Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2024 Nov 1;79(11). doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbae144.
We investigate how adults of different ages experience changes in their social relationships during significant life events. Based on different goal priorities, younger adults may benefit more from establishing new social contacts during a significant life event, whereas older adults may benefit more from maintaining existing relationships.
To test these hypotheses, we conducted multilevel modeling with a sample of N = 6,688 participants aged 18-90 years who reported at least 1 significant life event in the past 2 years.
Both establishing new social relationships and maintaining existing relationships during significant life events were associated with higher levels of well-being. As predicted, these associations were moderated by age. Establishing new social relationships was more strongly associated with mental health and life satisfaction in younger adults, whereas maintaining existing relationships was more strongly associated with subjective well-being, physical health, and loneliness in older adults.
These findings provide valuable insights into the role of age in the change and stability of social relationships during significant life events.
我们调查不同年龄段的成年人在重大生活事件期间如何经历其社会关系的变化。基于不同的目标优先级，年轻人在重大生活事件期间可能会从建立新的社会联系中获益更多，而老年人可能会从维持现有关系中获益更多。
为了检验这些假设，我们对 6688 名年龄在 18-90 岁的参与者进行了多层次建模，这些参与者在过去 2 年内报告了至少 1 次重大生活事件。
在重大生活事件期间建立新的社会关系和维持现有的社会关系都与更高水平的幸福感相关。正如所预测的那样，这些关联受到年龄的调节。在年轻人中，建立新的社会关系与心理健康和生活满意度的关联更强，而在老年人中，维持现有的关系与主观幸福感、身体健康和孤独感的关联更强。
这些发现为重大生活事件期间社会关系的变化和稳定性中年龄的作用提供了有价值的见解。
