Abstract
Previous research highlighted the beneficial effects of volunteering, income and employment, and religiousness in older adults, but not the interrelationships between these variables and their effects on quality of life. In the present study, 399 community-dwelling retirement-aged New Zealanders completed the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life questionnaire and questions about their volunteering and employment activities. Path-analysis models tested the direct and indirect effects of these variables on quality of life. While employment was not a significant predictor, volunteering was positively associated with physical, psychological, and environment quality of life, and religious community membership predicted psychological and social quality of life, although effects were small. Volunteering did not mediate the relationship between religious community membership and quality of life. Volunteering and religious community membership thus provide independent QOL benefits, and future work may model their unique effects by including measures of feeling a sense of meaning and purpose as potential mediating variables.
Résumé
Des recherches antérieures ont mis en évidence les effets bénéfiques du bénévolat, des revenus et de l’emploi, et de la religiosité chez les personnes âgées, mais pas les relations entre ces variables ni leurs effets sur la qualité de vie. Dans la présente étude, 399 Néozélandais en âge de prendre la retraite et vivant en milieu communautaire ont réalisé le questionnaire sur la qualité de vie WHOQOL-BREF et répondu aux questions sur leurs activités en termes de bénévolat et d’emploi. Les modèles d’analyse des pistes causales ont testé les effets directs et indirects de ces variables sur la qualité de vie. Alors que l’emploi n’était pas un facteur prédictif significatif, le bénévolat était associé positivement à la qualité de vie physique, psychologique et environnementale, et l’appartenance à une communauté religieuse prédisait la qualité de vie psychologique et sociale, bien que les effets soient faibles. Le bénévolat n’a pas joué un rôle dans la relation entre l’appartenance à une communauté religieuse et la qualité de vie. Le bénévolat et l’appartenance à une communauté religieuse présentent ainsi des avantages de qualité de vie indépendants et les travaux futurs peuvent modéliser leurs effets uniques en intégrant des moyens permettant d’évaluer le sentiment d’avoir un sens et un but dans la vie en tant que variables médiatrices potentielles.
Zusammenfassung
In früheren Studien wurden die positiven Auswirkungen von ehrenamtlicher Arbeit, Einkommen und Beschäftigung und Religiösität für ältere Menschen hervorgehoben; doch wurde nicht auf die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen diesen Variablen und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Lebensqualität eingegangen. In der vorliegenden Studie füllten 399 in einer Gemeinschaft lebenden Neuseeländer im Rentenalter den WHOQOL-BREF-Fragebogen zur Lebensqualität aus und beantworteten Fragen hinsichtlich ihrer ehrenamtlichen Arbeit und ihrer Beschäftigung. Anhand von Modellen der Pfadanalyse wurden die direkten und indirekten Auswirkungen dieser Variablen auf die Lebensqualität untersucht. Während die Beschäftigung kein bedeutender Prädikator war, wurde die ehrenamtliche Arbeit positiv mit der physischen, psychischen und umweltbezogenen Lebensqualität assoziiert, und die Mitgliedschaft in einer Religionsgemeinschaft prognostizierte eine psychische und soziale Lebensqualität, auch wenn die Auswirkungen gering waren. Eine ehrenamtliche Tätigkeit wirkte sich nicht vermittelnd auf die Beziehung zwischen der Mitgliedschaft in einer Religionsgemeinschaft und der Lebensqualität aus. Ehrenamtliche Tätigkeiten und die Mitgliedschaft in einer Religionsgemeinschaft bringen somit unabhängige Vorteile für die Lebensqualität, und zukünftige Arbeiten können deren einzigartigen Auswirkungen veranschaulichen, indem man die Messung des Gefühls von Bedeutung und Zweck im Leben als potenzielle Mediatorvariablen einschließt.
