Research article Special Issues

Self-mastery among Chinese Older Adults in the Greater Chicago Area

  • Received: 08 May 2014 Accepted: 08 September 2014 Published: 19 September 2014
  • Background: Self-mastery is an important psychological resource to cope with stressful situations. However, we have limited understanding of self-mastery among minority aging populations. Objective: This study aims to examine the presence and levels of self-mastery among U.S. Chinese older adults. Methods: Data were drawn from the PINE study, a population-based survey of U.S. Chinese older adults in the Greater Chicago area. Guided by a community-based participatory research approach, a total of 3,159 Chinese older adults aged 60 and above were surveyed. A Chinese version of the Self-Mastery Scale was used to assess self-mastery. Results: Out of the 7-item Chinese Self-Mastery Scale, approximately 42.8% to 87.5% of Chinese older adults experienced some degree of self-mastery in their lives. Older adults with no formal education and the oldest-old aged 85 and over had the lowest level of self-mastery in our study. A higher mastery level was associated with being married, having fewer children, better self-reported health status, better quality of life, and positive health changes. Conclusion: Although self-mastery is commonly experienced among the Chinese aging population in the Greater Chicago area, specific subgroups are still vulnerable. Future longitudinal studies are needed to improve the understanding of risk factors and outcomes associated with self-mastery among Chinese older adults.

    Citation: Xinqi Dong, Manrui Zhang, Melissa A. Simon. Self-mastery among Chinese Older Adults in the Greater Chicago Area[J]. AIMS Medical Science, 2014, 1(1): 57-72. doi: 10.3934/medsci.2014.1.57

    Related Papers:

  • Background: Self-mastery is an important psychological resource to cope with stressful situations. However, we have limited understanding of self-mastery among minority aging populations. Objective: This study aims to examine the presence and levels of self-mastery among U.S. Chinese older adults. Methods: Data were drawn from the PINE study, a population-based survey of U.S. Chinese older adults in the Greater Chicago area. Guided by a community-based participatory research approach, a total of 3,159 Chinese older adults aged 60 and above were surveyed. A Chinese version of the Self-Mastery Scale was used to assess self-mastery. Results: Out of the 7-item Chinese Self-Mastery Scale, approximately 42.8% to 87.5% of Chinese older adults experienced some degree of self-mastery in their lives. Older adults with no formal education and the oldest-old aged 85 and over had the lowest level of self-mastery in our study. A higher mastery level was associated with being married, having fewer children, better self-reported health status, better quality of life, and positive health changes. Conclusion: Although self-mastery is commonly experienced among the Chinese aging population in the Greater Chicago area, specific subgroups are still vulnerable. Future longitudinal studies are needed to improve the understanding of risk factors and outcomes associated with self-mastery among Chinese older adults.


