An interaction effect of life-threatening experience, self-efficacy, and financial resources on quality of life among Chinese middle-aged and older women

Abstract

The current study explores the interaction effect of adversities and self-efficacy at baseline on quality of life (QoL) at follow-up among middle-aged and older Chinese women. 531 women were interviewed in 2008 and 226 of them were re-interviewed a year later using Quality of Life Ladder (QoLL), General SelfEfficacy Scale (GSE), List of Threatening Experiences (LTE), Somatic Complaint Scale, and self-rated health. Respondents’ mean age at baseline was 55.7 (SD = 4.7, range: 50 – 78). Over a year’s time, respondents had a decline in quality of life and self-rated health (p < .001), experienced more life-threatening events (p < .05) and somatic complaints. The hierarchical multiple regression model, employed in the study, identifies three predictors of future quality of life after adding the interaction term ‘Previous LTE×Previous GSE×Previous household income’ — previous quality of life (β = .492, p < .001), previous LTE (β = -.292, p < .001), and the interaction term (β = .221, p < .05). This model explains 34.1% of the variance of future quality of life (Adjusted R²= .341, p < .001). The findings suggests that respondents’ good self-appraisal of coping resources could moderate the impact of adversities on their future quality of life. Interventions for promoting positive psychological growth among middle-aged and older adults should cover four domains, i.e. event-related factors, environmental factors, personal factors, and cognitive and coping responses. Traditional Chinese wisdom emphasizes the importance of understanding the bad (‘Yin’ — the shady side) and the good (‘Yang’ — the sunny side) aspect of life events. Future research may explore the Yin Yang perspective on life-threatening experiences and its applications in cross-cultural quality of life studies in the era of globalization.