HOPE AND WELL-BEING IN THE ELDERLY Pessoa, P.1, Cunha, M.1,2, Daniel, F.1,3, Galhardo, A.1,2, Simões, S.1,4, & Espírito-Santo, H.1,4 1Miguel Torga Institute, Coimbra, Portugal; 2Cognitive-Behavioural Research Centre; 3Centre for Health Studies and Research, University of Coimbra; 4CEPESE, University of Oporto, Portugal Introduction Results The aging of population is a worldwide reality. According to Table 1: Participants’ characterization in terms of quality of life data from the National Statistics Institute (NSI) aging of the indicators (general health status perception, feelings of Portuguese population for the next 50 years will increase loneliness and activity level) significantly and a relevant decrease in young population will Quality of life indicators N % also take place. Along with these phenomena it is also worth Health status Very bad 11 8.5 of note the social impact associated with it which points to the Bad 39 30.0 importance of specific interventions targeting this elderly Reasonable 68 52.3 population. Furthermore it is necessary to address more in Good/Very Good 10/2 7.7/1.5 depth the characteristics and special needs of these M = 2.64 SD = 0.81 individuals in order to enhance their mental health and design Feelings of loneliness Never 62 47.7 specific strategies to meet their needs. Sometimes 49 37.7 The concepts of well-being and hope are associated with life Many times 19 14.6 satisfaction. Public policies should include the promotion of M = 1.67 SD = 0.72 quality of life in the elderly. Activity level Not at all active 15 11.5 Slight active 52 40.0 Active 37 28.5 Objectives Very/Extremely active 25/1 19.2/0.8 M = 2.58 SD = 0.96 Address the concepts of hope and well-being in the elderly, analysing the role of socio-demographic variables. Table 2: Correlations between hope, satisfaction with life and Characterize this population in terms of other quality of life positive and negative affect indicators such as perception of general health status, Hope Satisfactio Positive feelings of loneliness and degree of activity (current n with Life affect Hope Scale (HS) 1 participation in social, cultural and civil life). Satisfaction with Life (SWLS) 0.41** 1 Positive Affect (PANAS) 0.53** 0.03 1 Materials and Methods Negative Affect (PANAS) -0.22* -0.46** 0.23** Note. * p <0,05; ** p <0,001 Participants: were recruited from day care centers (66.2%), Influence of gender, age, education years, marital status nursing homes (22.3%) or from their own homes (11.5%) in and SES, on hope, life satisfaction and affective states Coimbra, Portugal. Subjects presenting cognitive deficit Results showed a significant difference between men and (assessed by the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire) women in hope (t (128) = 2.46, p = 0.015). Men revealed more were excluded. The sample included 130 elderly people, 42 hope (M = 45.36; SD = 5.47) when compared to female men (32.3%) and 88 women (67.7%) with ages ranging from participants (M = 42.86; SD = 5.40). 65 to 94 years old (M = 79.2; SD = 6.05), Age did not correlate with any of the studied variables. Years The majority were widow (61%), 29% were married, 7% were of education showed a positive association with hope (r = single and 3% were divorced/separated. Regarding years of 0.35; p < 0,001) and positive affect (r = 0.31; p < 0.001). There education, there was a significant percentage of illiteracy was a significant difference in hope regarding marital status (F (42%), the majority had the 4th grade (51%), 5% had 9th-12th (2.127) = 6.81; p = 0.002). Post-Hoc tests revealed that grade and only a minority had medium/higher education (4%). married participants had higher levels of hope (M = 46.32) Finally, 48% of participants reported their socioeconomic when compared to widows (M = 42.48). status (SES) as low-medium and the majority (52%) as Significant differences were found between the two SES medium-high level. groups, in hope (t (128) = -4.53, p < 0.001), satisfaction with Procedure: All participants gave their informed consent. The life (t (128) = -2.94, p = 0.004), and positive affect (t (128) = - protocol was administered individually (time completion: 30’). 2.41, p = 0.017). The medium-high socioeconomic group showed higher scores on hope (M = 45.62), life satisfaction (M Instruments = 23.47) and positive affect (M = 20.25) when compared to the Hope Scale (HS; Snyder et al., 1991) is a 12-item Likert scale, low-medium group (M = 41.52, M = 20.81, M = 18.37). that assesses Agency and Pathways. In this study, Cronbach alpha for the combined HS was 0.83. Table 3: Relationship between quality of life indicators (general Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, health status perception, feelings of loneliness and activity level) Clark & Tellegen, 1988) is composed by two 10-item mood and hope, satisfaction with life and affective states scales that assess positive and negative affect. In our sample HS SWLS Pos Affect Neg Affect Cronbach alphas for the positive and negative affect subscales Health 0.28** 0.35** 0.22* -0.37 were 0.72 and 0.80, respectively. Loliness -0.13 -0.16 -0.16 0.20* Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS; Pavot & Diener, 1993) Activity 0.54** 0.29** 0.61** -0.09 assesses satisfaction with life as a whole. In this study the Note. HS = Hope Scale; SWLS = Satisfaction with Life Scale. ** p<.001; *p<.05 Cronbach alpha was 0.82. Discussion/Conclusions  The majority of participants perceive their health status as affect. reasonable, frequently mentioning feelings of loneliness. Only  Male participants who were married and belonging to the middle- 20% perceive themselves as active or socially involved. These high socioeconomic level show higher levels of hope when data are in accordance with the information provided by NSI compared to women, widows and the lower-middle socio- (2002). economic group.  The more positive the general health status perception and the  The current study points to the association of specific variables greater the level of activity, the greater the hope, life satisfaction (sociodemographic, contextual, and psychological) and its and positive affect, and the lower the negative affect. Perception contribution to well-being in the elderly. Results suggest that of loneliness is only associated with negative affect. hope-based interventions designed to enhance hope, life  The elderly showing more hope feelings are more satisfied with satisfaction, self-worth and mental health, in elderly population, their lives, experience more positive emotions and less negative are quite important.