Functional Autonomy, Emotional Support, and Well-being Trajectories among the Old-old

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the combined contribution of functional autonomy and emotional support to the developmental trajectory of well-being in Taiwanese elderly from 1999 to 2007. Methods: Data were taken from the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA). The national representative sample included elders who were aged above 70 years (n=2310). Multiple-indicator multilevel (MIML) growth models were adopted to assess the impact of predictors in the trajectories of well-being over time. Results: There was a decreasing trend of elders' well-being in Taiwan. Both Functional autonomy and emotional support contributed to the well-being trajectories of Taiwanese old-old. Independence was more important for sustaining elders’ well-being than emotional support over time. Emotional support could weaken the negative effects of functional decline on well-being accompanying the ageing process. Conclusions: The study provided empirical evidence to integrate the classical model of well-being and socioemotional selectivity theory. These factors related to well-being were explored to deepen our understanding of the precise mechanisms.