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IJERPH
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Personality, Health, and Well-Being among Older Adults
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Personality, Health, and Well-Being among Older Adults

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 9699

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Hajime Iwasa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima City 960-1295, Japan
Interests: personality; well-being; mental health; longevity; functional capacity; cognition; leisure activity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the gradual aging of populations worldwide, elucidation of the predictors for longevity, chronic diseases, and successful aging in older adults is becoming increasingly important. Recent epidemiological studies have reported consistent relationships between psychological factors, including personality, and health outcomes among older individuals. In this context, personality refers to the psychological qualities that contribute to an individual's enduring and distinctive patterns of feeling, thinking, and behaving. The relationships between personality and longevity, functional capacity, cognitive decline, physical fitness, and subjective well-being among older adults have already been clarified. However, there are some health outcomes that are not well-known to be related to personality (e.g., frailty and social isolation), and the detailed pathways from personality to health outcomes remain unclear.

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) aims to contribute to our knowledge of the relationship between individual psychological factors (including personality) and the health and well-being of older adults, in addition to elucidating the mechanisms underlying these relationships (e.g., mediation process and moderating effect). The editor of this Special Issue invites you to submit presentations of research regarding personality, health, and well-being among older adults. Original articles, literature reviews, meta-analyses, brief reports, and commentaries are welcomed.

Dr. Hajime Iwasa
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • personality
  • well-being
  • mental and physical health
  • mediation process
  • moderating effect

