Yu Yongju
Department of Social Work, School of International Law and Sociology, Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing, China.
Front Psychol. 2022 Feb 24;13:839125. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.839125. eCollection 2022.
Aging of population has brought great challenges to many regions throughout the world. It has been demonstrated that interpersonal relationship is closely related to the experiences of aging for older adults. However, it still remains unknown how and under what conditions thwarted belongingness links to successful aging. This study examined the relationship between thwarted belongingness and successful aging and tested the mediating role of positive mental health and the moderating role of meaning in life. Community-dwelling older adults ( = 339) aged 60-75 years recruited in Chongqing, China completed self-measures of thwarted belongingness, successful aging, meaning in life, and positive mental health. Correlation analyses showed that successful aging was associated with less thwarted belongingness, better positive mental health, and higher levels of meaning in life. Positive mental health was found to totally mediate the negative effect of thwarted belongingness on successful aging. Moderated mediation analyses further revealed that two components of meaning in life (present of meaning and search for meaning) attenuated the indirect effect of thwarted belongingness on successful aging positive mental health. This study highlights the protective roles of positive mental health and meaning in life and addressed cultural aspects in the process of successful aging among Chinese older adults.
人口老龄化给世界许多地区带来了巨大挑战。已有研究表明，人际关系与老年人的衰老经历密切相关。然而，归属感受挫如何以及在何种条件下与成功老龄化相关联仍不为人知。本研究考察了归属感受挫与成功老龄化之间的关系，并检验了积极心理健康的中介作用以及生命意义的调节作用。在中国重庆招募的339名60 - 75岁的社区居住老年人完成了关于归属感受挫、成功老龄化、生命意义和积极心理健康的自我测量。相关分析表明，成功老龄化与较低的归属感受挫、较好的积极心理健康以及较高的生命意义水平相关。研究发现，积极心理健康完全中介了归属感受挫对成功老龄化的负面影响。调节中介分析进一步揭示，生命意义的两个成分（意义的存在和对意义的追寻）减弱了归属感受挫通过积极心理健康对成功老龄化的间接影响。本研究强调了积极心理健康和生命意义在成功老龄化过程中的保护作用，并探讨了中国老年人成功老龄化过程中的文化因素。
