Resilience and a strong sense of gratitude were significantly associated with self-reported successful aging among U.S. veterans with depression, anxiety, and/or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a report in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Somatic symptoms, such as pain, were negatively associated with successful aging, but veterans with more somatic symptoms who also had higher degrees of gratitude were significantly more likely to report successful aging, according to the study.
“Given that there are effective positive psychiatry interventions designed to enhance positive psychosocial characteristics such as resilience and gratitude, such interventions may also help promote successful aging in U.S. veterans” with mental disorders, wrote lead author Robert H. Pietrzak, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the National Center for PTSD, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, and colleagues. (Past APA President Dilip Jeste, M.D., is a co-author on the paper.)
The researchers examined the association between self-reported successful aging and a range of psychosocial variables—including resilience, gratitude, somatic complaints, and exercise—among 475 veterans (average age 58.3; 83.1% male) who screened positive for major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and/or PTSD as part of the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study (NHRVS). Veterans were asked to rate how successfully they were aging on a 10-point scale, from 1 for least successful to 10 for most successful—with successful aging defined as a self-rating of 8.
The researchers assessed resilience using a 10-item version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and gratitude using the Gratitude Questionnaire – Six Item Form. The latter asks respondents to rate on a 7-point scale how much they agree (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree) with such statements as “I have so much in life to be thankful for,” “If I had to list everything that I felt grateful for, it would be a very long list,” and “I am grateful to a wide variety of people.”
One in five (20.6%) veterans rated themselves as aging successfully. Resilience and gratitude were the strongest positive correlates of successful aging, accounting for 38.1% and 32.4% of the variance, respectively. Greater somatic symptoms were most negatively associated with successful aging, accounting for 11.2% of the variance. Respondents who reported that they engaged in strenuous exercise were also more likely to say they were aging successfully.
“Further research is needed to investigate causal relationships between psychosocial factors and successful aging, and to evaluate the efficacy of psychosocial interventions to promote successful aging in U.S. veterans and other populations with common mental disorders,” the authors concluded.
For related information, see the Psychiatric News Special Report “Positive Psychiatry Shines Light on Patients’ Strengths, Wisdom.”
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