Sun Yang, Wrzus Cornelia
Psychological Institute, Network Aging Research (NAR), Heidelberg University, Bergheimer Strasse 20, Heidelberg, 69115, Germany.
BMC Geriatr. 2025 Aug 19;25(1):640. doi: 10.1186/s12877-025-06300-1.
Personality is a crucial predictor of many life outcomes, including successful ageing. The proportion of nursing home residents is increasing annually among older populations. Relocations to nursing homes affect multiple aspects of older people's lives, including their living environment, social interactions, and daily arrangements, which may indirectly affect their personality development. However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive assessments of how transitioning into a nursing home impacts personality development among older adults. This knowledge gap impedes our understanding of personality development in nursing home residents and also prevents our gaining insights into the related mechanisms and influences on personality development in later adulthood.
"My New Home" will be a prospective cohort study designed to recruit 120 participants (age ≥ 60), including 60 older adults who will be relocating to a nursing home. This study will employ a series of longitudinal measurements, including a baseline measurement before relocation, daily measurements during the initial transition phase (for 28 days after moving), and monthly assessments during the adaptation phase (for 6 months). These measurements will comprehensively track the short-term state changes and long-term trait developments of personality before and after the older people's relocations. Older adults' personality traits will be assessed with the Big Five Inventory-2-Short. Additionally, this study will explore the moderating effects of older people's age, gender, health status, cognitive function and subjective perceptions of living in nursing homes on the impact of relocation on personality traits. Furthermore, the study will test the hypothesis that the effects of relocations on personality traits are mediated through repeated influences on personality states, social activity, and daily routines.
We expect this study to provide a comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the mechanisms and processes by which relocations to nursing homes impact older people's personalities. To our knowledge, this research will represent the first prospective cohort study that focuses on the personality development of nursing home residents. The research findings hopefully contribute to enhancing our understanding of the relationships between major life events and later life personality development.
人格是许多生活结果的关键预测因素，包括成功老龄化。在老年人群中，养老院居民的比例每年都在增加。搬到养老院会影响老年人生活的多个方面，包括他们的生活环境、社交互动和日常安排，这可能会间接影响他们的人格发展。然而，目前缺乏对入住养老院如何影响老年人的人格发展的全面评估。这一知识空白阻碍了我们对养老院居民人格发展的理解，也妨碍了我们深入了解相关机制以及对成年后期人格发展的影响。
“我的新家”将是一项前瞻性队列研究，旨在招募120名参与者（年龄≥60岁），其中包括60名将搬到养老院的老年人。本研究将采用一系列纵向测量，包括搬迁前的基线测量、初始过渡阶段（搬迁后28天）的每日测量以及适应阶段（6个月）的每月评估。这些测量将全面跟踪老年人搬迁前后人格的短期状态变化和长期特质发展。老年人的人格特质将通过大五人格量表-2-简版进行评估。此外，本研究将探讨老年人的年龄、性别、健康状况、认知功能以及对养老院生活的主观感受对搬迁对人格特质影响的调节作用。此外，该研究将检验以下假设：搬迁对人格特质的影响是通过对人格状态、社交活动和日常生活的反复影响来介导的。
我们期望这项研究能对搬到养老院影响老年人性格的机制和过程进行全面深入的探索。据我们所知，这项研究将是第一项关注养老院居民人格发展的前瞻性队列研究。研究结果有望有助于增进我们对重大生活事件与晚年人格发展之间关系的理解。
