ArticleThe Gerontologist2022
Late Life in the Living Room: Room Décor, Functional Limitations, and Personality.
Article in The Gerontologist, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Reporting race and ethnicity in aging in place research: A systematic review.The Gerontologist · 2026Pooled it
- Life Space in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Concept Analysis.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesEnvironmental gerontology and environmental psychology theories address adaptations of living space for disability and individual preferences. This study combines these perspectives to examine how room décor (i.e., furnishings, design, decoration) corresponds with functional limitations and personality in late life. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
methodsOlder adults aged 65 and older (N = 286) completed interviews regarding living arrangements, functional limitations, personality, and depressive symptoms. Participants provided 3-4 photographs of the room where they spend the most time. Raters coded photographs for physical adaptations for functional limitations and 19 features of décor (e.g., crowding, color), fitting 3 categories: (a) newness, (b) comfort, and (c) cheerfulness. We estimated linear regression models to examine how functional limitations or personality are associated with room décor, and whether living arrangement moderates these links. We also assessed whether room décor moderates functional limitations or personality predicting depressive symptoms.
resultsFunctional limitations were associated with greater clutter and less brightness. Extraversion was associated with newness and cheerfulness (but not comfort), and conscientiousness with newness and comfort (but not cheerfulness). Openness was associated with more newness and cheerfulness for those who live alone. Moderation models revealed functional limitations were associated with fewer depressive symptoms if the room was more cluttered. Conscientiousness was negatively associated with depressive symptoms when the room was higher on newness or comfort. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Findings generally supported environmental psychology and environmental gerontology perspectives and suggest "goodness of fit" between functional abilities, personal desires, and room characteristics may contribute to benefits of aging in place.
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