Finn, Saoirse;
Bone, Jessica K;
Fancourt, Daisy;
Warran, Katey;
Mak, Hei Wan;
(2025)
Longitudinal Associations Between Cultural Engagement and Mental and Social Well-Being: A Fixed-Effects Analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B
, 80
(7)
, Article gbaf074. 10.1093/geronb/gbaf074.
Preview |
Text
gbaf074.pdf - Published Version Download (761kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Objectives: Cultural engagement (e.g., going to museums, the theater, and concerts) has been evidenced to support older adults’ well-being. However, whether cultural engagement is associated with multiple well-being domains and whether associations vary by sociodemographics and health warrants further investigation. // Methods: Using 14 years of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we tested the longitudinal associations between cultural engagement and 7 well-being outcomes among 6,932–10,428 individuals aged 50–99 years. We used fixed-effects regression to explore the longitudinal associations between cultural engagement and the outcomes, generalized method of moments estimators to assess directionality, and interactions to test for moderation effects of sociodemographic and health conditions. // Results: We found that increases in cultural engagement were associated with increases in life satisfaction, quality of life, happiness, and having a worthwhile life and decreases in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and loneliness. After assessing directionality, cultural engagement increases predicted decreases in depressive symptoms. Interactions suggest that older adults with a long-standing health condition, living without a partner, and who are female may experience greater well-being benefits from being culturally engaged. // Discussion: Our findings underscore the potential of cultural engagement to enhance multiple well-being domains for older adults. This emphasizes the need to ensure equitable access to cultural engagement for all older adults, particularly those facing barriers to participation and those with poorer health, who may benefit the most from such initiatives.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Longitudinal Associations Between Cultural Engagement and Mental and Social Well-Being: A Fixed-Effects Analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1093/geronb/gbaf074 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaf074 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Gerontological Society of America. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Arts engagement, Generalized methods of moments, Leisure, Loneliness, Mental health |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Behavioural Science and Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10209676 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
