Intergenerational Co-Residence and Life Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Productive Engagement among Older Adults

1.1. Intergenerational Co-residence and Life Satisfaction

Living arrangements are an important determinant of life satisfaction among older adults [5, 10, 11]. Different living arrangements, such as living alone, living with a spouse, or living with other family members, may have distinct implications for life satisfaction. According to national statistics, approximately 70% of older adults in Indonesia live in intergenerational households [12]. This living arrangement is commonly referred to as intergenerational co-residence, in which older adults live with their adult children in the same household [13]. In Asian cultural contexts, this arrangement is strongly shaped by the value of filial piety, which reflects moral expectations for children to respect and care for their aging parents [14]. Strong adherence to filial piety norms has been shown to increase the likelihood that adult children will live with their aging parents [15].

Intergenerational co-residence offers various benefits for older adults, including emotional and financial support, daily care, and assistance with household tasks, which may in turn enhance their life satisfaction [16-19]. Studies conducted in Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Vietnam, have shown that living with adult children is associated with higher life satisfaction among older adults [20, 21]. Moreover, intergenerational co-residence may mitigate feelings of depression and loneliness, thereby contributing to greater well-being in later life [22].

In contrast to previous findings, some studies have reported negative outcomes associated with intergenerational co-residence. Living in multigenerational households was found to be associated with increased depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction, particularly among younger older adults [23]. They suggested that these negative outcomes may be explained by older adults’ perceptions that living with adult children reduces their autonomy. Consistent with this explanation, intergenerational co-residence has also been associated with increased family conflict due to intergenerational differences in values and daily routines, which may negatively affect older adults’ well-being [24, 25]. Older adults who live with their adult children but experience poor relationship quality tend to report lower life satisfaction [26]. Moreover, intergenerational co-residence increases depressive symptoms, particularly among older adults living with unemployed adult children [27].

1.2. The Moderating Role of Productive Engagement

Existing studies suggest that not all older adults who live with their adult children report high levels of life satisfaction. This complexity highlights the need to investigate moderating variables that can clarify when intergenerational co-residence is beneficial or detrimental for older adults’ life satisfaction. To do so, it is necessary to consider individual factors that may shape older adults’ experiences of intergenerational co-residence. One relevant variable is productive engagement, which has been shown to enhance feelings of usefulness and well-being in later life [28]. Maintaining involvement in productive activities has also been identified as a key component of successful aging [29]. Productive engagement in older adults is defined as participation in activities that produce goods or services (whether paid or unpaid), including working, volunteering, and caregiving [30].

Currently, a substantial proportion of older adults continue to work. In Indonesia, 55.32% of older adults were reported to be working in 2024 [12]. Older adults with limited financial resources and without pension benefits are more likely to continue working [31, 32]. Unlike paid work, which is primarily motivated by economic necessity, volunteering is driven by the desire to help others, organizations, or communities without financial compensation [33]. Meanwhile, caregiving refers to the act of assisting and caring for individuals in need, such as grandchildren, spouses, or other family members [30]. Research in Indonesia found that grandchild caregiving is the most common form of caregiving among older adults, for both men and women [34]. Therefore, productive engagement in this study is examined through involvement in paid work, volunteering, and grandparenting.

Productive engagement has been shown to enhance life satisfaction among older adults [35]. A recent study further supports this relationship, showing that productive engagement is positively associated with life satisfaction, particularly among older women [36] and older adults living with their adult children [37]. Several studies have also examined each aspect of productive engagement independently and reported that working [38], volunteering [39], and caregiving [40] are positively associated with life satisfaction. Other research further identified positive associations between all three aspects of productive engagement and life satisfaction among older adults, particularly in urban areas [41]. Additional findings further support examining productive engagement in the context of intergenerational living arrangements. Productive engagement has been shown to enhance resilience and a sense of control in older adults, which are important for managing stress in various social interactions, including family dynamics [42, 43]. Moreover, productive engagement is associated with lower levels of stress, depressive symptoms, and loneliness, as well as improved cognitive functioning, which in turn increases psychological well-being [44, 45]. Based on this evidence, productive engagement is expected to buffer the potential negative effects of intergenerational co-residence on life satisfaction.

Despite growing evidence on the benefits of productive engagement for well-being in later life, limited research has examined productive engagement as a moderator in the relationship between intergenerational co-residence and life satisfaction among older adults. Previous studies have primarily examined productive engagement as a direct predictor of life satisfaction rather than as a moderating factor in family living arrangements. At the same time, findings regarding the association between intergenerational co-residence and life satisfaction remain inconsistent, suggesting that this relationship may depend on certain contextual or individual factors. This gap is particularly important in Indonesia, where multigenerational households are highly prevalent. Therefore, further investigation is needed to clarify under what conditions intergenerational co-residence contributes to older adults’ life satisfaction.