    加载中
    [1] Pearlin LI, Schooler C. (1978) The structure of coping. J Health Soc Behav 19: 2-21. doi: 10.2307/2136319
    [2] Pearlin LI, Pioli MF. (2003) Personal control: Some conceptual turf and future directions. New York: Springer.
    [3] Skinner EA. (1996) A guide to constructs of control. J Person Soc Psychol 71: 549. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.71.3.549
    [4] Roepke SK, Grant I. (2011) Toward a more complete understanding of the effects of personal mastery on cardiometabolic health. Health Psychol 30: 615. doi: 10.1037/a0023480
    [5] Skaff MM. (2007) Sense of control and health. Handbook of health psychology and aging 186-209.
    [6] Lightsey OR. (1997) Stress buffers and dysphoria: A prospective study. J Cogn Psychother 11:263-277.
    [7] Miller LM, West RL. (2010) The effects of age, control beliefs, and feedback on self-regulation of reading and problem solving. Exp Aging Res 36: 40-63.
    [8] Bisschop MI, Kriegsman DM, Beekman AD, et al. (2004) Chronic diseases and depression: the modifying role of psychosocial resources. Social Sci Med 59: 721-733. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2003.11.038
    [9] Ward MM. (2013) Sense of control and self-reported health in a population-based sample of older Americans: assessment of potential confounding by affect, personality, and social support. Int J Behav Med 20: 140-147. doi: 10.1007/s12529-011-9218-x
    [10] Bowen R, South M, Fischer D, et al. (1994) Depression, mastery and number of group sessions attended predict outcome of patients with panic and agoraphobia in a behavioural/medication program. Can J Psychiatry 39: 283-288.
    [11] Lachman ME. (1986) Locus of control in aging research: a case for multidimensional and domain-specific assessment. Psychol Aging 1: 34. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.1.1.34
    [12] Reker GT, Peacock EJ, Wong PT. (1987) Meaning and purpose in life and well-being: A life-span perspective. J Gerontol 42: 44-49. doi: 10.1093/geronj/42.1.44
    [13] Lachman ME, Firth KM. (2004) The adaptive value of feeling in control during midlife. In: How healthy are we 320-349.
    [14] Wolinsky FD, Wyrwich KW, Babu AN, et al. (2003) Age, aging, and the sense of control among older adults: A longitudinal reconsideration. J Gerontol Series B: Psychol Sci Social Sci 58: S212-S220. doi: 10.1093/geronb/58.4.S212
    [15] Pearlin LI, Schieman S, Fazio EM, et al. (2005) Stress, health, and the life course: Some conceptual perspectives. J Health Soc Behav 46: 205-219. doi: 10.1177/002214650504600206
    [16] Dong X, Beck T, Simon MA. (2009) Loneliness and mistreatment of older Chinese women: does social support matter? J Women Aging 21: 293-302. doi: 10.1080/08952840903285252
    [17] Baltes PB, Baltes MM, Baltes PB, et al. (1990) Psychological perspectives on successful aging: The model of selective optimization with compensation. Success Aging Persp Behave Sci 1: 1-34.
    [18] US Census Bureau. (2010) American Community Survey. Washington: US Census Bureau.
    [19] Liu EY, Mencken FC. (2010) Fatalistic voluntarism and life happiness in post-socialist China. Sociol Spect 30: 270-288. doi: 10.1080/02732171003635455
    [20] Terrill R. (1979) China enters the 1980s. Foreign Aff 58: 920.
    [21] Ho DY. (1994) Filial piety, authoritarian moralism, and cognitive conservatism in Chinese societies. Gene Soc Gen Psychol Monogr 120: 349-365.
    [22] Dong X, Wong E, Simon MA. (2014) Study design and implementation of the PINE Study. J Health Aging 0898264314526620.
    [23] Dong X, Chang ES, Wong E, et al. (2011) Working with culture: lessons learned from a community-engaged project in a Chinese aging population. Aging Health 7: 529-537. doi: 10.2217/ahe.11.43
    [24] Simon MA, Chang E, Rajan K, et al. (2014) Demographic characteristics of U. S. Chinese older adults in the greater Chicago area: Assessing the representativeness of the PINE study. J Aging Health. In Press.
    [25] Forbes DA. (2001) Enhancing mastery and sense of coherence: Important determinants of health in older adults. Geriatr Nurs 22: 29-32. doi: 10.1067/mgn.2001.113532
    [26] Penninx B, Tilburg T, Kriegsman M, et al. (1997) Effects of social support and personal coping resources on mortality in older age: the longitudinal aging study amsterdam. Am J Epidemiol 146:510-519. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009305
