Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.59323/k.14.1.7

Characteristics and Quality of Life of Croatian Retirees: What Makes Aging Successful?

Katarina Jelić orcid.org/0000-0003-2914-0392 ; Faculty of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb
Dora Korać orcid.org/0000-0002-4242-3808 ; Faculty of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb
Vanja Kopilaš orcid.org/0000-0002-8614-9505 ; Faculty of Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb

Abstract

In recent years, the human lifespan has been significantly extended, and the focus of gerontology and health psychology is increasingly shifting to determining the factors that define the quality of life. Old age is a period of numerous changes on the physical, cognitive, emotional and social levels, but despite the losses, there are also positive changes. In July 2022, there were a total of 1,230,173 pension beneficiaries in the Republic of Croatia. Given that this is a significant share of the total population of the Republic of Croatia, the goal of this research was to investigate the subjective factors of successful ageing, that is, to determine in which direction it is necessary to develop interventions in order to improve the quality of their lives. A total of 274 retirees participated in the research, of which 182 were women (66.4%) and 92 were men (33.6%) with an average age of 70 years (SD=8.5) who retired on average at around 55 years of age (SD=7.98). Of the standardized questionnaires, the following were used: Self-Assessment Scale of Successful Aging, UCLA Loneliness Scale Short Form, Geriatric Depression Scale - Short Form and Emotional Skills and Competence Questionnaire. The participants filled out the questionnaire live after they signed the informed consent and agreement to participate. As expected, most variables are low to moderately positively correlated, with the exception of chronological age, which is significantly correlated only with subjective age (r=0.553). According to the results, people who perceive themselves as younger than their objective age show fewer depressive symptoms and better emotional functioning, and they assess their own ageing as more successful. A moderate and positive correlation between loneliness and depression (r=0.392) and a low, negative correlation between loneliness and emotional competence (r=-0.187) were obtained. Older people with more developed emotional intelligence report a lower level of depression (r=-0.336). Finally, the model that combines the variables of gender and subjective age in the first step and the variables of de-
pression, loneliness and emotional competence in the second step proved to be statistically significant and explained almost half of the variance of successful ageing, i.e. 45.3% (R2c= 0.442). Recommendations for future research are in the direction of a combined research design with at least two measurement points, where objective measures such as health status or pension amount could be included while considering the possibility of using a more representative sample.

Keywords

quality of life; mental health; ageing; pensioners

Hrčak ID:

306406

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/306406

Publication date:

1.7.2023.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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