1. Self-compassion, chronic age-related stressors, and diurnal cortisol secretion in older adulthood.
- Author
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Herriot, Heather, Wrosch, Carsten, and Gouin, Jean-Philippe
- Subjects
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LIFE skills , *AGE distribution , *CHRONIC diseases , *EMOTIONS , *HEALTH status indicators , *HYDROCORTISONE , *HEALTH self-care , *PSYCHOLOGICAL stress , *COMPASSION , *INDEPENDENT living , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *OLD age , *PSYCHOLOGY - Abstract
Many older adults experience chronic age-related stressors (e.g., life regrets or health problems) that are difficult to control and can disturb cortisol regulation. Self-compassion may buffer adverse effects of these stressful experiences on diurnal cortisol secretion in older adulthood. To examine whether self-compassion could benefit older adults’ cortisol secretion in the context of chronic and largely uncontrollable age-related stressors, 233 community-dwelling older adults reported their levels of self-compassion, age-related stressors (regret intensity, physical health problems, and functional disability), and relevant covariates. Diurnal cortisol was measured over 3 days and the average area-under-the-curve and slope were calculated. Higher levels of self-compassion were associated with lower daily cortisol levels among older adults who reported higher levels of regret intensity, physical health problems, or functional disability (βs < − .53, ps < .01), but not among their counterparts who reported lower levels of these age-related stressors (βs < .24, ps > .28). These results suggest that self-compassion may represent an important personal resource that could protect older adults from stress-related biological disturbances resulting from chronic and uncontrollable stressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2018
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