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Does active ageing contribute to life satisfaction for older people? Testing a new model of active ageing

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Abstract

Several debates have emerged across the literature about the conceptualisation of active ageing. The aim of this study is to develop a model of the construct that is focused on the individual, including different elements of people’s lives that have the potential to be modified by intervention programs. Moreover, the paper examines the contributions of active ageing to life satisfaction, as well as the possible predictive role of coping styles on active ageing. For this purpose, a representative sample of 404 Galician (Spain) community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥60 years) were interviewed using a structured survey. The results demonstrate that the proposed model composed of two broad categories is valid. The model comprises status variables (related to physical, psychological, and social health) as well as different types of activities, called processual variables. This model is tested using partial least squares (PLS) regression. The findings show that active ageing is a fourth-order, formative construct. In addition, PLS analyses indicate that active ageing has a moderate and positive path on life satisfaction and that coping styles may predict active ageing. The discussion highlights the potential of active ageing as a relevant concept for people’s lives, drawing out policy implications and suggestions for further research.

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Acknowledgements

Sara Marsillas received a fellowship from the Fundación Barrié (Spain). We would like to thank this organisation for its support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Area of Methodology of Behavioural Sciences, Faculty of Psychology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Calle Xosé María Suárez Núñez, s/n. Campus Vida, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Sara Marsillas, Teresa Braña & Jesús Varela

  2. Department of Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Liesbeth De Donder, Tinie Kardol, Sofie van Regenmortel, Sarah Dury, Dorien Brosens & An-Sofie Smetcoren

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  1. Sara Marsillas
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  2. Liesbeth De Donder
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Correspondence to Sara Marsillas.

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Even though Sara Marsillas has received a fellowship from the Fundación Barrié (Spain), the authors declare no competing interests that have influenced the submitted work. The funders have provided financial support but have had no role in data collection, analysis, interpretation of data, or in authoring the manuscript. To this extent, the authors are independent from the funders.

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Responsible editor: H. Litwin.

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Marsillas, S., De Donder, L., Kardol, T. et al. Does active ageing contribute to life satisfaction for older people? Testing a new model of active ageing. Eur J Ageing 14, 295–310 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-017-0413-8

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