Trends, heterogeneity, and correlates of mental health and psychosocial well-being in later-life: study of 590 community-dwelling adults aged 40–104 years

Psychosocial correlates of flourishing in the late lifespan

“…Moreover, extending previous evidence [ 22 ], psychological hardiness was more preserved in male participants than in females, whereas, as expected [ 30 ], gender did not impact self-perceived cognitive function. Altogether, extending previous evidence (e.g., [ 5 , 13 , 14 , 20 ]), the current findings let us speculate that a very high level of flourishing, combined with a good degree of confidence in one’s mental functioning and a supportive social capital could represent a crucial protective factor for successful aging and perhaps to contrast the mortality risk.…”

“…Moreover, Fastame and Melis [ 26 ] documented that the self-reported measure of Flourishing developed by Diener et al [ 18 ] was negatively associated with the efficiency of crystallized intelligence and with a measure of subjective cognitive function (i.e., the Cognitive Failure Questionnaire by [ 27 ], see the Materials section) taken in a sample of 65–94-year-old community dwellers. Partially consistent with these outcomes, Kohn et al [ 20 ] found a significant association between flourishing and self-reported cognitive complaints (i.e., assessed through the Cognitive Failure Questionnaire) only in a sample of 60–79-year-old individuals but not in an older group (i.e., ≥ 80 years of age). Overall, the aforementioned findings suggest that less cognitively healthy older people and those complaining more about the efficiency of their mind tend to disinvest in terms of living a life full of purposes and values (i.e., languishing in life), as well as tend to be less vital.…”

“…These outcomes are reinforced by a further study, according to which older individuals living alone and with a very poor social network reported lower flourishing assessed through the tool developed by Diener et al [ 18 ], whereas those who had a good social network, regardless of living alone or with others, exhibited better flourishing [ 19 ]. In addition, a recent study conducted by Kohn et al [ 20 ] supports the ‘paradox of aging’ [ 21 ], that is, despite physical and cognitive decline being more evident in the last 2 decades of life, octogenarians and older individuals exhibited preserved flourishing which was enhanced by happiness, personal mastery, and prosocial behaviors focused on providing help and support to others. Extending this, studies conducted in areas of exceptional longevity (i.e., the so-called ‘Blue Zone’) documented that older people who stated to be satisfied with their family ties reported fewer depressive signs and loneliness, and higher perceived psychological well-being than people having less social functioning (e.g., [ 22 – 24 ]).…”

“…In contrast, no specific hypotheses can be formulated on the role of satisfaction with family ties in predicting flourishing in late adulthood, since evidence is controversial [ 17 , 25 ]. Similarly, due to the lack of univocal evidence, no specific hypotheses are proposed on the association between flourishing and perceived cognitive function in late adulthood [ 20 , 26 ]. In addition, no specific hypotheses on the impact of gender on resilience are drawn, because according to Fastame et al [ 22 ], males are more resilient than females, but this was not found by Färber and Rosendahl [ 29 ].…”

Deep Dive into the Long Haul: Analysis of Symptom Clusters and Risk Factors for Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 to Inform Clinical Care

“…Also interestingly, when risk factors were examined for the different symptom clusters, older adults had statistically significantly lower odds of reported anxiety. Older adults tend to have lower stress reactivity, and in general, better emotional regulation and well-being than younger adults [ 41 , 42 , 43 ]. School-based studies from around the globe report higher levels and incidence of anxiety in younger ages [ 44 , 45 , 46 ].…”