Subjective healthy aging indicators in a the Mediterranean and Latin American context. A comparison by gender and age in older adults of lifelong educational programs

The aim of this research is to compare a series of subjective indicators of healthy aging. We analyzed two samples of people 60 years or older enrolled in university courses in two public universities, the National University (Costa Rica, N = 206) and the University of Valencia (Spain, N = 857). The subjective indicators of successful aging analyzed were social support (social network and functional social support), perceived health, spirituality, and subjective well-being (life satisfaction and psychological well-being), all variables conditioned by country, age, and gender. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) or Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) was estimated, depending on the number of dependent variables analyzed. Overall, relatively high subjective indicators of healthy aging have been achieved in both samples. We found group differences in both samples by comparing age and gender, but not by country in these healthy aging indicators, suggesting invariant comparison evidence in both cultures compared. This study found that the subjective successful aging indicators analyzed in both cultures were similar. These findings are discussed within the cross-cultural emphasis and successful aging models.