Older adults who are experiencing persistent declines in their health are at risk for reduced well-being and quality of life. Because of this, researchers have worked to outline the factors that help prevent health declines from negatively impacting mood and satisfaction with life. Primarily, researchers focused on coping resources that help older adults maintain a manageable level of autonomy in their lives. Previously, researchers had assumed coping resources were either fixed personality traits or unchanging material conditions (i.e., money, time, friendships, etc.); however, new research points toward a promising path that can help boost one’s coping resources.
Researchers in the Netherlands conducted a longitudinal study of aging in Amsterdam. This study is an ongoing project examining the predictors and consequences of changes in physical, cognitive, emotional, and social functioning in older adults. They were interested in data about the impact of persistent deterioration of functioning (PDF) on well-being and whether this relationship could be mediated by changes in coping resources available. They were interested in whether changes in self-efficacy, mastery or autonomy, and self-esteem predicted changes in well-being in people experiencing PDF, which is present when a person experiences any form of cognitive decline, chronic health condition, or persistent functional limitation.
The researchers confirmed previous studies that found self-esteem, self-efficacy, and mastery all helped mediate the relationship between PDF and well-being. More interesting, however, was the fact that individuals who showed improvements in mastery over the course of the study were able to maintain and even enhance their well-being despite living with PDFs.
These findings suggest that interventions that can improve feelings of autonomy and self-efficacy can protect the well-being of older adults experiencing PDFs; older adults are not powerless when coping and adapting to persistent health declines in old age.
Source: Jonker, A., Comijs, H., Knipscheer, K. and Deeg, D. 2009. The role of coping resources on change in well-being during persistent health decline. Journal of Aging and Health 21:1063-1082.