Aging, Mobility Impairments and Subjective Wellbeing

Abstract Background Wellbeing is often described as U-shaped over the life course, suggesting an apparent paradox that wellbeing remains high at older ages despite increases in impairments. Objective/Hypotheses We explore associations among age, lower body impairments—one of the most common late-lif...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Disability and health journal 2017-10, Vol.10 (4), p.525-531
Main Authors: Freedman, Vicki A., Ph.D, Carr, Deborah, Ph.D, Cornman, Jennifer C., Ph.D, Lucas, Richard E., Ph.D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of Daily Living
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging - psychology
Disabled Persons - psychology
Emotions
Female
Health Status
Humans
Internal Medicine
Male
Mental Health
Middle Aged
Mobility Limitation
Personal Satisfaction
Quality of Life
Socioeconomic Factors
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Summary:Abstract Background Wellbeing is often described as U-shaped over the life course, suggesting an apparent paradox that wellbeing remains high at older ages despite increases in impairments. Objective/Hypotheses We explore associations among age, lower body impairments—one of the most common late-life impairments—and three measures of wellbeing: life satisfaction, emotional wellbeing and somatic wellbeing. We hypothesize that age effects are positive, become stronger once lower body impairments are controlled, and are concentrated among those who have maintained their mobility. Net of confounding factors, we hypothesize that lower body impairments are associated with worse wellbeing and these effects diminish with advancing age. Methods We analyze the 2013 Disability and Use of Time supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N=1,607 adults ages 60 and older). We estimate nested regression models that include age, severity of lower body impairments and confounding demographic, psychological, and socioeconomic factors and activities; test age-impairment interactions; and estimate age- and impairment-stratified models. Results Positive age effects were observed after controlling for lower body impairments for life satisfaction (β=0.90; p
ISSN:1936-6574
1876-7583
DOI:10.1016/j.dhjo.2017.03.011