Spirituality and religiosity as predictors of subjective well-being in older Mexican adults

Alejandro González-González¹Patricia Andrade Palos²Rosa Estela García-Chanes^1,3María Enriqueta Sánchez Hernández¹Diana Betancourt Ocampo^1*

• ¹Universidad Anahuac Mexico, Huixquilucan de Degollado, Mexico
• ²Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
• ³Instituto Nacional de Geriatria, Mexico City, Mexico

Objective: This study analyzed the effect of spirituality and religiosity on subjective well-being in Mexican older adults, controlling some sociodemographic variables (e.g., sex, age, schooling, who they live with, monthly income) and health variables (e.g., health perception, difficulties in carrying out activities, presence of medical conditions, depression). Methods: A non-probabilistic sample of 923 older adults (x ̅=74.49, SD= 7.46) was obtained, 74.8% were women and 25.2% men. The EBS-8 subjective well-being scale was used to assess the dependent variable. To assess religiosity, the Religious Involvement dimension of ASPIRES was, and to assess spirituality it was used the dimension of Importance of Spiritual Beliefs of the Spiritual Questionnaire, both dimensions in their Spanish-adapted versions. Was used a questionnaire with 16 closed-option questions which evaluate self-perception of health, self-reported difficulty in performing activities of daily living and the presence of medical conditions. The scale adapted to the Mexican population of the Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used. Results: The results showed that spirituality and living with a partner have positive and significant effects on subjective well-being, while depression and difficulties in performing activities of daily living reduce it, this regression model explained 17% of the variability in subjective well-being. Conclusion: In the present study, it was observed that in each of the models tested, spirituality played an important role as a predictor of subjective well-being, and even remained stable when demographic (sex, age, schooling, who they live with) and health (health perception, difficulties in carrying out activities, depression) variables were included.