Resilience and Social Support as Predictors of Life Satisfaction in Healthy Older Adults: A Moderation Analysis

Abstract

Background: Previous literature has highlighted the importance of psychosocial factors such as the perception of an adequate social support network or the subjective experience of life satisfaction in promoting well-being in older adults and facilitating healthy aging processes. The objective of the present study was to analyze the possible relationship between the level of resilience and social support in healthy older adults, and how these variables may influence experiences of life satisfaction. Furthermore, potential moderation relationships between these variables were analyzed.

Methods: The sample consisted of 42 healthy older adults (71.4% women), with a mean age of 66.57 years (standard deviation (SD) = 5.82). Participants completed a battery of questionnaires that included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CDRISC), the Duke-UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire (Duke-UNC-11), and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS).

Results: The results of the multiple regression analyses indicate that resilience and social support positively and significantly predict life satisfaction. Furthermore, moderation analyses indicate that social support moderates the relationship between resilience and life satisfaction, jointly explaining 44.98% of the variance of this indicator of wellbeing. Specifically, the positive association between resilience and life satisfaction was stronger at lower levels of perceived social support. 

Conclusions: These findings suggest that resilience may play a particularly relevant role in life satisfaction when perceived social support is limited. However, the small sample size, the predominance of women, and the selective recruitment of healthy older adults warrant caution when generalizing the results. Overall, the findings support the need to expand the study of the correlations of well-being in old age, as well as to develop intervention programs aimed at promoting optimal aging that include strategies to improve resilience and foster functional social support networks.