[Comparison of physical, psychological, and social resources and their effects on mental well-being between young-old and old-old Japanese elderly].
OBJECTIVE
We compared the availability of physical, psychological, and social resources, and effects of those resources on mental well-being both directly and as stress buffers between the young-old (the age of 65 to 74 years) and the old-old (the age of 75 years and over) people. In addition, if there were a significant difference in level of mental well-being by the age categories, we examined whether the difference could be explained from the different amount of resources possessed by the age groups.


METHODS
We utilized an effective sample of 923 young-old and 417 old-old persons excluding cases with missing variables, from 2,200 respondents of a national survey of Japanese adults aged 60 and over. This survey was conducted in 1987. While measure of physical resources included existence of chronic diseases and activities of daily living, psychological resources included self-esteem and locus of control. Social resources were measured by social support. The Center for Epidemiologic Scale-Depression (CES-D) was chosen as an indicator of mental well-being.


RESULTS
1. Although the old-old possessed a smaller amount of physical resources, they had almost the same amount of psychological and social resources as compared with the young-old respondents. 2. There were few differences in the effects of those resources on mental well-being between the young-old and the old-old. 3. Lower amount of physical resource was related to a lower level of well-being in the old-old more than in the young-old.


CONCLUSIONS
The old-old appear to possess similar psychological and social resources as the young-old, quantitatively, and in effects on successful adaptation. Lack of physical resources may be associated with a low level of mental well-being in the old-old.
Sugisawa
H
H
Department of Health Sociology, Tokyo Metroplitan Institute of Gerontology.
Sibata
H
H
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D012944:Social Support