STILL GROWING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS? CENTENARIANS’ AND OCTOGENARIANS’ AUTONOMY AND PERSONAL GROWTH

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STILL GROWING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS? CENTENARIANS’ AND OCTOGENARIANS’ AUTONOMY AND PERSONAL GROWTH

J. Kim ¹ , P. Martin ¹ , L. Poon ² , 1. Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 2. University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

This study examined the effects of autonomy and personal growth on psychological well-being. The sample included 242 centenarians and 79 octogenarians along with proxy reporters from the Georgia Centenarians Study. Ryff’s Psychological Well-being Scale for Autonomy and Personal Growth, the Social Provisions Scale, and Bradburn’s Affect Balance Scale were used to measure psychological well-being, social support, and positive and negative affect. Results for self-reports indicate a significant direct effect of personal growth to positive emotions, ß = .29, p < .01. A direct effect was observed for autonomy to negative affect, ß = -.16, p < .05. In addition, personal growth was positively associated with social provisions, ß = .32, p < .01, which in turn related to positive affect, ß = .26, p < .01. Similar results were found for proxy reports: a negative direct effect of autonomy to negative affect, ß = -.18, p < .05, and personal growth was positively associated with social provisions, ß = .32, p < .01, which in turn related to positive affect, ß = .21, p < .05. No differences were obtained when comparing self-reports for centenarians and octogenarians. In proxy reports, personal growth was directly associated with positive affect, and a significant direct effect of personal growth to negative affect was only observed among octogenarians, ß = -.57, p < .01, but not among centenarians.