Life Regrets, Pride, and Depressive Symptoms among Low-Income Older Adults

Purpose: Psychological well-being in late life is enhanced by achieving a balance between the perceived successes and disappointments of the past self and by coming to terms with one's past. This study examined (1) the contents and intensities of life regrets and pride among low-income older adults, and (2) the relationship between depressive symptoms and life regrets and pride, controlling for current life stressors and coping resources. Low-income older adults are likely to have had limited opportunities to make choices and direct their lives due to structural/social barriers and financial hardships. These limited opportunities and hardships may have generated many life regrets, which may, in turn, affect their psychological well-being. On the other hand, the hardships and challenges may have pushed them to develop resilience and a great sense of self-acceptance and accomplishments.

Methods: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a sample of 213 low-income adults, age 60 and older, in both urban and rural areas in a southwestern state. The respondents were asked to list up to three life regrets and three sources of pride, with frequency and intensity. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), and data on current life stressors and coping resources (social support and religiosity) were also collected. Regret and pride categories, with frequency and intensity, were coded, and bivariate analysis was done to examine any race/ethnicity, gender, and martial status difference. The effect of each regret and pride on depressive symptoms was analyzed with a 2-step hierarchical linear regression model.

Results: Regrets about limited education was the most common, followed by those about marriage or dissolution of marriage, and loss and grief (premature death of children, parents, spouse, and siblings). A significantly higher proportion of African Americans had regrets about education than non-Hispanic whites. Regrets concerning career, financial problems, poor health, fractured family relationships, and earlier behavioral transgressions (e.g., substance abuse) were also common. The most common expression of pride was related to the success and achievements of their children and/or grandchildren, followed by independent living, long and strong marriage, volunteering/caregiving, and religious devotion. Multivariate analysis showed that loss-and-grief related regrets were significantly positively but the pride in long and strong marriage was negatively associated with the GDS scores; however, the regrets and pride explained only 12% of the variance of the GDS score, while current life stressors (loneliness, money worries, overdependence on others) explained 33% of the variance.

Implications: Many low-income older adults in this study appear to be survivors of life who have learned, out of necessity in negotiating their difficult life course, adaptation and compensation skills that led them not to dwell on less-than-desirable past happenings but to move on with positive appraisal of their lives. Nevertheless, their current stressors of loneliness, money worries, and overdependence on others appear to engender regrets about their past lives and contribute to their depressive symptoms. Social policies and programs need to find ways to better serve these low-income older adults whose emotional well-being is negatively affected by continuing financial and other hardships.