This study addressed the issue of adjustment among Holocaust survivors by multidimensional assessment of subjective well-being (SWB). Participants were Israeli Holocaust survivors incidentally included in a life-span study (Group 1; n = 466) or purposely approached for studying Holocaust survivors (Group 2; n = 178). Comparison participants had immigrated to Israel before World War II, with their parents either undergoing (Group 3; n = 270) or not undergoing the Holocaust (Group 4; n = 388); other comparison participants had immigrated after the war with parents not undergoing the Holocaust (Group 5; n = 166). Results showed that Group 1 scored lower than Group 2, mainly in positive affect. Group 1 scored lower than Group 4, and to a lesser extent also lower than Groups 3 and 5, mainly in aging-related themes of SWB. The study suggests that long-term effects of the Holocaust on the survivors' SWB are traceable but require a differential approach to the study groups and to the facets of SWB.
Activity restriction is known to mediate the disease-depression relationship. Data from 423 older Israeli adults showed that having to give up activities because of failing health was related to more depressive symptoms (DS), whereas satisfactorily replacing these activities was related to DS levels comparable to those of healthier older adults. Giving up and replacing activities mediated, in part, the effect of functional limitations on DS, after controlling for health status, demographics, and resources. Such questions about activities given up and replaced could contribute to the means of assessing the extent and impact of functional limitations on older adults.
This article examines the relations between reported level of activity and measures of affect in old people exploring possible sex differences. It was hypothesized that these relations are mediated by the satisfaction from the specific activity. The sample consisted of fifty-four women and forty-five men, ranging in age from sixty to eighty, functioning normally in the community. A questionnaire assessed participants' levels of indoor/outdoor activities. Participants rated their satisfaction for each of these activities. Negative affect was measured by Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale, and positive affect was measured by Bradburn's Well-Being (Affect-Balance) Scale. For male respondents, results showed significant negative correlations between depression and both activities, and significant positive correlations with respect to well-being. Significant positive correlation was obtained only between well-being and outdoor activity for female respondents. When satisfaction from the specific activity was controlled for, only two correlations remained significant in the male participants, lending partial support to the hypothesis. A multiple regression analysis revealed reported levels of activity could predict both depression and well-being for men much better than for women, whereas satisfaction from activity could do that much better for women than for men. Discussion deals with the sex differences regarding the meaning of activity in old age and its implications for affect. The differentiation between kinds of activity as well as measures of affect is also referenced.
Eleven national Israeli samples (A 1 = 11,944) were interviewed regarding their depressive mood on 11 occasions between August 1979 and June 1984, including interviews prior to, during, and following the 1982 Israel-Lebanon War. We analyzed major newspaper headlines at the time of each national sampling in order to assess the relation between major national events and depressive mood. The outbreak of war coincided with an increase in depression. There was a decrease in depression subsequent to the most intensive period of the wai; suggesting that adaptation occurs amidst continued stressful circumstances. Peak depressive mood occurred at the time of the massacre of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps. Reactions to the massacre were more pronounced among women, older adults, Jews of European or American origin, and the more educated; but group differences had only modest effect sizes.Recent interest in stress (Appley & Trumbull, 1986; Goldwe have found, but perhaps this article's main contribution is to present the data itself so that readers can make their own assessments and interpretations.We would like to thank Roy Lilly, Ralph Rosnow, and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and statistical consultation.
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