    [27] Skaff MM, Pearlin LI, Mullan JT. (1996) Transitions in the caregiving career: effects on sense of mastery. Psychol Aging 11: 247-257. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.11.2.247
    [28] Dong X, Simon MA, Wilson RS, et al. (2010) Decline in cognitive function and risk of elder self-neglect: finding from the Chicago health aging project. J Am Geriatr Society 58: 2292-2299. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.03156.x
    [29] Dong X, Simon M, de Leon CM, et al. (2009) Elder self-neglect and abuse and mortality risk in a community-dwelling population. JAMA: J Am Med Assoc 302: 517-526. doi: 10.1001/jama.2009.1109
    [30] Brenner S. (1995) Why women rule the roost: rethinking Javanese ideologies of gender and self-control. In: Bewitching women pious men: Gender and body politics in Southeast Asia 19-50.
    [31] Dong X, Beck T, Simon MA. (2010) The associations of gender, depression and elder mistreatment in a community-dwelling Chinese population: the modifying effect of social support. Arch Gerontol Geriatr 50: 202-208. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2009.03.011
    [32] Pearlin L, Nguyen K, Schieman S, et al. (2007) The life-course origins of mastery among older people. J Health Soc Behav 48: 164-179. doi: 10.1177/002214650704800205
    [33] Marshall GN, Lang EL. (1990) Optimism, self-mastery, and symptoms of depression in women professionals. J Per Soc Psychol 59: 132-139. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.59.1.132
    [34] Jonker AGC. (2010) Health decline and well-being in old age: the need of coping. Tijdschrift voor Gerontologie en Geriatrie 42: 102-104.
    [35] Marcus P. (2008) Victory through vegetables: self-mastery through a vegetarian way of life. Psychoanal. Rev 95: 61-77. doi: 10.1521/prev.2008.95.1.61
    [36] Paquet C, Dub L, Gauvin L, et al. (2010) Sense of mastery and metabolic risk: moderating role of the local fast-food environment. Psychosom Med 72: 324-331. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181cdf439
    [37] Pudrovska T, Schieman S, Pearlin L, et al. (2005) The sense of mastery as a mediator and moderator in the association between economic hardship and health in late life. J Aging Health17: 634-660.
    [38] Jonker A, Comijs C, Knipscheer K, et al. (2009) The role of coping resources on change in well-being during persistent health decline. J Aging Health 21: 1063-1082. doi: 10.1177/0898264309344682
    [39] Jang Y, Haley WE, Small B, et al. (2002) The role of mastery and social resources in the associations between disability and depression in later life. The Gerontologist 42: 807-813. doi: 10.1093/geront/42.6.807
    [40] Dong X, Simon MA. "Is greater social support a protective factor against elder mistreatment?. " Gerontology 54: 381-388.
    [41] Dong X, Simon MA, Gorbien M. (2007) Elder abuse and neglect in an urban Chinese population. J Elder Abuse Neglect 19(3-4): 79-96.
    [42] Dong X, Simon MA, Odwazny R, et al. (2008) Depression and elder abuse and neglect among a community-dwelling Chinese elderly population. J Elder Abuse Negl 20(1): 25-41.
    [43] Dong X, de Leon CFM, Evans DA. (2009) Is greater self-neglect severity associated with lower levels of physical function? J Aging Health 21(4):596-610.
    [44] Dong X, Simon MA, Gorbien M, et al. (2007) Loneliness in older Chinese adults: a risk factor for elder mistreatment. J Am Geriatr Society 55: 1831-1835. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01429.x
    [45] Dong X, Chang ES, Simon M, et al. (2011) Sustaining Community-University Partnerships: Lessons learned from a participatory research project with elderly Chinese. Gateways: Int J Comm Res Engag 4: 31-47. doi: 10.5130/ijcre.v4i0.1767
    [46] Dong X, Li Y, Chen R, et al. (2013) Evaluation of community health education workshops among Chinese older adults in Chicago: a community-based participatory research approach. J Educ Train Stud 1(1): 170-181.
  • Reader Comments
  • © 2014 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
  • 1. 

    沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

  1. 本站搜索
  2. 百度学术搜索
  3. 万方数据库搜索
  4. CNKI搜索

Metrics

Article views(5318) PDF downloads(1098) Cited by(3)

Article outline

Figures and Tables

Tables(6)

Other Articles By Authors

/

DownLoad:  Full-Size Img  PowerPoint
Return
Return

Catalog