OBJECTIVES: This study examined associations between essentialist beliefs about aging (EBA) - comprising perceived malleability and biological determinism - and multiple indicators of mental health, including well-being, depressive symptoms, morale, and life satisfaction, among community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: A total of 207 community-dwelling adults aged 65-87 years in Japan completed questionnaires assessing EBA, the World Health Organization - Five Well-Being Index, the Geriatric Depression Scale-15, the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted, with gender, age, and years of education included as covariates. RESULTS: Perceived malleability beliefs about aging were associated with mental health across outcomes, including greater well-being, morale, and life satisfaction, and lower depressive symptoms. These associations remained significant after controlling for covariates in the hierarchical regression analyses, with malleability beliefs explaining additional variance across all outcomes. The association between biological determinism beliefs and mental health was nonsignificant after including covariates. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide initial evidence regarding the association between malleable aging beliefs and more favorable mental health outcomes among older adults. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The results underscore the importance of aging beliefs for psychological well-being in later life, highlighting the potential value of clinical interventions for enhancing malleable aging beliefs to promote mental health.
Su et al. (Tue,) studied this question.