◽  
Rajesh V. Srivastava ◽  
Geoffrey T. Stewart

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of stress as a result of adverse life events on a salesperson’s ability to effectively manage customer relationships. The framework identifies burnout as a key mediating variable and salesperson grit as a coping mechanism. Design/methodology/approach Survey data is gathered from 364 B2B salespeople and investigated using structural equation modeling in Mplus 8.2. Findings The findings reveal adverse life events and their corresponding stress diminish a salesperson’s ability to manage customer relationships effectively through the mediators of reduced personal accomplishment and depersonalization. Thus, negative events of a personal nature can have a significant impact on salesperson outcomes and should be taken with the same level of seriousness as job-related stress. Furthermore, results show that salesperson grit provides mixed results as a coping mechanism. Practical implications The findings indicate that practitioners should be mindful of the negative impact adverse life events can have on work-related outcomes. Organizations and sales managers must be intentional in managing relationships with their salespeople and strategic in the structure they use to manage customer relationships. Recommendations include the use of regular one-on-one meetings to open up a dialogue about work or personal issues the salesperson is experiencing and assigning multiple resources or staff to service valuable customers, thereby not relying on solitary salespeople. Originality/value Employee well-being contributes to firm value; yet, this is the first study in sales to explore the impact of adverse life events on salesperson outcomes.


1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Damphousse ◽  
Howard B. Kaplan

The self-medication hypothesis suggests that individuals who experience high levels of psychological distress use drugs to relieve their pain. The extent to which this is the case (and to which people do feel better after using drugs) has had mixed support in the literature. The present analysis uses structural equation modeling of longitudinal data to explore how deviant disposition, deviant peers, and negative life events act as intervening variables in the hypothesized relationship between psychological distress and adolescent drug use. The results suggest that deviant disposition and association with deviant peers mediate the relationship between antecedent psychological distress and later drug use. Similarly, negative life events mediate the relationship between adolescent drug use and adult psychological distress.


1988 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 303-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Lomranz ◽  
Simon Bergman ◽  
Nitza Eyal ◽  
Dov Shmotkin

This article examines the relations between reported level of activity and measures of affect in old people, exploring possible sex differences. It was hypothesized that these relations are mediated by the satisfaction from the specific activity. The sample consisted of fifty-four women and forty-five men, ranging in age from sixty to eighty, functioning normally in the community. A questionnaire assessed participants' levels of indoor/outdoor activities. Participants rated their satisfaction for each of these activities. Negative affect was measured by Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale, and positive affect was measured by Bradburn's Weil-Being (Affect-Balance) Scale. For male respondents, results showed significant negative correlations between depression and both activities, and significant positive correlations with respect to well-being. Significant positive correlation was obtained only between well-being and outdoor activity for female respondents. When satisfaction from the specific activity was controlled for, only two correlations remained significant in the male participants, lending partial support to the hypothesis. A multiple regression analysis revealed reported levels of activity could predict both depression and well-being for men much better than for women, whereas satisfaction from activity could do that much better for women than for men. Discussion deals with the sex differences regarding the meaning of activity in old age and its implications for affect. The differentiation between kinds of activity as well as measures of affect is also referenced.


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