Meaning of home moderating the association between external housing-related control beliefs and health-related quality of life: A cross-sectional study among people aged 55-93 years

: While empirical research has found support for perceived aspects of the home environment being associated with health and wellbeing among older adults, this study aimed to fill a knowledge gap by investigating the interaction effects between control beliefs and meaningfulness related to the home environment and its importance for aspects of ageing well. To address this, a cross-sectional study was conducted based on a large Swedish cohort (N=1,509, 55-93 years). The research question was whether perceiving one’s home as more meaningful moderates the association between external housing-related control beliefs and health-related quality of life. Regression analyses were conducted, and models were controlled for demographic characteristics in a stepwise manner. The results showed that meaning of home moderated the association between external housing-related control beliefs and health-related quality of life. Persons perceiving their home as more meaningful reported higher health-related quality of life despite increasing external housing-related control beliefs, when compared to persons perceiving their home as less meaningful. Hence, perceiving one’s home as more meaningful is important to be able to maintain a higher health-related quality of life when control of housing becomes more dependent on external actors, as is common in older age. Interventions that target the meaningfulness of the home are potentially effective pathways to prevent loss of health-related quality of life among older adults.