title: Life satisfaction and feeling in control: indicators of successful aging predict mortality in old age.
abstract: Life satisfaction and control beliefs are established indicators of successful aging and predict mortality. However, it has not yet been examined whether they independently predict mortality or interact. We examined main and interaction effects using Cox proportional hazards models in a sample of older adults (N = 1402; age range: 65-91). Only the interaction of life satisfaction and control beliefs significantly predicted mortality when controlling for socio-demographic variables and health. These findings suggest that detrimental effects of low control beliefs can be buffered by life satisfaction, and unexpectedly, that high levels of both factors are not most protective against mortality.
authors.affiliation: German Centre of Gerontology, Germany. maja.wiest@dza.de
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wiest
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schüz
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wurm
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models
keywords: control beliefs; life satisfaction; mortality; successful aging