Resumen
Investigaciones previas han destacado los efectos beneficiosos del voluntariado, los ingresos y el empleo, y la religiosidad en adultos mayores, pero no las interrelaciones entre estas variables y sus efectos sobre la calidad de vida. En el presente estudio, 399 neozelandeses con edad para jubilarse y que viven en comunidad completaron el cuestionario sobre la calidad de vida WHOQOL-BREF y preguntas sobre sus actividades de voluntariado y de empleo. Los modelos de análisis de rutas pusieron a prueba los efectos directos e indirectos de estas variables sobre la calidad de vida. Mientras que el empleo no fue un pronosticador significativo, el voluntariado se asoció positivamente a la calidad de vida física, psicológica y medioambiental, y la pertenencia a una comunidad religiosa pronosticó calidad de vida psicológica y social, aunque los efectos fueron pequeños. El voluntariado no medió en la relación entre la participación en una comunidad religiosa y la calidad de vida. El voluntariado y la participación en una comunidad religiosa proporcionan de este modo beneficios para la calidad de vida, y los futuros estudios pueden mostrar sus efectos exclusivos mediante la inclusión de mediciones de un sentimiento de significado y propósito como variables de mediación potenciales.
摘要
此前的研究的重点放在年纪较大的成年人担任志愿者的好处、收入和就业以及宗教信仰等方面,而非放在这些变量之间的相互影响以及它们对生活质量的影响上。 在当前的研究中, 399名达到退休年龄的新西兰社区居民完成了WHOQOL-BREF生活质量问卷并回答了与他们参加志愿者活动以及就业相关的问题。 路径分析模型考察了这些变量对生活质量的直接和间接影响。 虽然就业并不是一个重要的预测因素, 但是参加志愿者活动与生活质量的健康、心理和环境等方面正相关,宗教团体归属状况虽然对生活质量的心理层面和社会层面的影响不大,但是能从心理层面和社会层面预测生活质量。因此, 志愿者活动和宗教团体归属对生活质量有独立的影响。在未来的工作中,可能会对它们的独特影响建模,包括提高生活意义的措施以及潜在的中介变量的目的。
ملخص
أبرزت الأبحاث السابقة الآثار المفيدة للتطوع ٬الدخل والعمل، والتدين في كبار السن، لكن ليس على العلاقات المتبادلة بين هذه المتغيرات وتأثيرها على نوعية الحياة. في هذه الدراسة، أكمل 399 في سن التقاعد نيوزيلنديين يعيشون في المجتمع إستطلاع رأي (WHOQOL-BREF) و أسئلة حول نوعية الحياة وأنشطة التطوع والعمل. تحليل مسار إختبار نماذج الآثار المباشرة وغير المباشرة لهذه المتغيرات على نوعية الحياة. بينما كان العمل ليس مؤشرا كبيرا˝، إرتبط العمل التطوعي بإيجابية مع جودة الحياة الجسدية ٬النفسية، والبيئة ، وتوقع عضوية المجتمع الدينية نوعية نفسية وإجتماعية للحياة، على الرغم من أن الآثار كانت صغيرة. العمل التطوعي لم يتوسط العلاقة بين أعضاء المجتمع الدينية ونوعية الحياة. العمل التطوعي وعضوية المجتمع الدينية بالتالي يوفر فوائد نوعية الحياة (QOL)المستقلة، والعمل في المستقبل قد يقدم نموذج آثارهم الفريدة بما في ذلك قياس الشعوربالمخزى للمعنى والهدف كمتغيرات الوساطة المحتملة.
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Acknowledgments
This study was conducted in partial fulfillment of the second author’s studies toward the degree Master of Health Science in Psychology. The authors are very grateful for the participants’ time completing the questionnaire. This article was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant (NRF-2010-361-A00008) funded by the Korean Government (MEST).
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Krägeloh, C.U., Shepherd, G.S. Quality of Life of Community-Dwelling Retirement-Aged New Zealanders: The Effects of Volunteering, Income, and Being Part of a Religious Community. Voluntas 26, 2462–2478 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-014-9524-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-014-9524-4