Emotional vitality among disabled older women: the Women's Health and Aging Study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine correlates of high overall level of emotional functioning (emotional vitality) in disabled older women.


METHODS
A community-based study: The Women's Health and Aging Study.


METHODS
A total of 1002 moderately to severely disabled women aged 65 and older living in the community.


METHODS
Emotional vitality was defined as having a high sense of personal mastery, being happy, and having low depressive symptomatology and anxiety. Correlations with demographics, health status, and social context were examined.


RESULTS
Despite their physical disabilities, 35% of the 1002 disabled older women were emotionally vital. The percent of emotionally vital women declined with increasing severity of disability. After adjustment for disability status, a significantly increased likelihood for being emotionally vital was found for black race (OR=1.69) and for having higher income (OR=1.77), better cognition (OR=2.36), no vision problems (OR=1.61), adequate emotional support (OR=2.54), and many face-to-face contacts (OR=1.64). Having more than one negative life event reduced the likelihood of emotional vitality (OR=0.57).


CONCLUSIONS
A substantial proportion of even the most disabled older women can be described as emotionally vital. Findings also suggest that emotional vitality is not solely a function of stable, enduring individual characteristics but that health status, disability, and sociodemographic context also have an influence on emotional vitality.
Penninx
B W
BW
Epidemiology, Demography and Biometry Program, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-9205, USA.
Guralnik
J M
JM
Simonsick
E M
EM
Kasper
J D
JD
Ferrucci
L
L
Fried
L P
LP
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D015142:Baltimore; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D016015:Logistic Models; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011788:Quality of Life; D011897:Random Allocation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors