BEING WITH PEOPLE AND BEING ALONE IN LATE-LIFE - COSTS AND BENEFITS FOR EVERYDAY FUNCTIONING

Being alone and being with people are both important determinants for adaptation in the everyday life of elderly people. We examined the rel ationship between social contact (engagement in activities alone or in the presence of others), difficulties experienced with daily activiti es when with people or when alone, everyday satisfaction, and self-rep orted autonomy, Greater levels of social contact are associated with g reater everyday satisfaction as long as participants report no difficu lty in daily activities. However, greater levels of social contact are associated with lower self-reported autonomy among very old participa nts (85-104 years) and social contact is unrelated to self-reported au tonomy among old participants (70-84 years), The findings suggest that the compensatory use of social resources and the selective narrowing of social contact in daily activities contribute to adaptive everyday functioning in later life.