Determinants of health-related hardiness among urban older African-American women with chronic illnesses.

ABSTRACT

A systematic probability sample of 100 community-living older African-American women with chronic illnesses was evaluated during clinic visits to an urban safety-net hospital to explore health and demographic factors predictive of health-related hardiness (HRH). Questionnaires on HRH, function, self-assessed health, morbidity, health behavior, and selected demographics were used for collection of data. Multiple linear regression analyses ascertained that years of education and function explained 20% of the variance in HRH. Findings raise issues regarding validity of HRH prediction models and the cultural appropriateness of current methods of assessing HRH in older African-American women.