Department of Sociology and Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, Florida State University, Tallahassee.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2021 Jun 14;76(6):1241-1250. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbaa116.
Research on life course inequality and successful aging has sought to understand how events and challenges may lead to poor outcomes in later life for some individuals, while others fare well in the face of adversity. Among internalized resources, research suggests psychological resilience is protective in the face of challenges, but little is known about the predictive efficacy of this measure compared to other resources such as mastery. This paper examines connections between psychological resilience and later life health compared to other internalized resources.
Standardized associations between 4 resources (resilience, mastery, optimism, hopelessness) and 5 health outcomes were tested using short-term health transitions and longer term health trajectories in a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework using the Leave Behind Questionnaire (LBQ) and linked Health and Retirement Study (HRS) between 2006/2008 and 2014/2016 (n = 11,050-12,823).
Psychological resilience had consistent and robust associations with health transitions and trajectories. Further, the effects of this resource were generally 4-10 times greater than for mastery, optimism, and hopelessness in combined models. Trajectory analyses replicate these findings and suggest the beneficial associations of resilience over time were persistent for some health outcomes, and cumulative for others.
The results suggest that psychological resilience is powerfully associated with health in later life, with substantially greater predictive efficacy than other commonly used resource measures. Future research should establish how this intrapersonal resource works alongside structural and interpersonal resources to promote and protect health and functioning in the face of challenges and adversity.
关于人生历程不平等和成功老龄化的研究旨在了解事件和挑战如何导致某些人在晚年出现不良后果，而另一些人在逆境中却表现良好。在内在资源方面，研究表明心理弹性在面对挑战时具有保护作用，但对于这种衡量标准与其他资源（如掌握）相比的预测效果知之甚少。本文探讨了心理弹性与晚年健康之间的联系，以及与其他内在资源的关系。
使用结构方程模型（SEM）框架，使用短期健康转变和长期健康轨迹，对 4 种资源（韧性、掌握、乐观、绝望）与 5 种健康结果之间的标准关联进行了测试，这些资源来自于“遗留问卷”（LBQ）和健康与退休研究（HRS）之间的 2006/2008 年至 2014/2016 年的数据（n=11050-12823）。
心理弹性与健康转变和轨迹之间存在一致且稳健的关联。此外，在综合模型中，该资源的影响通常比掌握、乐观和绝望高 4-10 倍。轨迹分析复制了这些发现，并表明韧性随时间的有益关联对于某些健康结果是持久的，对于其他结果则是累积的。
结果表明，心理弹性与晚年健康密切相关，其预测效果明显优于其他常用的资源衡量标准。未来的研究应确定这种内在资源如何与结构和人际资源一起运作，以促进和保护健康和功能，以应对挑战和逆境。
