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Presence of Meaning in Life in Older Men and Women: The Role of Dimensions of Frailty and Social Support

Presence of meaning in life is an important component of eudemonic wellbeing while aging. While subjective health and interpersonal relationships are among important sources of meaning for older adults, less research has explored the gender differences in the potential contribution of these sources...

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Autores principales: Golovchanova, Nadezhda, Owiredua, Christiana, Boersma, Katja, Andershed, Henrik, Hellfeldt, Karin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8448055/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34539530
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.730724
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author Golovchanova, Nadezhda
Owiredua, Christiana
Boersma, Katja
Andershed, Henrik
Hellfeldt, Karin
author_facet Golovchanova, Nadezhda
Owiredua, Christiana
Boersma, Katja
Andershed, Henrik
Hellfeldt, Karin
author_sort Golovchanova, Nadezhda
collection PubMed
description Presence of meaning in life is an important component of eudemonic wellbeing while aging. While subjective health and interpersonal relationships are among important sources of meaning for older adults, less research has explored the gender differences in the potential contribution of these sources to the presence of meaning in late life. The current study aims to examine the associations of frailty dimensions (daily activities, health problems, and psychosocial functioning) and social support with the presence of meaning in late life, and whether these associations differ for older men and women. The study employs the data from the 65+ and Safe Study – a cross-sectional survey of residents of senior apartments. The data were collected in 2019 in a mid-sized Swedish municipality (N=618; age range from 64 to 106years, 60.5% female). Results showed significant associations of health problems, psychosocial functioning, and social support with the presence of meaning in life. Further, the results demonstrated no statistically significant gender differences in the associations between frailty dimensions, social support, and presence of meaning. However, since the interaction between health problems and gender approached statistical significance, this association was further explored indicating a more detrimental role of health problems in relation to the presence of meaning in life among older men than among older women. Overall, the study highlights the importance of physical and psychosocial health and social support for the presence of meaning in life among older adults and warrants further research on possible gender differences in the relation between health problems and meaning in late life.
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spelling pubmed-84480552021-09-18 Presence of Meaning in Life in Older Men and Women: The Role of Dimensions of Frailty and Social Support Golovchanova, Nadezhda Owiredua, Christiana Boersma, Katja Andershed, Henrik Hellfeldt, Karin Front Psychol Psychology Presence of meaning in life is an important component of eudemonic wellbeing while aging. While subjective health and interpersonal relationships are among important sources of meaning for older adults, less research has explored the gender differences in the potential contribution of these sources to the presence of meaning in late life. The current study aims to examine the associations of frailty dimensions (daily activities, health problems, and psychosocial functioning) and social support with the presence of meaning in late life, and whether these associations differ for older men and women. The study employs the data from the 65+ and Safe Study – a cross-sectional survey of residents of senior apartments. The data were collected in 2019 in a mid-sized Swedish municipality (N=618; age range from 64 to 106years, 60.5% female). Results showed significant associations of health problems, psychosocial functioning, and social support with the presence of meaning in life. Further, the results demonstrated no statistically significant gender differences in the associations between frailty dimensions, social support, and presence of meaning. However, since the interaction between health problems and gender approached statistical significance, this association was further explored indicating a more detrimental role of health problems in relation to the presence of meaning in life among older men than among older women. Overall, the study highlights the importance of physical and psychosocial health and social support for the presence of meaning in life among older adults and warrants further research on possible gender differences in the relation between health problems and meaning in late life. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-09-03 /pmc/articles/PMC8448055/ /pubmed/34539530 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.730724 Text en Copyright © 2021 Golovchanova, Owiredua, Boersma, Andershed and Hellfeldt. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Golovchanova, Nadezhda
Owiredua, Christiana
Boersma, Katja
Andershed, Henrik
Hellfeldt, Karin
Presence of Meaning in Life in Older Men and Women: The Role of Dimensions of Frailty and Social Support
title Presence of Meaning in Life in Older Men and Women: The Role of Dimensions of Frailty and Social Support
title_full Presence of Meaning in Life in Older Men and Women: The Role of Dimensions of Frailty and Social Support
title_fullStr Presence of Meaning in Life in Older Men and Women: The Role of Dimensions of Frailty and Social Support
title_full_unstemmed Presence of Meaning in Life in Older Men and Women: The Role of Dimensions of Frailty and Social Support
title_short Presence of Meaning in Life in Older Men and Women: The Role of Dimensions of Frailty and Social Support
title_sort presence of meaning in life in older men and women: the role of dimensions of frailty and social support
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8448055/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34539530
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.730724
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