CORRELATES OF LONELINESS AMONG OLDER ASIAN IMMIGRANTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract Loneliness is a prevalent social concern among older adults, which calls for attention as a condition itself and its influence on mental and physical conditions. However, limited efforts have been made to understand loneliness, particularly among immigrant older adults. Guided by the ecological perspective, the present study contributes to the literature by providing a systematic review of the prevalence and individual-, household-, and community-level correlates of loneliness among Asian older immigrants, one of the fast-growing immigrant population. Following the PRISMA guideline, we systematically searched eight electronic databases to identify relevant empirical research articles. Of the 828 articles identified, ten articles met the inclusion criteria. Majority of these articles focused on older Chinese and Korean immigrants. On the individual level, migration grief, longer length of residence, and weaker ethnic attachment were linked to higher level of loneliness, indicating that immigration can be a challenging experience for later life well-being of Asian older adults. Other identified correlates include mental and functional impairment and worsening health changes. On the household level, while living alone was a commonly identified correlate of loneliness, those who live with family also reported loneliness when they have fewer interactions with their family members. On the community-level, smaller social network and lack of social support and interactions were correlates of loneliness. The findings of the present study are helpful for identifying older Asian immigrants who may be at risk of loneliness and implicates that the efforts to mitigate the loneliness need to be made at various ecological levels.

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Discordant Chronic Conditions and Depressive Symptoms: Longitudinal Associations Among Middle-Aged and Older Couples

The Journals of Gerontology Series B ◽

10.1093/geronb/gbz137 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Courtney A Polenick ◽

Kira S Birditt ◽

Angela Turkelson ◽

Benjamin C Bugajski ◽

Helen C Kales

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Marital Quality ◽

Chronic Conditions ◽

Later Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Older Couples ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Individual ◽

Over Time

Abstract Objectives Individuals often manage chronic conditions in middle and later life that may diminish well-being. Little is known, however, about discordant conditions (i.e., two or more conditions with competing self-management requirements) among older couples and their links to depressive symptoms. We considered discordant conditions at both the individual level and the couple level (i.e., between spouses), along with their long-term implications for depressive symptoms. Methods The U.S. sample included 1,116 middle-aged and older couples drawn from five waves (2006–2014) of the Health and Retirement Study. Longitudinal actor-partner interdependence models evaluated whether individual-level and couple-level discordant chronic health conditions were concurrently linked to depressive symptoms, and whether these associations became stronger over time. Models controlled for age, minority status, education, prior wave depressive symptoms, and each partner’s baseline report of negative marital quality and number of chronic conditions in each wave. Results Wives and husbands reported significantly greater depressive symptoms when they had individual-level discordant conditions about 2 years after baseline, and these links intensified over time. Beyond this association, husbands had significantly greater depressive symptoms when there were couple-level discordant conditions. Discussion Individual-level and couple-level discordant conditions may have lasting implications for depressive symptoms during midlife and older adulthood.

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Self-compassionate Aging: A Systematic Review

The Gerontologist ◽

10.1093/geront/gny108 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 59 (4) ◽

pp. e311-e324 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Lydia Brown ◽

Jeff C Huffman ◽

Christina Bryant

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Older Adults ◽

Psychological Symptoms ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Later Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Physical Symptoms ◽

Search Term ◽

Self Compassion ◽

The Impact

Abstract Abstract Background and Objectives There is considerable heterogeneity in experiences of aging, with some experiencing greater well-being and adapting more successfully to the challenges of aging than others. Self-compassion is a modifiable psychological skill that might help explain individual differences in well-being and adjustment in later life. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature on self-compassion and well-being outcomes in studies of older adults aged 65 and older. Research Design and Methods This systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines, using databases PsycINFO, Medline, and Embase. The search term self-compassion was paired with terms relating to well-being, psychological symptoms, and adjustment. Meta-analysis was used to synthesize results on the relationship between self-compassion and four outcomes including depression, anxiety, hedonic well-being, and eudaimonic well-being. Results Eleven studies met inclusion criteria for this review. Meta-analysis revealed that self-compassion was associated with lower levels of depression (r = −.58, 95% CI [−.66, −.48]) and anxiety (r = −.36, 95% CI [−.60, −.07]), and higher levels of hedonic (r = .41, 95% CI [.15, .62]) and eudaimonic (r = .49, 95% CI [.41, .57]) well-being. Further, three studies found self-compassion weakened the impact of physical symptoms on well-being outcomes. Discussion and Implications We found preliminary evidence that self-compassion is associated with well-being outcomes in older adults, and that self-compassion may buffer the psychological sequelae of health symptoms in later life. Higher quality studies with uniform outcome measures are needed to replicate and extend these results.