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

30 pages, 521 KiB  
Article
Relationship of Psychological Flexibility and Mindfulness to Caregiver Burden, and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Caregivers of People with Dementia
by Khai Pin Tan, Jin Kiat Ang, Eugene Boon Yau Koh, Nicholas Tze Ping Pang and Zanariah Mat Saher
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 4232; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054232 - 27 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2354
Abstract
Caregivers of People with dementia (PwD) commonly experience burdens and other mental health issues, e.g., depression and anxiety. At present, there are limited studies that examine the relationships between caregiver psychological factors and caregiver burden, and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Therefore, this study’s [...] Read more.
Caregivers of People with dementia (PwD) commonly experience burdens and other mental health issues, e.g., depression and anxiety. At present, there are limited studies that examine the relationships between caregiver psychological factors and caregiver burden, and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Therefore, this study’s objectives were to examine the relationships between psychological flexibility and mindfulness in caregivers of PwD, and to determine the predictors of these three outcomes. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in the geriatric psychiatry clinic of Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Malaysia, and the sample (n = 82) was recruited via a universal sampling method over three months. The participants completed a questionnaire that consisted of the sociodemographics of the PwD and caregivers, illness characteristics of the PwD, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Zarit Burden Interview Scale (ZBI), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). The results show that despite significant relationships between psychological flexibility and mindfulness and lower levels of caregiver burden, and depressive and anxiety symptoms (p < 0.01), only psychological inflexibility (p < 0.01) remained as a significant predictor of the three outcomes. Therefore, in conclusion, intervention programs that target the awareness of the caregiver’s psychological inflexibility should be implemented to alleviate these adverse outcomes in dementia caregivers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personality, Health, and Well-Being among Older Adults)
14 pages, 1024 KiB  
Article
How Does Internet Use Improve Mental Health among Middle-Aged and Elderly People in Rural Areas in China? A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS)
by Shishuai Fan and Yifan Yang
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(20), 13332; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013332 - 16 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2647
Abstract
One of the most significant public health issues in rural China is how to improve the mental health of middle-aged and older individuals. Using 2013, 2015, and 2018 CHARLS panel data, this paper properly examined the effects of Internet use on the mental [...] Read more.
One of the most significant public health issues in rural China is how to improve the mental health of middle-aged and older individuals. Using 2013, 2015, and 2018 CHARLS panel data, this paper properly examined the effects of Internet use on the mental health of middle-aged and elderly people in rural China based on the difference-in-differences method. The findings are as follows: (1) Internet use effectively improves the mental health status of middle-aged and elderly people in rural China; (2) compared to the middle-aged group, Internet use has a more obvious effect on the mental health of the elderly; (3) further analysis showed that reading news, watching videos, and playing games online could significantly improve the mental health status of middle-aged and elderly people in rural China, while chatting online and other Internet activities cannot significantly improve mental health status; and (4) playing games, watching videos, and reading news have different effects on the mental health of middle-aged and elderly people in rural China. The results indicate that playing games have a better effect on depression levels than watching videos. In contrast, watching news had the lowest effect on depression levels among middle-aged and elderly people in rural China. The results of this study also show the latest evidence that Internet use can help China’s rural middle-aged and elderly populations to reduce social isolation, establish new social connections, gain social support, and, ultimately, achieve active ageing. Therefore, promoting multiple forms of interaction is an effective path to prevent loneliness, which has become the new policy direction of the government to create an age-friendly Internet environment using various measures in the future to eliminate the barriers to Internet access affecting the middle-aged and elderly in rural China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personality, Health, and Well-Being among Older Adults)
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17 pages, 1330 KiB  
Article
Age, Cognitive Factors, and Acceptance of Living with the Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Short-Term Perspective
by Daniel Pankowski, Kinga Wytrychiewicz-Pankowska, Ewa Pisula, Andrzej Fal, Bartłomiej Kisiel, Ewa Kamińska and Witold Tłustochowicz
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(5), 3136; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19053136 - 07 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2091
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease leading to disability, reduced quality of life, and severe depressive symptoms. Theoretical models and research emphasize the importance of cognitive factors such as illness-related beliefs and cognitive appraisals in the process of adapting to life with [...] Read more.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease leading to disability, reduced quality of life, and severe depressive symptoms. Theoretical models and research emphasize the importance of cognitive factors such as illness-related beliefs and cognitive appraisals in the process of adapting to life with a chronic disease. Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the role of age, disease duration, and cognitive factors in the level of acceptance of life with rheumatoid arthritis and determine the factors responsible for short-term (one week) changes without the use of interventions. We also assessed differences in predictors between rheumatoid arthritis, vascular diseases, and diabetes. Methods: Data were collected using a panel study. The first part of the analysis included 83 participants who declared a medical diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. In the second part of the analysis, in addition to people with rheumatoid arthritis (69 participants), two control groups were also included: diabetes (n = 26) and vascular disease (n = 26). The analysis examined basic sociodemographic and clinical data, cognitive appraisals, illness-related beliefs, and acceptance of living with the disease twice in one week. Results: The relationship between age and levels of acceptance of living with the disease was cubic, but the groups distinguished based on age and disease duration did not differ in terms of the analyzed variables. Cognitive appraisals (both baseline and changes over one week) were responsible for changes in acceptance of living with the disease, although other variables (sociodemographic, clinical, and illness-related beliefs) also played a role. The predictors of change in acceptance of living with the disease differed between analyzed diagnoses. Conclusions: Cognitive factors are an important aspect of the adaptation process to living with an illness. Potential clinical applications and future directions of research are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personality, Health, and Well-Being among Older Adults)
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8 pages, 314 KiB  
Article
Relationship between Personality and Mortality among Japanese Older Adults: A 14-Year Longitudinal Study
by Hajime Iwasa, Hiroki Inagaki, Yukie Masui and Yasuyuki Gondo
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(4), 2413; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042413 - 19 Feb 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1622
Abstract
Personality is one of the fundamental factors in determining longevity. We used a 14-year mortality surveillance to investigate the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and all-cause mortality among older adults dwelling in a Japanese community. Individuals over 65 years old (484 [...] Read more.
Personality is one of the fundamental factors in determining longevity. We used a 14-year mortality surveillance to investigate the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and all-cause mortality among older adults dwelling in a Japanese community. Individuals over 65 years old (484 males and 743 females) were recruited for the study. We used the NEO Five-Factor Inventory to assess the Big Five personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. During the follow-up period, 502 persons (250 men and 252 women) had died. Cox proportional hazards regression controlling for covariates showed that extraversion (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.783, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.636 to 0.965 and HR = 0.757, 95% CI = 0.607 to 0.944 for the middle and highest tertiles, respectively), openness (HR = 0.768, 95% CI = 0.608 to 0.969 for the highest tertile), and conscientiousness (HR = 0.745, 95% CI = 0.607 to 0.913 and HR = 0.667, 95% CI = 0.530 to 0.840 for the middle and highest tertiles, respectively) were inversely associated with mortality when the five traits were analyzed separately. Our findings suggest that older adults who have a higher level of either extraversion, openness, or conscientiousness are more likely to live longer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Personality, Health, and Well-Being among Older Adults)
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