Perceptions of General Attitudes towards Older Adults in Society: Is There a Link between Perceived Life Satisfaction, Self-Compassion, and Health-Related Quality of Life?
Abstract
:1. Introduction
Aims
- Investigate how older adults in Sweden perceive general attitudes towards older adults
- Explore whether there are gender differences in perceived general attitudes
- Examine whether older adults who perceive those attitudes as negative differ in levels of life satisfaction, self-compassion, and health-related quality of life (HRQL)
- Explore whether perceived attitudes can predict life satisfaction when controlling for HRQL, self-compassion, and age
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Participants and Procedure
2.3. Measures
2.3.1. Sociodemographic Characteristics
2.3.2. Society’s Attitudes towards Older Adults
2.3.3. Life Satisfaction
2.3.4. Health
2.3.5. Self-Compassion
2.4. Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
Strengths and Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Attitudes-Groups (n = 560) | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variables (n) | n (%) Negative n = 144 (25.7) | n (%) Neutral n = 263 (47.0) | n (%) Positive n = 153 (27.3) | p-Value | ||||
Gender (698) | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | ns a | |
90 (28.8) | 54 (21.8) | 147 (47.1) | 116 (46.8) | 75 (24.0) | 78 (31.5) | |||
Marital status (665) | ns a | |||||||
Married | 98 (24.5) | 190 (47.0) | 116 (28.7) | |||||
Widowed | 21 (28.4) | 35 (47.3) | 18 (24.3) | |||||
Unmarried | 8 (30.8) | 11 (42.3) | 7 (26.9) | |||||
Divorced | 14 (32.6) | 20 (46.5) | 9 (20.9) | |||||
Education (664) | ns a | |||||||
Primary school | 43 (23.9) | 76 (42.2) | 61 (33.9) | |||||
Secondary school | 22 (27.2) | 42 (51.9) | 17 (21.0) | |||||
Upper, secondary | 20 (26.7) | 29 (38.7) | 26 (34.7) | |||||
College or higher | 20 (26.7) | 29 (38.7) | 26 (34.7) | |||||
Negative n = 144 | Neutral n = 263 | Positive n = 153 | Total group (n = 560) | p-value | ||||
M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) | |||||
Age | 75.4 (8.09) | 74.9 (8.23) | 74.8 (8.20) | 75.0 (8.18) | ns b | |||
Life satisfaction | 26.53 (6.97) | 27.60 (7.02) | 30.47 (5.92) | 28.1 (6.9) | *** b | |||
Physical HRQL | 43.28 (11.39) | 45.22 (11.05) | 46.67 (10.56) | 45.14 (11.06) | ** b | |||
Mental HRQL | 52.91 (8.69) | 53.76 (8.21) | 55.71 (7.14) | 54.07 (8.12) | ** b | |||
Self-compassion | 40.65 (5.82) | 41.87 (5.3) | 41.97 (5.02) | 41.59 (5.38) | ns b |
Variable | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Life satisfaction | |||||
2. Attitudes | 0.209 ** | ||||
3. Physical HRQL | 0.418 ** | 0.111 ** | |||
4. Mental HRQL | 0.536 ** | 0.126 ** | 0.239 ** | ||
5. Self-compassion | 0.312 ** | 0.087 * | 0.079 | 0.268 ** | |
6. Age | −0.311 ** | −0.031 | −0.419 ** | −0.147 ** | −0.013 |
Unstandardized Coefficients | Standardized Coefficients | 95% Confidence Intervals | p-Value | Unique Explained Variance by Variable of Total R Square in Percentage | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Variable | B | Std. Error | Beta | Lower bound | Upper bound | ||
(Constant) | 0.170 | 3.401 | −6.51 | 6.852 | |||
Attitudes | 1.069 | 0.322 | 0.113 | 0.437 | 1.701 | *** | 1.2 |
Physical HRQL | 0.147 | 0.024 | 0.235 | 0.100 | 0.193 | *** | 4.3 |
Mental HRQL | 0.336 | 0.030 | 0.396 | 0.276 | 0.396 | *** | 13.7 |
Self-compassion | 0.228 | 0.045 | 0.175 | 0.139 | 0.317 | *** | 2.8 |
Age | −0.111 | 0.028 | −0.149 | −0.166 | −0.057 | *** | 1.8 |
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Bratt, A.S.; Fagerström, C. Perceptions of General Attitudes towards Older Adults in Society: Is There a Link between Perceived Life Satisfaction, Self-Compassion, and Health-Related Quality of Life? Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 3011. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043011
Bratt AS, Fagerström C. Perceptions of General Attitudes towards Older Adults in Society: Is There a Link between Perceived Life Satisfaction, Self-Compassion, and Health-Related Quality of Life? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(4):3011. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043011
Chicago/Turabian StyleBratt, Anna Sofia, and Cecilia Fagerström. 2023. "Perceptions of General Attitudes towards Older Adults in Society: Is There a Link between Perceived Life Satisfaction, Self-Compassion, and Health-Related Quality of Life?" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 4: 3011. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043011