Personal and Community Engagement as it Relates to Well-being
Open Access
- Author:
- Russo, Alexa
- Area of Honors:
- Human Development and Family Studies
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Alyssa Ann Gamaldo, Thesis Supervisor
Alyssa Ann Gamaldo, Thesis Honors Advisor
Hobart H Cleveland, III, Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- Social Engagement
Well-being
Community Engagement
Personal Engagement - Abstract:
- Existing literature on the association between personal (e.g., family and friends) and community (e.g., involvement in adult educational courses and volunteering opportunities) social engagement and well-being as it relates to middle to older adults is limited. The present study used data from Tailoring Environment for Active Life Engagement 2.0 (TEALE 2.0; N= 560, Mage = 18.45 SDage = 11.89) to explore how personal (e.g., family and friends) and community social engagement (e.g., involvement in adult educational courses and volunteering opportunities) relates to well-being. Personal social engagement was measured using one item where participants were asked about their engagement within their microsystem (e.g. friends, neighbors). Community social engagement was measured by 2 items asking about participation in continuing education and volunteering. Overall well-being was assessed with select items from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Positive Affect and Well-being item bank. Factors of well-being was assessed using scales of (a) instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), (b) depression, (c) sleep, and (d) cognitive function. Correlations and linear regressions were conducted to explore the association between personal (e.g., family and friends) social engagement and well-being. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were conducted to explore the association between community (e.g., involvement in adult educational courses and volunteering opportunities) social engagement and well-being. Study findings suggested that reports of more frequent personal engagement were significantly associated with better overall well-being. More frequent personal engagement was also associated factors of well-being, such better instrumental activities of daily living, lower depressive symptoms, and lower levels of sleep disturbances. Findings suggested that adults volunteering in the community tended to have better overall wellbeing (F(2, 497) = 5.57, p < .01), and but worse cognitive function (F(2,498) = 6.61, p < .01), than adults not volunteering in the community. The present study’s findings support the potential benefit of future research exploring how personal and social engagement relates to the correlates of wellbeing in middle to late adults.