Satisfaction With Children's Achievements and Health Outcomes in a Sample of Community Older Adults in Nigeria.

Background and Objectives: In most African societies with little or no social welfare services for older adults, many parents regard their children as personal investments and security for the future. As a result, satisfaction with children's achievements may be necessary for older parents' physical and mental health. This study examined the association between satisfaction with adult children's achievements (SACA) and health outcomes (regarding somatic health, self-rated health, anxiety, and depression) in a sample of Nigerian older adults. Research Design and Methods: By using the multistage sampling technique in a cross-sectional survey, 465 older adults (mean age = 74.18 ±â€…9.42) consisting of 294 women were selected from 14 rural communities in a State in Nigeria. Data were collected using validated instruments and analyzed using multiple linear regression and multigroup analyses in SPSS AMOS. Results: High SACA was significantly associated with low somatic health problems, positive self-rated health, and low levels of anxiety and depression, even after controlling for sociodemographic factors, children's support, social engagement, and loneliness. Further analyses indicated that the relationship between SACA and depression was only significant in women and more robust in the widowed. Also, SACA was associated with somatic health among the married but not the widowed. The level of children's support was not a significant moderator. Discussion and Implications: Parents can experience positive emotions and, consequently, good health from being satisfied with their children's achievements regardless of perceived children's support. Assessing SACA may aid in better diagnoses and formulation of a more effective clinical intervention to improve the well-being of older adults in developing societies.

The mental health of non-commissioned soldiers deployed to Boko-Haram zones in Nigeria: Examining the roles of rank and other armed service characteristics.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study examined the roles of rank and its interaction with armed service characteristics, including combat exposure, frequency of deployments, and length of service on psychological distress among non-commissioned military officers (NCOs). METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of 256 NCOs (Meanage = 34.10 ± 7.33) of the Nigerian Army deployed to fight Boko Haram in North-East, Nigeria, participated in the study. Data were collected using self-report instruments and analyzed using multiple linear regression. RESULTS: The ranks of corporal and lance corporal/private (LCP) were associated with greater psychological distress than the sergeants. However, corporals had higher psychological distress than sergeants and LCPs. Rank accounted for almost twice the variances in psychological distress more than other service characteristics. LCPs had adverse mental health at increased service length than sergeants and corporals. Also, LCPs were more vulnerable to stress at higher combat experience than the corporals. CONCLUSION: Other factors may be inherent in rank effect on psychological distress beyond combat experience, deployments, and service length. Nevertheless, these service characteristics are important in the rank effect on psychological distress. Identifying relevant combat-related structural problems may additionally explain the association of rank with psychological distress beyond combat experience, deployments, and service length among NCOs.

Loneliness and happiness in the face of the COVID-19 lockdown: Examining the pathways through somatic symptoms and psychological distress.

Studies show that loneliness was higher during the pandemic than in the pre-pandemic periods, with negative consequences on individual happiness. This study extends current knowledge by investigating the indirect effects of somatic symptoms and psychological distress in the loneliness-happiness relationship during the COVID-19 lockdown. The cross-sectional sample comprises 538 Nigerian adults (Meanage = 36.48 ± 12.03) with 43% females. Data were collected using structured self-report instruments and subjected to path analyses in SPSS AMOS. Results showed that loneliness and happiness were negatively related. Loneliness and happiness were indirectly related through the successive association between somatic symptoms and psychological distress. Specifically, greater loneliness was associated with increased somatic symptoms, which in turn were associated with greater psychological distress and reduced happiness levels. Clinicians can manage the decline in happiness from loneliness during the pandemic lockdown by administering treatments that mitigate somatic symptoms and psychological distress in concerned clients.

The extraversion-neuroticism and geriatric depression relations: do social engagements and social supports have roles to play?

Evidence on the social pathways by which personality traits associate with depressive feeling is lacking. This study assessed the mediating roles of social engagements and social supports on the associations of extraversion and neuroticism with depressive symptoms among 465 older adults (Meanage = 74.18 ± 9.42) recruited from the senatorial districts of Ekiti State, Nigeria. Major assumptions were tested in structural equation modelling frame-work. High extraversion influenced both high engagements in social activities and perceived social supports, and then low depressive symptoms. High neuroticism predicted both low social engagements and social supports, and then increased depressive symptoms. While a full mediation was established between extraversion and depression, a partial one was found between neuroticism and depression. The total effect of neuroticism on depression surpassed that of extraversion. Psychotherapeutic interventions targeting depression from high neuroticism may aim frequent social engagements and seeking family and non-family supports.

Later-life satisfaction with adult children's achievements: does parents' personality matter?

The happy personality model proposes that individuals with happy personality traits are more satisfied with the events of their lives than those who are not. Based on this proposition, this study examined whether parents' personality - as measured by the Big Five typology - would predict satisfaction with the achievements of adult children. Participants include 465 community elders from Ekiti State, comprising 294 mothers with mean age 74.18 ± 9.42. Both univariate and multivariate statistics were used in data analyses. Results indicated that mothers' extraversion and conscientiousness respectively predicted satisfaction with children's achievements in relationships and spirituality. Conversely, mothers' neuroticism predicted dissatisfaction in education, occupation, finances and health achievements. Fathers' agreeableness and openness traits respectively predicted satisfaction in education and occupation. These results provide support for the happy personality model by demonstrating that extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness predict satisfaction with life events, while neuroticism predicts dissatisfaction.