An Interaction Effect of Life-Threatening Experience, Self-Efficacy, and Financial Resources on Quality of Life Among Chinese Middle-Aged and Older Women

The current study explores the interaction effect of adversities and self-efficacy at baseline on quality of life (QoL) at follow-up among middle-aged and older Chinese women. 531 women were interviewed in 2008 and 226 of them were re-interviewed a year later using Quality of Life Ladder (QoLL), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE), List of Threatening Experiences (LTE), Somatic Complaint Scale, and self-rated health. Respondents’ mean age at baseline was 55.7 (SD = 4.7, range: 50–78). Over a year’s time, respondents had a decline in quality of life and self-rated health (p < .001), experienced more life-threatening events (p < .05) and somatic complaints. The hierarchical multiple regression model, employed in the study, identifies three predictors of future quality of life after adding the interaction term ‘Previous LTE × Previous GSE × Previous household income’ — previous quality of life (β = .492, p < .001), previous LTE (β = -.292, p < .001), and the interaction term (β = .221, p < .05). This model explains 34.1% of the variance of future quality of life (Adjusted R(2) = .341, p < .001). The findings suggests that respondents’ good self-appraisal of coping resources could moderate the impact of adversities on their future quality of life. Interventions for promoting positive psychological growth among middle-aged and older adults should cover four domains, i.e. event-related factors, environmental factors, personal factors, and cognitive and coping responses. Traditional Chinese wisdom emphasizes the importance of understanding the bad (‘Yin’—the shady side) and the good (‘Yang’—the sunny side) aspect of life events. Future research may explore the Yin Yang perspective on life-threatening experiences and its applications in cross-cultural quality of life studies in the era of globalization.