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Associative participation of older adults and subjective quality of life: exploring self-selection bias

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

KARIM AHMED-MOHAMED ,
FERMINA ROJO-PEREZ ,
GLORIA FERNANDEZ-MAYORALAS ,
MARIA JOÃO FORJAZ  and
PABLO MARTINEZ-MARTIN
KARIM AHMED-MOHAMED*
Affiliation:
Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography, Centre for Human and Social Sciences, Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain.
FERMINA ROJO-PEREZ
Affiliation:
Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography, Centre for Human and Social Sciences, Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain.
GLORIA FERNANDEZ-MAYORALAS
Affiliation:
Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography, Centre for Human and Social Sciences, Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain.
MARIA JOÃO FORJAZ
Affiliation:
National School of Public Health, Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain.
PABLO MARTINEZ-MARTIN
Affiliation:
Alzheimer Disease Research Unit, CIEN Foundation-Carlos III Institute of Health, Alzheimer Center Reina Sofia Foundation, Madrid, Spain.
*
Address for correspondence: Karim Ahmed-Mohamed, Institute of Economics, Geography and Demography, Centre for Human and Social Sciences, Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain. E-mail: karim.ahmed@cchs.csic.es
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Abstract

Active ageing policies seek to increase the quality of life of older people in three areas: health, security and participation. This paper focuses on a specific type of participation: associations. Its objective is to explore the possible self-selection effects of this type of participation, using global subjective quality of life indicators (satisfaction with life) and domain-specific indicators (satisfaction with leisure, community social integration and emotional resources). For this, a structural equation modelling analysis was conducted, taking into account bi-directional relationships between the variables of interest. The data come from a conditions and quality of life survey conducted in 2008 among a sample of 1,106 individuals aged 60 or over, living in community-dwellings in Spain. The results illustrate a complex model of relationships in which associative participation is not statistically significantly associated with the satisfaction measures used. This highlights the importance of self-selection effects and raises the issue of the effectiveness of associative participation as a tool to enhance the life satisfaction of older adults.

Keywords

associative participationactive ageingsubjective quality of lifeindividual wellbeingsatisfaction with lifeolder adultsSpain
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 35 , Issue 7 , August 2015 , pp. 1343 - 1363
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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