Perceived Housing Conditions, Home Satisfaction, Control Beliefs over Aging Experience, and Life Satisfaction among Chinese Older Adults: A Path Analysis Study

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Background Knowledge about the mechanisms of home satisfaction affecting life satisfaction among elderly during the aging process is limited. This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of perceived control over aging experience on the relationship between home satisfaction and life satisfaction. Methods The secondary data collected from face-to-face questionnaire interviews with a sample of 755 community-dwelling Chinese older adults were used. The path analysis was applied to examine the mediating effect of perceived control in the relationship between home satisfaction and life satisfaction after controlling for other covariates. The bootstrap approach was employed. Results Goodness-of-fit indices were obtained for the final model and the model explained 30% of the variance of life satisfaction. Perceived housing conditions include poor lighting (β = −0.32, p < 0.001), uneven thresholds/floors (β = −0.10, p = 0.007), and lack of emergency alarm (β = −0.14, p < 0.001) and were associated with lower home satisfaction. Home satisfaction was positively associated with life satisfaction (β = 0.23, p < 0.001), and control belief over aging experience was a significant mediator, explaining 11.5% between home satisfaction and life satisfaction. Such mediating effect was only significant among those aged 60 − 79 years old. Conclusion The mediation effect of perceived control over aging experience underscores the importance of accommodating housing needs among older adults.