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Marital strain trajectories over a quarter century and spouses’ loneliness: Couple-level and individual pathways

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships ◽

10.1177/0265407519879512 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 37 (3) ◽

pp. 821-842 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kandauda A. S. Wickrama ◽

Tae Kyoung Lee ◽

Catherine Walker O’Neal

Keyword(s):

Extended Period ◽

Married Couples ◽

Later Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Quarter Century ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Individual ◽

Marital Strain ◽

Over 40 Years

Although research suggests that stressful marital experiences may lead to feelings of loneliness in later life, little is known about the influence of marital strain over an extended period of time on loneliness in later years. Thus, in the present study, drawing from family systems and cognitive theories along with common fate and actor–partner interdependence modeling approaches, we hypothesized a hybrid model comprised of two multilevel pathways explaining the persistent influence of marital strain on loneliness, including: (a) a couple-level pathway and (b) an individual pathway involving within-spouse and between-spouse effects. Specifically, we investigated the influences of individual- and couple-level trajectories of marital strain over a period of 25 years (from 1991 to 2015) on loneliness outcomes in later years with a sample of 257 couples in enduring, long-term (over 40 years) marriages. The results mostly supported both hypothesized pathways. Consistent with the pathway involving a couple-level process, couple-level trajectories of marital strain predicted couples’ later-life loneliness as reflected by both spouses’ reports of loneliness (shared perceptions). In addition, at the individual level, each spouses’ unexplained variances (unique perception) in marital strain trajectories predicted his/her own later-life loneliness outcomes (within-spouse effect or actor effect). Findings are discussed as they relate to intervention and prevention programs focusing on the well-being of married couples in later life.

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Resilience predictors for older adults in Tomsk region

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202129106003 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 291 ◽

pp. 06003

Author(s):

Lubov Ivankina ◽

Elmira Kashapova ◽

Elena Klemasheva ◽

Veronika Malanina ◽

Ekaterina Taran

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Well Being ◽

Individual Level ◽

Self Confidence ◽

Different Types ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Communication Practices ◽

The Individual ◽

High Level ◽

The Life Course

In this article, we analyze the resilience of older adults and its probable predictors. Among predictors that affect the individual level of a person’s resilience in older age, we consider the participation in different types of activities and personal coping strategies to respond to challenges through the life-course. The article presents the results of a correlation analysis of resilience with the financial, consumer and labor behavior of older adults. We have revealed that the types of financial and consumer behavior, information and communication practices significantly differ for individuals with different resilience levels. Constructive coping with the new conditions and requirements for the well-being allows older adults to maintain a high level of resilience and participation in society. Older people, focused on mastering new skills for a successful life in a changing world, have high indicators of resilience, focus on self-confidence, energy, preventive overcoming of difficulties, have low rates of catastrophic situations.

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The Positive and Negative Affect Relation in the Context of Stress and Age

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.3070 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 846-847

Author(s):

Jessica Blaxton ◽

Niccole Nelson ◽

Cindy Bergeman

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Inverse Relationship ◽

Later Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Positive And Negative Affect ◽

Multi Level ◽

Midlife Adults ◽

The Individual

Abstract Research suggests that the within-person inverse relationship between negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) indicates poorer emotional well-being, and this interaffect correlation fluctuates in relation to the context of the individual. Specifically, age, stress, and global PA all relate to changes in the interaffect correlation. The current study uses comprehensive data from the Notre Dame Study of Health & Well Being (NDHWB), which allows us to uniquely examine between-person differences in within-person change and variability in the interaffect correlation, thereby examining these constructs from a process-oriented perspective. Midlife and later life participants (N = 965) completed daily questionnaires assessing stress, NA, and PA. Three-level multi-level models illustrated that the interaffect correlation becomes more negative during times of stress, adults with greater global PA experience a stronger inverse interaffect correlation during times of stress, and days of higher stress relate to a stronger inverse interaffect correlation for older adults compared to midlife adults. The findings illustrate the idiographic nature of these relationships and suggest that later life adults and adults with high levels of global PA undergoing higher than typical stressful situations experience stronger inverse interaffect correlations.

