scholarly journals Resilient Aging: Psychological Well-Being and Social Well-Being as Targets for the Promotion of Healthy Aging

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 233372142110029
Author(s):  
Eric S. Kim ◽  
Rifky Tkatch ◽  
David Martin ◽  
Stephanie MacLeod ◽  
Lewis Sandy ◽  
...  

Population aging is one of the most important social trends of the 21st century and in the United States, the number of people aged ≥65 is projected to increase by nearly 50% in the next 15 years. Most biomedical and public health efforts have focused on reducing harmful risk factors when targeting chronic disease—an approach that has contributed greatly to prevention and treatment programs. However, evidence suggests that the number of years lost to disability is increasing and historic gains we have made in life expectancy are eroding, and even reversing in some groups. As our society ages and grapples with these issues, expanding the focus to include resilience, as well as psychosocial assets in our prevention and treatment programs might help inform the multidisciplinary response effort we need. Here we synthesize research evaluating associations between different dimensions of psychological well-being (e.g., purpose in life, optimism, life satisfaction) and social well-being (e.g., structural, functional, quality) with chronic conditions. We also evaluate evidence around three biopsychosocial pathways hypothesized to underlie these associations. These factors are meaningful, measurable, and potentially modifiable; thus, further pursuing this line of inquiry might unveil innovative paths to enhancing the health of our rapidly aging society.

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassidy Bibo ◽  
Julie Spencer-Rodgers ◽  
Benaissa Zarhbouch ◽  
Mostafa Bouanini ◽  
Kaiping Peng

2020 ◽  
pp. 002087282097061
Author(s):  
Qin Gao ◽  
Xiaofang Liu

Racial discrimination against people of Chinese and other Asian ethnicities has risen sharply in number and severity globally amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This rise has been especially rapid and severe in the United States, fueled by xenophobic political rhetoric and racist language on social media. It has endangered the lives of many Asian Americans and is likely to have long-term negative impacts on the economic, social, physical, and psychological well-being of Asian Americans. This essay reviews the prevalence and consequences of anti-Asian racial discrimination during COVID-19 and calls for actions in practice, policy, and research to stand against it.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752110435
Author(s):  
Heidi L. Fritz

Prior research links adaptive humor styles (affiliative and self-enhancing) with enhanced psychological well-being and maladaptive humor styles (aggressive and self-defeating) with worse psychological well-being, primarily through humor styles’ influence on individuals’ social interactions and efforts to positively reframe stressors. The present study examined the unique relation of each humor style with psychological well-being with a focus on understanding mechanisms of adjustment under highly stressful conditions. Ninety-nine parents of children with disabilities were surveyed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in March 2020, and 79 parents completed follow-up surveys in July 2020. As predicted, at T1, self-enhancing humor was associated with less psychological distress and greater family satisfaction, self-defeating humor was associated with greater distress, and aggressive humor was associated with lower family satisfaction. Moreover, affiliative humor predicted decreased psychological distress over time, whereas self-defeating humor predicted increased psychological distress and decreased family satisfaction over time. Relations were largely mediated by caregiver positive reappraisal, family efforts to reframe daily disability-related challenges, and negative social interactions. Future research should further examine the influence of caregiver humor styles on family dynamics, family reframing norms, and caregiving efficacy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S303-S303
Author(s):  
Christi L Nelson ◽  
Ross Andel

Abstract Around 2.7 million adults over the age of 50 self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) in the United States. Past research suggests that additional stressors caused by being a socially stigmatized minority group can have a negative effect on health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between sexual orientation and self-rated health, memory, and psychological well-being in a 1:3 propensity score-matched subsample from 2016 wave of Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative study of older adults. Each lesbian/gay/bisexual (LGB) participant (n=140) was matched with three straight participants (n=420) on age, sex, and education. The average age was 53.8 years (SD=2.3 years), 54% were men, the average education was 14.3 years (SD=2.4 years). Logistic regression results indicated that LGB participants were almost twice as likely to report ever having depression (OR=1.85, 95% CI=1.23-2.80). Conversely, LGB participants were more likely to report having better health (OR=1.47, 95% CI= 1.04-2.07) than straight participants and the two groups did not differ significantly in memory (OR=1.16, 95% CI= 0.82-1.64) from their straight counterparts. In conclusion, it is possible that the stigma due to sexual orientation plays a role in psychological well-being but may also reflect in better physical health but not cognitive health. It is also possible that the better health in LGB participants reflects self-report bias.


2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-35
Author(s):  
Pi-Ming Yeh ◽  
Gavin Waters

The purpose of this study was to test the development of personality and psychological well-being model. This was a cross-sectional, descriptive design. The 448 participants were recruited from older adults living in a Midwest community in the United States. After Institution of Research Board approval, the trained researchers explained this study to older adults who lived in the community. After agreeing to participate, they signed an informed consent form. The structured questionnaires were used to perform data collection. Path analysis was used to examine this model. SPSS 23 version was employed to examine the instruments’ reliabilities and descriptive data. In this model, family interaction and spiritual well-being had significant influences on personality, which had a significant influence on selecting coping strategies. Using different coping strategies influenced on the outcome variables (e.g., psychological well-being and suicidal ideation). The family interaction and spiritual well-being played a critical role on the outcome variables.


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