Late life disability and experienced wellbeing: Are economic resources a buffer?

This is an observational study using data from one time point, so it cannot show that disability, income, or wealth caused changes in wellbeing. Experienced wellbeing was measured from randomly selected activities on two days and averaged across five emotions, so it may not capture a person's full emotional life. The response rate was 71.7%, and the analysis excluded spouses or partners under age 60, so the sample may not represent all older adults. Income was measured as total pre-tax family income, not disposable or discretionary income after basic needs, and wealth was measured as net worth. The buffering analysis tested six interactions and only two were significant, so the income result may be exploratory. The paper did not explore education as a buffering resource, even though more than 12 years of education was inversely associated with experienced wellbeing in the adjusted model. The study did not test whether income support programs, home modifications, or other supports change wellbeing.

No conflicts of interest declaration is included in the supplied text. The article is tagged as research support from the NIH, Extramural.

Do not conclude that increasing income or wealth will improve wellbeing. This was an observational study, only middle-income groups showed a buffering pattern, and wealth did not buffer the negative effect of impairment severity.