Personal control and other determinants of psychological well-being in nursing home elders

The purpose of this correlational study was to identify predictors of psychological well-being in nursing home elders. Predictors considered were two dimensions of personal control, physical health, functional health, socioeconomic status, length of stay in the nursing home, and interaction variables. The nonrandom sample consisted of 302 cognitively intact nursing home elders with poor to excellent self-rated physical health. Instruments used included the Life Satisfaction Index A, Affect Balance Scale, Desired Control Measure, The Index of Activities of Daily Living, and The Two Factor Index of Social Position. Regression analysis demonstrated that dimensions of personal control and self-rated physical health explained 33% (p less than .001) of the variance of psychological well-being. Findings suggested predictor variables to guide the promotion and maintenance of psychological well-being in the subjects of this sample.