Self-transcendence (ST) among very old people--its associations to social and medical factors and development over five years.

Aims And Objectives: The aims of this study were to describe the associations between ST and psychological and physical wellbeing among oldest old people and to test the influence of negative life events on ST, and the predictive value of the self-transcendence scale (STS) for mortality.

Background: ST has been identified as a valuable resource for transcending psychological and physical suffering and has been related to psychological wellbeing and higher quality of life.

Design: The study design was correlational, prospective, and longitudinal.

Settings: The participants were recruited from a medium-sized town and from an adjacent rural area in northern Sweden.

Method: The sample consisted of 190 participants (123 women and 67 men) who completed the STS. At a 5-year follow-up, 55 people (29.5%) were alive and able to complete the assessments again.

Results: ST was positively associated with psychological wellbeing, self-rated health, having someone to talk with and being able to go outdoors independently. Diagnoses of depression, dementia disease, and osteoporosis were associated with lower STS scores as were living in a residential care facility, and feeling lonely. There was a significant relationship between the index of negative life events and ST between baseline and follow-up. More negative life events were associated with a larger decline in STS scores over five years.

Conclusion: ST is an important source for wellbeing among the oldest old, and the accumulation of negative life events might threaten the ability to transcend setbacks.