Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, United States.
Disabil Health J. 2017 Oct;10(4):525-531. doi: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2017.03.011. Epub 2017 Mar 22.
Wellbeing is often described as U-shaped over the life course, suggesting an apparent paradox that wellbeing remains high at older ages despite increases in impairments.
OBJECTIVE/HYPOTHESES: We explore associations among age, lower body impairments-one of the most common late-life impairments-and three measures of wellbeing: life satisfaction, emotional wellbeing and somatic wellbeing. We hypothesize that age effects are positive, become stronger once lower body impairments are controlled, and are concentrated among those who have maintained their mobility. Net of confounding factors, we hypothesize that lower body impairments are associated with worse wellbeing and these effects diminish with advancing age.
We analyze the 2013 Disability and Use of Time supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 1607 adults ages 60 and older). We estimate nested regression models that include age, severity of lower body impairments and confounding demographic, psychological, and socioeconomic factors and activities; test age-impairment interactions; and estimate age- and impairment-stratified models.
Positive age effects were observed after controlling for lower body impairments for life satisfaction (β = 0.90; p < 0.05), although statistical significance weakened (p = 0.07) in fully adjusted models. For emotional wellbeing, adjusted age effects were negative (β = -0.05; p < 0.05) and were concentrated among those with limitations (β = -0.14; p < 0.01). For all three outcomes, severity of impairments reduced wellbeing in adjusted models. These effects were strongest for somatic wellbeing, especially for 65-74 year olds.
Our study challenges the notion that wellbeing is U-shaped throughout the life course and underscores the critical role of mobility across wellbeing domains in later life.
幸福感常被描述为人生轨迹呈 U 型，这表明了一个明显的悖论，即尽管身体机能逐渐衰退，幸福感在老年时仍然很高。
目的/假设：我们探讨了年龄、下半身机能障碍（老年人最常见的机能障碍之一）与三种幸福感衡量标准（生活满意度、情绪幸福感和身体幸福感）之间的关系。我们假设年龄的影响是积极的，在下半身机能障碍得到控制后，这种影响会增强，并且集中在那些保持了活动能力的人群中。在排除混杂因素后，我们假设下半身机能障碍与较差的幸福感相关，并且这些影响随着年龄的增长而减弱。
我们分析了收入动态面板研究（Panel Study of Income Dynamics）2013 年残疾和时间使用补充调查（N=1607 名 60 岁及以上成年人）的数据。我们估计了嵌套回归模型，包括年龄、下半身机能障碍严重程度以及混杂的人口统计学、心理和社会经济因素和活动；检验了年龄与机能障碍的交互作用；并估计了年龄和机能障碍分层模型。
在控制下半身机能障碍后，对于生活满意度（β=0.90；p<0.05），观察到积极的年龄影响，尽管在完全调整的模型中，统计学意义减弱（p=0.07）。对于情绪幸福感，调整后的年龄效应为负（β=-0.05；p<0.05），并且集中在那些有局限性的人群中（β=-0.14；p<0.01）。在所有三个结果中，机能障碍的严重程度都降低了调整后的幸福感。这些影响在身体幸福感方面最为强烈，尤其是对于 65-74 岁的人群。
我们的研究挑战了幸福感在整个生命周期中呈 U 型的观点，并强调了活动能力在晚年幸福感各个领域中的关键作用。