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Multilevel Resilience of Fishing Communities of Coastal Bangladesh Against Covid-19 Pandemic and 65-Day Fishing Ban

Frontiers in Marine Science ◽

10.3389/fmars.2021.721838 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Rumana Sultana ◽

Haseeb Md. Irfanullah ◽

Samiya A. Selim ◽

Syed Tauheed Raihan ◽

Joy Bhowmik ◽

...

Keyword(s):

National Policy ◽

Community Level ◽

Fishing Communities ◽

Household Level ◽

Individual Level ◽

Coastal Bangladesh ◽

Governance Strategies ◽

Individual Household ◽

The Individual ◽

Different Levels

The unusual situation that arose due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 65-day fishing ban (national policy to boost depleted fish stocks) affected the lower-income fishing communities in coastal Bangladesh. Shocks and stresses were posed, and community people adopted strategies to adapt to the changes. In the process of adaptation, social-ecological systems resilience at different levels plays a crucial role. Though resilience is acknowledged as multilevel feature, studies on the interaction between the levels while understanding communities’ responses to shock and stress are limited. Thus, in this study, we explored the shocks and stresses the fishing community faced and their views on the resilience feature at different levels (i.e., individual, household, and community level) in coastal Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic and 65-day fishing ban period. The study found that the most resilience promoting features (e.g., diversified livelihood, friendship, and network of supports) were adopted at the individual and household levels. However, positive and negative interactions were explored between resilience features at all levels. Low community-level resilience was not translated into a lack of household-level resilience, and strong individual-level resilience did not mean high household-level resilience. It was noted that the increased resilience of a particular individual or household could negatively affect community resilience. Resilience features showed inconsistent interactions within or among the three levels’ resilience features. The study also revealed that multilevel resilience features stressed the importance of combining persistence (i.e., keeping fishing as the main livelihood) and adaptation process (e.g., livelihood diversification). The study showcases the importance of considering multilevel resilience that offers insight into crucial resilience factors which would not be evident if only one level were studied. The overall finding of this study will contribute to framing governance strategies to ensure sustainable coastal management even in the time of any abrupt or expected changes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the fishing ban policy.

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Leisure Activities and the Subjective Well-Being of Older Adults in Croatia

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000179 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 31-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ljiljana Kaliterna Lipovčan ◽

Tihana Brkljačić ◽

Zvjezdana Prizmić Larsen ◽

Andreja Brajša-Žganec ◽

Renata Franc

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Leisure Activities ◽

Leisure Activity ◽

Later Life ◽

Perceived Health ◽

Well Being ◽

Hierarchical Regression ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Financial Status

Abstract. Research shows that engagement in leisure activities promotes well-being among older adults. The objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between subjective well-being (flourishing) and leisure activities (total number of different activities in the previous year) in a sample of older adults in Croatia, thereby considering the variables of sex, marital status, financial status, and self-perceived health. The differences in the examined variables between the groups of older adults who reported to be engaged in new activities with those who did not were also examined. The sample of N = 169 older adults aged 60 years and above was drawn from a convenience sample of adult internet users in Croatia. Participants reported their self-perceived health and the number of leisure activities they engaged in over the previous year as well as completing the Flourishing Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that older adults who were engaged in more various leisure activities, who perceived better financial status, and who were married reported higher levels of flourishing. A comparison of the two groups of older adults with and without engagement in leisure activities showed that those engaged in at least one leisure activity were more likely to be women, reported higher levels of flourishing, and perceived their own financial status as better. This study indicated that engaging in leisure activities in later life might provide beneficial effects for the well-being of older adults.

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Financial Resources and Later-Year Relocation From the Annuitized Assessment of Income and Assets

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.162 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 50-50

Author(s):

Jun-Hong Chen ◽

Sojung Park

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Living Arrangement ◽

Panel Study ◽

Behavioral Model ◽

Well Being ◽

Economic Factor ◽

Health Condition ◽

Financial Resources ◽

Individual Level ◽

Mortality Table

Abstract Solid evidence has shown financial resources play important roles in housing decisions among older adults. Despite the growing research on the joint assessment of income and assets as valid economic well-being, little attention is paid to its role in relocation in old age. Drawing from the Behavioral Model of Elderly Migration, this study examined to what extent financial resources are associated with the likelihood of moving in later years. The data came from the 2017 Panel Study of Income Dynamic (PSID). A sample of 1354 people, 65 years and older, was used in the analyses. We used the annuitized approach, which is different from conventional approaches that assume people draw down all available assets to satisfy daily needs and leave no assets for use in later years. We (1) assessed annuitized assets based on the 2019 IRS Mortality Table, (2) assessed yearly income using supplementary income (i.e. income plus non-discretionary expense). A final indicator of the summed score was used in a logistic regression to predict the likelihood of moving. A set of covariates known to affect later- year relocation at an individual level (e.g. health condition, living arrangement change), environmental level (e.g. rural, non-metro area) are controlled for. In clear conflict with previous studies, we found annual financial resources did not significantly influence relocation among older adults. The notable absence of the well-known role of the economic factor provides critical initial evidence about the importance of simultaneous assessment of financial resources for the literature on later year relocation.

