A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RESILIENCE IN LATER LIFE IN THE U.S. AND NEPAL

Resilience has been suggestive of successful aging. However, the resilience literature lacks a well-developed theoretical model of resilience in later life for diverse groups. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the resilience and its predictive factors in participants 60 years and older from the U.S. and Nepal.
Secondary data from the Healthy Aging Research Initiative and newly collected data from Nepal were analyzed. Independent t-test using Welch’s test was used to assess the differences in resilience, functional activity, frailty, social support, personality, spirituality, physical health, and mental health of participants between the two countries. One-way analysis of variance and multiple comparisons of the groups using the Games-Howell post hoc test was conducted to assess the differences in resilience of participants across groups of ethnicities, frailty status, and religious attendance. Pearson correlations were used to assess the relationship of resilience with independent variables. Backward elimination regression was used to identify the predictive factors of resilience. The model fit for the constructed conceptual model in the study was tested by Structural equation modeling.