The maturity before the mirror: Interrelation between the corporal and vital satisfaction of the elderly in Spain

Abstract

Body and life satisfaction are intimately related during youth and adulthood. However, in old age both processes suffer severe transformations that could significantly modify the nature of this relationship. This study aims to assess whether the relationship between body satisfaction and old age remains stable during old age and what are the factors that determine the nature of this relationship, assessing age, sex, presence of a couple and the environment as study variables. It is used the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ. Cooper, Taylor, Cooper, & Fairburn, 1987, adapted and validated on Spanish population by Raich et al., 1996) to measure body satisfaction, and the Vital Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSV. Sánchez, 2012) to measure life satisfaction. The results indicate that the greatest body dissatisfaction after 65 years of age is directly associated with being a woman, living in an urban environment and having a current partner. After 50 years, body and vital satisfaction continues to correlate strongly for women, but the differences observed according to sex are mediated by the presence of a couple, which has an inverse functioning for men and women, and masks the possible influence of the sex factor in the study participants.