Development of Sense of Coherence Stability in the AGORA Healthy Ageing Study

Francesca Sanna, Maura Galletta (), Maria Koelen and Paolo Contu
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Francesca Sanna: Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Blocco I, SS 554, km 4,500, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
Maura Galletta: Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Blocco I, SS 554, km 4,500, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
Maria Koelen: Department of Social Sciences, Wageningen University & Research, 6700 EW Wageningen, The Netherlands
Paolo Contu: Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Blocco I, SS 554, km 4,500, 09042 Monserrato, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 21, 1-8

Abstract: Sense of coherence (SOC) is a psycho-social trait formed in childhood or adolescence, allowing individuals to be more resilient to daily life stressors, stay well, and improve their personal health. Although SOC remains stable after the age of thirty, only a few studies investigated its stability in adulthood. The aim was to investigate the development of SOC over time in 489 participants and its association with age, gender, educational level, or negative life events. The study was performed as part of the Healthy Ageing project of the Academic Collaborative Centre AGORA, a longitudinal study involving four municipalities of Eastern Netherlands. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to monitor the SOC of the elderly in 2008, 2010, and 2013, using the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (SOC-13). The analysis included repeated-measures ANOVA analysis and bivariate analysis using Pearson’s chi square test. We found no statistically significant variation in SOC over time (F (2, 282) = 2.99, p = 0.052) and no significant association with age (F (2, 282) = 2.851, p = 0.06), gender (F (2, 282) = 0.845, p = 0.43), or educational level (F (2, 282) = 0.708, p = 0.49). SOC remained stable in the elderly population, even if they experienced negative events over their lifespan.

Keywords: sense of coherence; adulthood; Netherlands; Antonovsky; health; life events (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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