WELL-BEING IN THE AGED/PERSONAL CONTROL & SELF-ESTEEM

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The proposed research aims toward the identification and systematic evaluation of mechanisms that link stress and social support with psychological well-being in later life. In particular, the proposed study has the following objectives: 1. To develop explicit measurement models of life stress, feelings of personal control, and self-esteem that arise within highly salient social roles; 2. To examine whether stressful life events affect the well-being of the elderly by eroding feelings of control and self-worth that are associated with highly valued social roles; and 3. To assess whether multiple types of dimensions of social support buffer the deleterious effects of stress by bolstering role-specific feelings of control and role-specific feelings of self-esteem. The proposed research calls for one face-to-face interview with 1,000 older adults who have been selected at random from among the noninstitutionalized elderly who reside within the Detroit metropolitan area. Major study procedures include the conceptualization and measurement of key study constructs, the estimation of structural equation models within a latent variable framework, and the replication of research findings.