Top

Quality of Life Research

Gepubliceerd in:

01-08-2008

Life satisfaction in a sample of empty-nest elderly: a survey in the rural area of a mountainous county in China

Auteurs: Li-Juan Liu, Qiang Guo

Gepubliceerd in: Quality of Life Research | Uitgave 6/2008

Abstract

Objective

To estimate the life satisfaction and its predictors between the empty-nest and not-empty-nest elderly.

Methods

A semi-structured questionnaire including socio-demographic characteristics, physical health, and the Life Satisfaction Index (LSI), UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS), and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was administered to 275 empty-nest and 315 not-empty-nest rural elderly in a Chinese county. Linear regression analysis was used to examine the predictors of LSI score.

Results

The empty-nest elderly had lower life satisfaction, lower income, poorer relationships with children, less social support, higher prevalence of chronic diseases, and more feelings of depression and loneliness compared to the not-empty-nest elderly. “Empty-nest status” was negatively related with life satisfaction. Depression was the strongest predictor of life satisfaction in both groups. The second strongest predictor was loneliness among the empty-nest group, while it was chronic diseases among the not-empty-nest group. Marital status and income were correlated with life satisfaction only among the empty-nest elderly.

Conclusions

The empty-nest elderly were likely to have mental health problems and to feel unsatisfied with their life. These findings also emphasize the importance of mental health as the determinant of life satisfaction among the empty-nest elderly.

volgende artikel Quality of life as a prognostic factor of overall survival in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: results from two French clinical trials

Liu, L. J., Sun, X., Zhang, C. L., & Guo, Q. (2007). Health-care utilization among empty-nesters in the rural area of a mountainous county in China. Public Health Reports, 122(3), 407–413.PubMed

Liu, L. J., & Guo, Q. (2007). Loneliness and health-related quality of life for the empty nest elderly in the rural area of a mountainous county in China. Quality of Life Research, 16(8), 1275–1280. doi:10.1007/s11136-007-9250-0.PubMedCrossRef

Greendale, G. A., Salem, G. J., Young, J. T., Damesyn, M., Marion, M., Wang, M. Y., et al. (2000). A randomized trial of weighted vest use in ambulatory older adults: strength, performance, and quality of life outcomes. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 48(3), 305–311.PubMed

Osborne, R. H., Hawthorne, G., Lew, E. A., & Gray, L. C. (2003). Quality of life assessment in the community-dwelling elderly: Validation of the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL) instrument and comparison with the SF-36. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 56(2), 138–147. doi:10.1016/S0895-4356(02)00601-7.PubMedCrossRef

von Heideken Wågert, P., Rönnmark, B., Rosendahl, E., Lundin-Olsson, L., Gustavsson, J. M., Nygren, B., et al. (2005). Morale in the oldest old: The Umeå 85+ study. Age and Ageing, 34(3), 249–255. doi:10.1093/ageing/afi044.CrossRef

Fagerström, C., Holst, G., & Hallberg, I. R. (2007). Feeling hindered by health problems and functional capacity at 60 years and above. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 44(2), 181–201. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2006.03.004.PubMedCrossRef

Inal, S., Subasi, F., Ay, S. M., & Hayran, O. (2007). The links between health-related behaviors and life satisfaction in elderly individuals who prefer institutional living. BMC Health Services Research, 7, 30. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-7-30.PubMedCrossRef

Lipovcan, L. K., Brkljacić, T., & Sakić, V. (2007). Monthly income and subjective well-being of Croatian citizens. Croatian Medical Journal, 48(5), 727–733.PubMed

Stolar, G. E., MacEntee, M. I., & Hill, P. (1992). Seniors’ assessment of their health and life satisfaction: The case for contextual evaluation. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 35(4), 305–317.

10.

Swami, V., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Sinniah, D., Maniam, T., Kannan, K., Stanistreet, D., et al. (2007). General health mediates the relationship between loneliness, life satisfaction and depression. A study with Malaysian medical students. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 42(2), 161–166. doi:10.1007/s00127-006-0140-5.PubMedCrossRef

11.

