Coping with the events of daily life and quality of life of the socially active elderly

Abstract

Background Late adulthood is a period in which the number of stressors is increasing; therefore, strategies of coping with these situations may be significant in terms of the subjective evaluation of the quality of life and adaptation to old age. The objective of this paper was to examine the relationships between proactive coping and the quality of life in people in late adulthood. The quality of life was assessed using the Polish version of the CASP-19. Participants and procedure The research included 88 individuals (76 women and 12 men), aged from 60 to 85 years (M = 69.5, SD = 6.74). The following tools were used: The Proactive Coping Inventory, developed by Greenglass, Schwarzer and Taubert (Pasikowski’s adaptation), and the scale for the assessment of the quality of life, called CASP-19, of Higgs, Hyde, Wiggins and Blane (developed by the authors of this paper). Results The results of the research showed a positive relationship between the general level of proactive coping strategies, the proactive coping subscale and the general quality of life and addressing the needs of control and pleasure. People who are more proactive accomplish a higher general level of the quality of life, control and pleasure than people whose pro-activity level is lower. Conclusions Factors contributing to the quality of life and successful aging of elderly subjects are, first and foremost, skills connected with setting objectives autonomously, taking initiative, perseverance in activities and perceiving events in terms of opportunities of development and self-improvement. The CASP-19 seems to be a useful measure of the quality of life in old age.