Is Aging in Place a Resource for or Risk to Life Satisfaction?

Abstract

Purpose: Given age-related health restrictions, the importance of the environment for life satisfaction may increase in later life. This study investigated whether objective and perceived physical and social environmental aspects of the home and of the surrounding neighborhood represent resources for or risks to life satisfaction among young–old and old–old individuals. Design and Methods: A population-based sample of 381 community-dwelling individuals aged 65–94 years reported on their sociophysical environment and life satisfaction using questionnaires. Results: On average, young–old differ from old–old in indoor physical environmental indicators but not in neighborhood characteristics or social aspects of housing. Regression analyses revealed that apartment size, perceived neighborhood quality, and outdoor place attachment explained life satisfaction independently, whereas social housing aspects played only a minor role. Separate analyses for both age groups revealed age differential explanation patterns. Apartment size was positively related to life satisfaction in the young–old but was negatively related in the old–old. For the old–old, perceived neighborhood quality and outdoor place attachment were more important than for the young–old. Living with others was positively related to life satisfaction only for the young–old. Implications: Environmental characteristics at home and in the neighborhood need to be considered to better understand differential processes of aging in place with respect to well-being.