Playfulness and Older Adults: Implications for Quality of Life

Changes in health, relationships, support systems, and social identity are inevitable throughout the life span. Therefore, research focused on mitigating the negative effects of changes due to aging while also improving quality of life (QoL) is warranted. As such, the aim of the current research study was to examine the extent to which subjective age, playfulness, and depression predict QoL among adults over the age of 55. Adults (N = 1,315) who were 55 and older were surveyed both face to face and online. Standard multiple regression was utilized, and results identified a statistically significant model with depression predicting the largest unique contribution. Playfulness predicted a small, statistically significant contribution, while subjective age did not statistically contribute to the prediction. Implications provide a new perspective on variables associated with quality of life and older adults.