a University Priority Research Program "Dynamics of Healthy Aging" , University of Zurich , Zurich , Switzerland.
b JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow For Research Abroad , Japan Society for the Promotion of Science , Tokyo , Japan.
Aging Ment Health. 2018 Oct;22(10):1313-1320. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2017.1348477. Epub 2017 Jul 6.
The present study examined the cultural differences and similarities in the levels and predictors of subjective well-being in Japanese and American centenarians.
We analyzed data on cognitively intact Japanese (N = 59) and American (N = 125) participants from the Tokyo and Georgia Centenarian Studies, respectively. The Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale was used to measure subjective well-being, while sociodemographic, social, and health resources were assessed as potential predictors.
The American participants reported higher scores on well-being (satisfaction with social relations and psychological comfort). However, cultural differences in the levels of well-being disappeared after we controlled for its predictors. The regression models revealed that health resources (cognitive function, hearing problems, and activities of daily living) were strong predictors of well-being in both countries. Social resources (living with others) were strongly associated with one dimension of well-being (attitude toward one's aging) among the Japanese participants.
The findings support the existing lifespan and cross-cultural literature, indicating that declines in health impose certain limitations on adaptive capacity in oldest-old age irrespective of cultures, and that social embeddedness is valued in Eastern cultures. The authors speculate that cultural values, i.e. personal autonomy versus relational harmony, play an important role for well-being in oldest-old age.
本研究考察了日本和美国百岁老人主观幸福感水平及其预测因素的文化差异和相似性。
我们分析了分别来自东京和佐治亚州百岁老人研究的认知正常的日本（N=59）和美国（N=125）参与者的数据。使用费城老年中心士气量表来衡量主观幸福感，同时评估社会人口统计学、社会和健康资源作为潜在的预测因素。
美国参与者在幸福感（对社会关系和心理舒适度的满意度）方面的得分较高。然而，在控制了其预测因素后，幸福感水平的文化差异消失了。回归模型显示，健康资源（认知功能、听力问题和日常生活活动）是两国幸福感的强有力预测因素。社会资源（与他人同住）与日本参与者幸福感的一个维度（对衰老的态度）密切相关。
这些发现支持现有的寿命和跨文化文献，表明健康状况的下降给最年长老年人的适应能力带来了一定的限制，无论文化如何，社会嵌入性都受到重视。作者推测，文化价值观，即个人自主与关系和谐，在最年长老年人的幸福感中起着重要作用。
