Aging & Social Change: Fourteenth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

As the world’s population ageing rapidly at an unprecedented rate, there is a growing need to focus on the mental well-being of older people. In developing countries city city-level data is limited and less explored. This study considers the associations between Bourdieu’s core forms of capital (economic, cultural, and social) and mental well-being and life satisfaction of older adults aged 60 and above in Lucknow city. The study employs a multistage cluster sampling design. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 410 respondents aged 60 years and above. Ethical consent was taken before the interviews. For the data anlayisis ordered logistic, and logistic regression is used to assess the associations between all three forms of capital and mental wellbeing and life satisfaction of older adults after controlling for their gender, caste and religious group, age group, and overall fitness. Findings of the study show that in the models that examine associations between each type of capital independently (economic, social, and cultural) and higher mental wellbeing and life satisfaction after taking into account the control variables, economic, social, and cultural capital are significantly associated with a higher level of mental wellbeing and life satisfaction, finding suggest that higher levels of social capital and cultural capital (higher education, cultural engagement) are associated with better mental well-being and better life satisfaction. This study highlights the role of higher social support and cultural engagement resulting in higher life satisfaction of older adults. Similarly, older adults with higher cultural engagement are associated with better mental well-being.