Newsom, J. T., & Schulz, R. (1996). Social support as a mediator in the relation between functional status and quality of life in older adults. Psychology and Aging, 11(1), 34–44. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.11.1.34.PubMedCrossRef

12.

Blazer, D., Hughes, D. C., & George, L. K. (1992). Age and impaired subjective support. Predictors of depressive symptoms at one-year follow-up. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 180(3), 172–178. doi:10.1097/00005053-199203000-00005.PubMedCrossRef

13.

Long, M. V., & Martin, P. (2000). Personality, relationship closeness, and loneliness of oldest old adults and their children. The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 55(5), 311–319.

14.

Pillay, A. L. (1988). Midlife depression and the “empty nest” syndrome in Indian women. Psychological Reports, 63(2), 591–594.PubMed

15.

Wood, V., Wylie, M. L., & Sheafor, B. (1969). An analysis of a short self-report measure of life satisfaction: Correlation with rater judgments. Journal of Gerontology, 24(4), 465–469.PubMed

16.

Morgan, K., Dallosso, H. M., Arie, T., Byrne, E. J., Jones, R., & Waite, J. (1987). Mental health and psychological well-being among the old and the very old living at home. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 801–807.PubMedCrossRef

17.

Baiyewu, O., & Jegede, R. O. (1992). Life satisfaction in elderly Nigerians: Reliability and factor composition of the life satisfaction Index Z. Age and Ageing, 21(4), 256–261. doi:10.1093/ageing/21.4.256.PubMedCrossRef

18.

Russell, D., Peplau, L. A., & Cutrona, C. E. (1980). The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39(3), 472–480. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.39.3.472.PubMedCrossRef

19.

Chau, J., Martin, C. R., Thompson, D. R., Chang, A. M., & Woo, J. (2006). Factor structure of the Chinese version of the Geriatric Depression Scale. Psychology Health and Medicine, 11(1), 48–59. doi:10.1080/13548500500093688.CrossRef

20.

SPSS, Inc. (1999). SPSS: Version 10.0 for Windows. Chicago: SPSS, Inc.

21.

Iwatsubo, Y., Derriennic, F., Cassou, B., & Poitrenaud, J. (1996). Predictors of life satisfaction amongst retired people in Paris. International Journal of Epidemiology, 25(1), 160–170. doi:10.1093/ije/25.1.160.PubMedCrossRef

22.

Strine, T. W., Chapman, D. P., Balluz, L. S., Moriarty, D. G., & Mokdad, A. H. (2008). The associations between life satisfaction and health-related quality of life, chronic illness, and health behaviors among U.S. community-dwelling adults. Journal of Community Health, 33(1), 40–50. doi:10.1007/s10900-007-9066-4.PubMedCrossRef

23.

Fahrenberg, B. (1986). Coping with the empty nest situation as a developmental task for the aging female—an analysis of the literature. Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie, 19(5), 323–335.PubMed

24.

Pelkonen, M. (2008). Smoking: relationship to chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and mortality. Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine, 14(2), 105–109.PubMed

Titel: Life satisfaction in a sample of empty-nest elderly: a survey in the rural area of a mountainous county in China
Auteurs: Li-Juan Liu
Qiang Guo
Publicatiedatum: 01-08-2008
Uitgeverij: Springer Netherlands
Gepubliceerd in: Quality of Life Research / Uitgave 6/2008
Print ISSN: 0962-9343
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-2649
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-008-9370-1

Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

Deel dit onderdeel of sectie (kopieer de link)

Abstract

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Log in om toegang te krijgen

Andere artikelen Uitgave 6/2008

Beyond standard quality of life measures: the subjective experiences of living with inflammatory bowel disease

Separating gains and losses in health when calculating the minimum important difference for mapped utility measures

A relevant study was missed in our systematic review on the impact of patient-reported outcomes in clinical practice

Measuring breast cancer-specific health-related quality of life in South Asia: psychometric properties of the Sinhala version of the EORTC QLQ-BR23

Parent–child agreement across child health-related quality of life instruments: a review of the literature

Comparison of perceived oral health in patients with temporomandibular disorders and dental anxiety using oral health-related quality of life profiles