Association of living arrangements with happiness attributes among older adults

Abstract

Background In Korea, along with the rapid aging of the population, older adults’ living arrangements have changed in various ways. In particularly, the happiness of older adults living alone warrants attention because they are more vulnerable to unhappiness than those living with families are. This study reports on the level of happiness among older adults in Korean and examines the potential mediating roles of depressive symptoms, present health status, socio-physical environment, social support networks, and social activities, and happiness in three different living arrangements, older adults living alone, with their spouse, or with their family. Method Data for this study were extracted from the secondary data from the 2017 Korean Community Health Survey, a non-experimental, cross-sectional survey conducted among Korean individuals that were aged 65 and above (n = 14,687). The chi-square test, one-way ANOVA, and Logistic regression were used to explore the related factors of happiness among the three groups. Results Findings revealed a significant difference in the happiness index among older adults living alone (6.22 ± 2.11), older adults living with their spouse (6.76 ± 1.99), and older adults living with their family (6.46 ± 1.94) (F = 88.69, p < .001). As the result of logistic regression, older adults living alone (odds ratio (OR) = 0.75, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.57–0.99) and those living with their family (OR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.65–0.99) demonstrated greater happiness as the frequency of contact with their family increased. Older adults living with their spouse indicated an increase in happiness when their contact with friends was higher (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.56–0.84). Conclusion It was recognized that factors influencing happiness differed according to older adults’ living arrangements, thus suggesting that older adults’ happiness could be facilitated through interventions that consider their circumstances, including living arrangements.

Japanese national well-being survey shows that living alone results in lower satisfaction and affects other relationships, while social networking service usage is related to life satisfaction: A cross-sectional study

“…This study found that mean life satisfaction was statistically lower among individuals who lived alone, as compared with those in other living arrangements. This is consistent with previous reports [13][14][15][16][17], and thus largely expected, as individuals who live alone are often more vulnerable to unhappiness than those who live with their families or other partners. These findings highlight an important public health concern in Japan, where census data show an increasing number of single-person households among men and women aged 20 to 39 years, which is primarily the result of changes in marriage behaviors [18].…”

The relationship between happiness and quality of life: A model for Spanish society

“…This situation calls for certain actions to ensure inhabitants’ satisfaction with life in the city where they live [ 1 ]. Furthermore, working conditions and even the income gained through work are seen as clear assets in a possible model of happiness [ 14 , 18 , 19 ]. Happiness at work, which covers workplace relations and the individual’s self-esteem and assessment of their job, leads to life satisfaction and therefore happiness.…”

“…The literature review conducted for this research reveals the intermingling of the terms happiness and quality of life, as they are very closely linked; the same happens with happiness and well-being, in the subjective sense, which are considered equivalent concepts [ 35 ]. Nevertheless, there are some studies that make a clear distinction between quality of life and happiness, using elements such as income to measure quality of life [ 36 ]; others use employment [ 18 , 37 ]; or the residential environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure, crime or security, and social belonging [ 38 , 39 ]. In other studies, quality of life is seen as related to more abstract issues such as freedom, human rights and happiness [ 40 ], which makes it difficult to differentiate between quality of life and happiness.…”

“…Generally speaking, family-related aspects have an influence on happiness, as do demographic factors at the individual level: marital status, education, unemployment, disability, age and sex [ 14 ]. The happiness of older people is more vulnerable when they live alone than when they live with family [ 18 ]. Therefore, we propose the first hypothesis (H1) that a favourable family situation, in which family members are united and support one other, will have a positive effect on the happiness of each individual family member.…”

In-home environment for happy ageing in Thailand, a middle- income country in Asia

“…The potential response scores range from 0 to 10, where 0 means "unhappiest" and 10 "happiest." A single-item instrument referring to happiness is commonly used for well-being research (e.g., Helliwell et al [29], Hwang and Sim [30]). One study found that measuring happiness using a single question was reliable and valid since the answers had a high positive correlation with those provided by other happiness scales or inventories [31].…”