Life Happiness of the Elderly in Rayong Province

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The objectives of this cross-sectional survey research were to study the life happiness and the factors influencing the life happiness of the elderly in Rayong province. The samples included 400 elderly aged between 60-80 years which were selected by multi-stage random sampling. The data were collected by interview questionnaires from June 1st to July 31st 2008 and analyzed by frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, chi-square test, Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient and Stepwise multiple regression analysis.The results showed that 48.0 percent of the elderly had a moderate level of life happiness, followed by those with a high level (27.8%) and those with a low level (24.2%). The factors which were significantly associated with life happiness of the elderly were gender, education, health condition, personality, self - esteem, family relationships, roles of the elderly in the family, monthly income of the family, social support, participation in social activities and perception of social circumstances (p-value < 0.05). The statistically significant predictor variables were self-esteem, social support, family relationships, participation in social activities and perception of social circumstances. The result of classification was 91.2% correctly classified.

The finding suggest that the responsible organizations should establish the reinforcement to promote happiness of the elderly by improving the elderly’s self-esteem. There should also be sufficient social support, family relationship and participation in social activities as well as management of social circumstances in agreement with individual personal need and life style, to maintain the life happiness of the elderly.

Key words: Life happiness, Elderly, Self-esteem, Social support