Aging Anxiety and Subjective Well-being of Middle-aged Women: Mediating Effects of Positive Thinking and Social Support

Abstract

Objectives This study aims to verify the mediating effects of positive thinking and social support on the relation between aging anxiety and subjective well-being of middle-aged women. Methods The subjects of this study were middle-aged women aged 40 to 59, who were members of the online research panel, and a total of 142 data was used for the final analysis. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, multiple regression analysis and Sobel test by SPSS Statistics 22.0. Results The mean score of subjective well-being was 3.30. The subjective well-being showed the significantly negative correlation with aging anxiety (r = -0.62, p< 0.001) while it showed the positive correlations with positive thinking (r = 0.82, p< 0.001) and social support (r = 0.63, p< 0.001). In the relation between aging anxiety and subjective well-being, positive thinking and social support were the significant mediating variables. Conclusions Nursing intervention is needed to help build relationships by accepting and adapting aging through positive thinking and strengthening social support networks. Based on these findings, this study will be used as basic data for developing integrated nursing intervention programs to promote well-being of middle-aged women. Key words: Aging anxiety, Positive thinking, Social support, Subjective well-being, Middle-aged women