Protective personality variables and their effect on well‐being and participation in the elderly: A pilot study

Background: Elderly individuals experience a complex array of physiological, psychological, and social changes in their lives, which challenges their ability to participate in meaningful occupations, and can result in a diminished sense of well‐being. In previous work, we proposed a broader perspective that takes into account the contribution of hope and playfulness ‐protective personality characteristics ‐ to participation and well‐being among the elderly. A pilot study was designed to explore this notion and examined the relationship between playfulness, hope, well‐being, and participation, while accounting for cognitive decline and negative emotions. Methods: Forty six participants with mean age of 78.4 years (SD = 7.3), of which 78.3% were women and 21.7% men, were interviewed using standardized questionnaires measuring participation, well‐being, sense of hope, cognitive status, playfulness and emotional status. Results: Moderate to high correlations were found between playfulness and hope and both well‐being and participation. The correlation coefficient range was r = 0.47–0.70 (p < 0.05). In addition, participation correlated with cognitive and emotional status, while well‐being correlated only with emotional status (r = 0.72; p < 0.01). Statistical analysis demonstrated that while playfulness and hope differed among individuals with and without depressive symptoms, they did not affect participants’ cognitive status. Conclusions: The results presented here support the importance of traits such as having a sense of hope and playfulness and their role as resilient factors that may contribute to elderly well‐being and participation.