Diet and Lifestyle Associations of Stress in Two Older Adult Communities

Abstract

Chronic stress negatively affects wellness, and is associated with chronic disease in older adults. Certain lifestyle factors such as a healthy diet and religious/spiritual involvement have been found to mitigate stress and improve health outcomes. We investigated stress and other wellness measures in financially secure male and female older adults, 蠅65 yrs old and without debilitating physical or mental impairment, living in a vowed Catholic community (VCC) or an independent retirement community (IRC). We hypothesized that participants living in a cloistered religious environment would experience less stress and have a higher level of wellness than those living in a cohesive secular environment. Study assessments included questions about lifestyle, the Perceived Stress Scale‐10, Geriatric Depression Scale‐15, Spirituality Index of Well‐Being, a 24‐hr dietary recall, and non‐invasive physical measurements. Mann‐Whitney U tests revealed no significant differences in age, gender, BMI, macronutrient intakes, blood pressure, stress or spirituality between the groups (p values>0.05); moreover, the VCC group reported less weekly leisure physical activity (p=0.044), higher percent body fat (p=0.025), higher heart rate (p=0.029), more depression (p=0.020), and lower vitamin C intake (p=0.045) than IRC participants, thus our hypothesis was rejected. Regression analyses indicated that spirituality (β= ‐.347, p=0.002), vitamin D intake (β= ‐.271, p=0.014), and daily sweets intake (β= .216, p=0.046) were significant partial predictors of stress in this population and accounted for 50% of the variance in stress scores. Our results suggest that perceived stress in older adults may be attenuated by certain lifestyle practices in any communal environment.