Gerstorf Denis, Hoppmann Christiane A, Löckenhoff Corinna E, Infurna Frank J, Schupp Jürgen, Wagner Gert G, Ram Nilam
Institute for Psychology, Humboldt University.
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia.
Psychol Aging. 2016 Mar;31(2):149-65. doi: 10.1037/pag0000072.
Well-being development at the end of life is often characterized by steep deteriorations, but individual differences in these terminal declines are substantial and not yet well understood. This study moved beyond typical consideration of health predictors and explored the role of social orientation and engagement. To do so, we used social variables at the behavioral level (self-ratings of social participation) and the motivational level (valuing social and family goals), assessed 2 to 4 years before death. We applied single- and multiphase growth models to up to 27-year annual longitudinal data from 2,910 now deceased participants of the nation-wide German Socio-Economic Panel Study (Mage at death = 74 years; SD = 14; 48% women). Results revealed that leading a socially active life and prioritizing social goals in late life were independently associated with higher late-life well-being, less pronounced late-life decline, and a later onset of terminal decline. Significant interaction effects suggested that the combination of (reduced) social participation and (lowered) social goals magnifies the effects of each other. Findings also indicated that less decline in social participation was associated with less severe rates and a later onset of well-being decline. We found little evidence that valuing family goals is associated with late-life trajectories of well-being. Associations were independent of key correlates of well-being and mortality, including age at death, gender, education, disability, hospital stays, and goals in other life domains. We discuss possible pathways by which maintaining social orientation into late life may help mitigate terminal decline in well-being.
临终时的幸福感发展往往以急剧衰退为特征，但这些末期衰退中的个体差异很大，尚未得到很好的理解。本研究超越了对健康预测因素的典型考量，探讨了社会取向和参与度的作用。为此，我们使用了死亡前2至4年在行为层面（社会参与度自评）和动机层面（重视社会和家庭目标）的社会变量。我们将单阶段和多阶段增长模型应用于来自德国全国社会经济小组研究的2910名现已去世参与者的长达27年的年度纵向数据（死亡时年龄 = 74岁；标准差 = 14；48%为女性）。结果显示，在晚年过着社交活跃的生活并将社会目标置于优先地位，与更高的晚年幸福感、不太明显的晚年衰退以及末期衰退的较晚 onset 独立相关。显著的交互作用表明，（减少的）社会参与和（降低的）社会目标的结合会相互放大彼此的影响。研究结果还表明，社会参与度下降较少与幸福感下降的严重程度较低和 onset 较晚相关。我们几乎没有发现证据表明重视家庭目标与晚年幸福感轨迹相关。这些关联独立于幸福感和死亡率的关键相关因素，包括死亡年龄、性别、教育程度、残疾、住院次数以及其他生活领域的目标。我们讨论了在晚年保持社会取向可能有助于减轻幸福感末期衰退的可能途径。
