Prospective predictors of successful aging in community-residing and institutionalized Canadian elderly

Abstract

This study examined the unique and combined contribution of existential variables (purpose in life, religiousness, and death acceptance) and traditional resource measures (social resources, intellectual competence, and cognitive competence) as prospective predictors of successful aging in community-residing and institutionalized older adults. Using multiple hierarchical regression, the results showed that baseline successful aging, social resources, purpose in life, and low religiousness predicted successful aging in community-residing elderly 14 months later; baseline successful aging, social resources, purpose in life, and being of male gender predicted successful aging in institutionalized elderly. Intellectual and cognitive competence and death acceptance failed to account for significant variance in successful aging, although the latter approached significance in the community-residing older adults. In both samples, the existential variable of purpose in life accounted for unique variance in successful aging over and above that accounted for by demographic, baseline successful aging, and traditional predictors. The important role of existential constructs in promoting successful aging in community-residing and institutionalized elderly is discussed.