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Interrelations of stress, optimism and control in older people's psychological adjustment
Author(s) -
Bretherton Susan Jane,
McLean Louise Anne
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/ajag.12138
Subject(s) - optimism , stressor , psychology , perceived control , perceived stress scale , scale (ratio) , quality of life (healthcare) , clinical psychology , stress (linguistics) , gerontology , medicine , developmental psychology , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , psychotherapist
Aim To investigate the influence of perceived stress, optimism and perceived control of internal states on the psychological adjustment of older adults. Method The sample consisted of 212 older adults, aged between 58 and 103 ( M = 80.42 years, SD = 7.31 years), living primarily in retirement villages in M elbourne, V ictoria. Participants completed the P erceived S tress S cale, L ife O rientation T est‐ R evised, P erceived C ontrol of I nternal S tates S cale and the W orld H ealth O rganisation Q uality of L ife‐ B ref. Results Optimism significantly mediated the relationship between older people's perceived stress and psychological health, and perceived control of internal states mediated the relationships among stress, optimism and psychological health. The variables explained 49% of the variance in older people's psychological adjustment. Conclusion It is suggested that strategies to improve optimism and perceived control may improve the psychological adjustment of older people struggling to adapt to life's stressors.