Intergenerational Link: Psycho-Social Wellness Among Elderly and Children

Abstract

Aging is a continuous process that starts at conception and persists until death, characterized by the progressive maturation across all aspects of human capabilities. Yet, it is from the age of 60 and beyond that individuals often experience increased susceptibility to illnesses and face limitations in their physical, social, and psychological functioning.

On the other end of the spectrum, individuals aged 19 and younger are categorized as children, a phase particularly sensitive to environmental influences which can have long-lasting impacts. There's been a lack of focus on exploring the differences between these age groups and how they affect one another. Therefore, a proposed study aims to undertake an observational exploration into the psychological well-being of both older adults and children within both family and institutional settings, assessing the overall quality of life.

Method: A study was conducted involving 400 participants, split evenly between 200 elderly individuals and 200 children, with equal representation of both genders. The participants were selected from both institutionalized and non-institutionalized settings. To gather data, the study utilized a set of self-administered standard questionnaires, which included the General Information Schedule, the Elderly Self Maintenance Scale, the Psycho Social Wellness Scale, the Instrumental Operation in Daily-living Scale, and the Children Self Maintenance Scale.

Result: The psychological well-being of the elderly is strongly linked to their daily living skills based on their living environment, whether they reside with family or in an institution. This association does not extend to age and gender differences. For children, there is a slight positive relationship between life skill development and psychosocial well-being, indicated by a correlation coefficient of 0.037 and a p-value of 0.723, suggesting the influence of life skills on psychological health is not significantly affected by these variables in the studied sample..

Conclusions: The mental health and well-being of older adults are significantly influenced by their ability to perform everyday tasks and their living conditions, such as being in a family home or a care facility. This relationship does not change based on differences in age or gender. For children, the development of life skills has a minor positive impact on their psychosocial well-being, as indicated by a correlation coefficient of 0.037 and a p-value of 0.723. This suggests that the effect of life skills on the psychological health of the children in the sample is not significantly influenced by age or gender.