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Understanding Food Waste, Food Insecurity, and the Gap between the Two: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods10030681 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 681

Author(s):

Nora A. Althumiri ◽

Mada H. Basyouni ◽

Ali F. Duhaim ◽

Norah AlMousa ◽

Mohammed F. AlJuwaysim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Food Waste ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Household Level ◽

Individual Level ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Household Factors ◽

Cooked Food ◽

The Individual

Background: Food waste and food insecurity may co-exist in various balances in developing and developed countries. This study aimed to explore the levels of food waste and food insecurity, the factors associated with them, and their relationships at the household and individual levels in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This study was a nationwide cross-sectional survey conducted via computer-assisted phone interviews in January 2021. Quota sampling was utilized to generate balanced distributions of participants by gender across all the administrative regions of Saudi Arabia. Data collection included household demographics, food waste and disposal, the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), and the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Results: Out of the 2807 potential participants contacted, 2454 (87.4%) completed the interview. The mean age was 31.4 (SD = 11.7; range = 18–99) and 50.1% were female. The weighted prevalence of uncooked food waste in the last four weeks was 63.6% and the cooked food waste was 74.4%. However, the food insecurity weighted prevalence at the individual level (FIES) was 6.8%. In terms of food insecurity at the household level (HFIAS), 13.3% were in the “severely food insecure” category. Moreover, this study found that “moderately food insecure” households were associated with an increased likelihood to waste uncooked food (relative risk (RR) = 1.25), and the “mildly food insecure” (RR = 1.21) and “moderately food insecure” (RR = 1.17) households were associated with an increased likelihood to waste cooked food. However, “food secure” households were associated with a decreased likelihood to waste cooked food (RR = 0.56). Finally, this study identified four household factors associated with food waste and three household factors that were associated with “severe food insecurity.” Conclusions: This first national coverage study to explore food waste and food insecurity at the individual level and household level, identified household factors associated with food waste and food insecurity and identified new associations between food waste and food insecurity in Saudi Arabia. The associations found between food waste and food insecurity are potential areas of intervention to reduce both food waste and food insecurity at the same time, toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets related to food waste and food security.

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Loving Others: The Impact of Compassionate Love on Later-Life Psychological Well-Being

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1554 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 480-481

Author(s):

Eva Kahana ◽

Tirth Bhatta ◽

Boaz Kahana ◽

Nirmala Lekhak

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Negative Affect ◽

Positive Affect ◽

Emotional Support ◽

Later Life ◽

Well Being ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Compassionate Love ◽

The Impact

Abstract Existing scholarship in social gerontology has surprisingly paid little attention to broader loving emotions, such as compassionate and altruistic love, as potentially meaningful mechanisms for improving later life psychological well-being. This study examined the influence of feeling love toward other persons and experiencing love from others on later life psychological well-being. We conducted a 3-wave longitudinal study of a representative sample of 340 ethnically heterogeneous community dwelling older residents of Miami, Florida. The increase in feeling of being loved (β=-1.53, p<0.001) and love for others (β=-1.43, p<0.001) led to decline in odds of reporting greater level of depressive symptoms over time. The odds of reporting higher level of positive affect were significantly greater for older adults who reported feeling loved by others (β=1.16, p<0.001) and expressed love for other people (β=1.18, p<0.01). Older adults who felt loved had 0.92-point lower ordered log odds of reporting higher negative affect than those who reported lower level of love. The impact of compassionate love on depressive symptoms and negative affect remained statistically significant even after adjustment for altruistic attitudes and emotional support. The influence of loving emotions on positive affect was, however, explained by altruistic attitudes and emotional support. Our findings underscore the powerful influence of both receiving and giving love for the maintenance of later life psychological well-being. We offer support for the expectation that love is a significant force in the lives of older adults that transcends intimate relationships.

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