Abstract
As individuals age, they witness a decline in physical health and functional capacities. The presence of one or more chronic illnesses challenges their quality of life and general well-being, thus, impacting their abilities to function physically, psychologically, and socially. We investigated reports of general well-being in older Black males with chronic illness(es) in a study of N = 145 participants, aged 35 to 63, and identified as Black/African American male. Participants responded to items assessing general well-being; ethnic identity; self-esteem; active coping; the presence of chronic illness(es); and additional demographic, social and ecological characteristics. Analyses of responses indicated that marital status (β = –.17, p < .05), ethnic identity (β = –.34, p = .00), self-esteem (β = .22, p = .03) are significant determinants of general well-being in Black males with chronic illness(es). Data further showed active coping (β = –.41 p = .09) to be negatively correlated with well-being. We discuss the implications of results for the understanding of health outcomes among this marginalized population.
Description
A grant from the One-University Open Access Fund at the University of Kansas was used to defray the author's publication fees in this Open Access journal. The Open Access Fund, administered by librarians from the KU, KU Law, and KUMC libraries, is made possible by contributions from the offices of KU Provost, KU Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Studies, and KUMC Vice Chancellor for Research. For more information about the Open Access Fund, please see http://library.kumc.edu/authors-fund.xml.
Citation
Esiaka, D., Naemi, P., Kuofie, A., & Hess, R. (2019). General Well-Being in Adult Black Males With Chronic Illness. Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1177/2333721419855664