RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: Evidence supports that subjective well-being (SWB) diminishes in the old age and that this decline is strongly determined by elders' psychosocial resources. This study explored person-centred, multidimensional, empirically-derived profiles of psychosocial functioning in the elderly and related each trajectory to differing configurations of SWB. METHOD: A community-based, convenience sample of Spanish institutionalised and non-institutionalised elders voluntarily participated in this cross-sectional study. RESULTS: A cluster analysis produced three within-person psychosocial profiles characterised by distinct patterns of functioning: highly successful elders demonstrated to be healthy, highly confident in their own resources and very active in daily life; moderately successful elders demonstrated average functioning across domains, although they expected decreases in the future; and highly impaired elders were ill and stressed, at a high risk for future health problems and depression, and tried to compensate for their status mainly through social support. Each of these profiles was related differently to SWB configurations: highly successful elders demonstrated significantly higher happiness, positive affect, affect balance and life satisfaction; moderately successful elders showed average levels of SWB but decreased positive affect; and highly impaired elders demonstrated dramatically lower SWB. Furthermore, such trajectories were associated with the elders' living condition. The happiest elders were more likely to be home-dwelling elders; however, there were fewer unhappy elders among those who were institutionalised. CONCLUSION: A person-centred approach to assessing psychosocial and SWB configurations provides a rich picture of individual differences in the ageing processes and can help in designing interventions aimed at enhancing happiness in old age.
Assuntos
Afeto/fisiologia , Envelhecimento/psicologia , Felicidade , Satisfação Pessoal , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Análise por Conglomerados , Estudos Transversais , Feminino , Humanos , Individualidade , MasculinoRESUMO
El presente estudio se diseñó con el objetivo de conocer los conocimientos, creencias,actitudes y emociones asociados a la diabetes en un grupo de jóvenes sanos con distintogrado de experiencia con la enfermedad. Participaron en el estudio 600 alumnos de 4ºde ESO de nueve centros educativos seleccionados al azar durante un curso académico.Los participantes tenían edades comprendidas entre los 15 y 18 años (M= 15.62, dt=0.70; 50.8% mujeres). Se administró en aplicaciones colectivas el Cuestionario sobreDiabetes (CSD; Vázquez y Cruz, 2004), diseñado para este estudio con el fin de evaluaren adolescentes dichas variables. Los participantes mostraron tener algún conocimiento, aunque no exhaustivo, sobre la enfermedad, y en general unas creencias y actitudespositivas hacia la misma, así como cierta emocionalidad ante el hecho de padecerla. Lafuente de información, la experiencia con la enfermedad y el nivel de conocimientostuvieron una influencia importante sobre las actitudes, creencias y emociones asociadasa esta enfermedad. Estos resultados deben tenerse en cuenta debido al impacto que estasvariables pueden ejercer sobre las conductas preventivas y terapéuticas de las personassanas y los propios pacientes, así como en las conductas de apoyo a éstos
The present study was designed to establish the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes andemotions associated with diabetes in a healthy, young sample with different experiencewith the illness. Six hundreds of students of 4th grade of secondary obligatory educationtook part in the study. They were recruited from nine educative centres randomly selectedduring an academic year. The age of the participants ranged from 15 to 18 years old (M= 15.62, sd = 0.70; 50.8 % women). The Cuestionario sobre Diabetes (CSD; Vázquezand Cruz, 2004) was administered in collective applications. This questionnaire wasdesigned for this study in order to evaluate in adolescents the above mentioned variables.The participants showed some level of knowledge regarding the illness, although itwas not exhaustive, and, in general, they showed positive beliefs and attitudes towardsthe disease, as well as certain emocionality regarding the fact of suffering from it. Thesource of information, the experience with the illness and the level of knowledge of theparticipants exerted a relevant influence on the attitudes, beliefs and emotions associatedwith this illness. These results must be taken into account due to the impact that thesevariables can exert on the preventive and therapeutic behaviors of healthy persons andpatients, as well as on the supporting behaviors aimed to ill people (AU)
