Active Time Use and Well-Being in Older Adulthood: Results From a Day Reconstruction Method Study

Abstract

Abstract Active time use is considered to be one of the keys to successful aging. Previous studies have investigated the influence of various activities on subjective well-being (SWB) and health in later life. As different activities have often been investigated in isolation, showing only minor influences of each activity on well-being, a more global measure of active time use might show a stronger relation to well-being. Moreover, empirical evidence is still insufficient regarding the relationship between active time use and SWB in very old age and regarding the impact of socioeconomic factors that can hinder or promote active time use. Therefore, we examined (1) the association between active time use and SWB using information from the day reconstruction method (DRM) as a more global approach to active time use; (2) the association between active time use and SWB until very old age, and (3) income and education as relevant correlates for active time use. The results indicated that a global measure of active time use was associated with higher levels of SWB. This pattern was present until very old age for several dimensions of negative affect (NA). Finally, higher levels of income and education were associated with a higher level of active time use, potentially pointing at contextual constraints of active time use. In sum, the results show that a global index for measuring active time use provides a comprehensive insight into the relationship between time use and SWB, and we suggest that it should be considered in further studies.

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