1.3. Present Study

This study aims to examine the moderating role of productive engagement in the relationship between intergenerational co-residence and life satisfaction among older adults. Sociodemographic characteristics of older adults and their adult children that are associated with life satisfaction were included as control variables. The present study hypothesized that productive engagement would moderate the relationship between intergenerational co-residence and life satisfaction, such that the relationship would become more positive as levels of productive engagement increased. The findings are expected to contribute to the development of intervention strategies and policies that support older adults’ involvement in meaningful activities as part of efforts to promote successful aging and well-being. More broadly, this research may provide insights for addressing challenges associated with population aging and the growing prevalence of multigenerational households.

2.1. Participants

This study used a cross-sectional design and collected survey data from older adults in Indonesia. Inclusion criteria were: (1) Indonesian citizens aged 60 years or older; (2) having at least one adult child (aged 21 years or older). Participants were recruited via convenience sampling, meeting the predefined inclusion criteria. The required sample was determined using a priori power analyses conducted with G*Power 3.1, with an effect size of 0.10, an alpha level of 0.05, and a statistical power of 0.95 [46]. The analysis indicated that at least 158 participants were required.

A total of 342 older adults met the inclusion criteria. During data screening, 11 participants were excluded due to duplicate responses. The final sample consisted of 331 participants. The sample was drawn from 24 provinces across Indonesia, with the highest representation from Jakarta (46.53%), West Java (15.71%), and South Sulawesi (13.59%).

Data collection was conducted in February 2025 using both online and offline methods. Online data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire distributed via social media platforms. Offline data were collected using a paper-and-pencil approach at several community-based informal education centers for older adults (Sekolah Lansia) located in Pasar Minggu, Fatmawati, Pesanggrahan, and Cakung. Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Committee on Research Ethics at the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia. Informed consent was obtained from all participants before their participation.

2.2. Measures

Life satisfaction as an outcome variable refers to an individual’s subjective cognitive evaluation of their overall quality of life [7]. It was measured using the Indonesian version of the Satisfaction with Life Scale [7, 47]. The scale consists of five items rated on a 7-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). A sample item is “In most ways, my life is close to my ideal.” Total scores range from 5 to 35, with higher scores indicating greater life satisfaction. The scale has demonstrated good reliability (α = .92).

Intergenerational co-residence as a predictor variable refers to older adults living with their adult children in the same household. Intergenerational co-residence was measured as a dichotomous variable indicating whether older adults were currently living with at least one adult child aged 21 years or older. Responses were coded as 0 = no and 1 = yes, consistent with previous studies using similar operational definitions [22, 48].

Productive engagement, as a moderating variable, was measured by older adults’ involvement in three types of productive activities over the past 12 months: paid work, volunteering, and grandparenting [41]. Paid work included both full-time and part-time employment (0 = not employed, 1 = employed). Volunteering referred to structured voluntary activities conducted within an organization or institution (0 = not involved, 1 = involved). Grandparenting was defined as providing care for grandchildren (0 = not involved or did not have grandchildren, 1 = provided care for at least one hour per day). A total productive engagement score was calculated by summing the three activities, resulting in a score ranging from 0 to 3, with higher scores indicating greater involvement in productive activities [49].

Sociodemographic characteristics of older adults and their co-residing adult children were collected as control variables based on reports from the older adults. For participants who did not live with an adult child, information was reported regarding the adult child with whom they had the closest relationship. Older adult characteristics included age (years), gender (0 = male, 1 = female), education level (0 = primary or less, 1 = secondary, 2 = undergraduate, 3 = postgraduate), and marital status (0 = widowed, 1 = divorced, 2 = separated, 3 = married). Adult child characteristics included age (years), gender (0 = male, 1 = female), education level (0 = primary or less, 1 = secondary, 2 = undergraduate, 3 = postgraduate), and employment status (0 = not employed, 1 = employed).

2.3. Data Analysis

Data screening was conducted to identify and remove duplicate entries and statistical outliers. Additionally, cases with missing data were excluded from the final analysis. The data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics version 30. Descriptive analyses were computed to summarize participant characteristics and variable distributions. Spearman correlation analyses were performed to examine associations between the variables. To test the main hypothesis, moderation analysis was conducted using PROCESS Macro Model 1 with 5,000 bootstrap resamples [50].

3.1. Sample Description

The sample consisted of 331 participants with ages ranging from 60 to 80 years (M = 66.75, SD = 5.09). As shown in Table 1, they were predominantly female (65.56%), had completed an undergraduate degree (35.04%), and were married (59.21%). Meanwhile, adult children’s ages ranged from 21 to 55 years (M = 34.36, SD = 8.13); the majority had completed an undergraduate degree (66.46%) and were employed (75.23%).

3.2. Variables Description

As shown in Table 2, a substantial proportion of participants (41.69%) reported above-average levels of life satisfaction. Most participants lived with their adult children (71%) and engaged in one to three types of productive activities (79.46%). Among the various activities, volunteering was the most reported (63.44%).

3.3. Moderation Analyses

Moderation analysis was conducted using PROCESS Macro Model 1 to test the main hypothesis. In this model, life satisfaction served as the outcome variable, intergenerational co-residence as the predictor variable, and productive engagement as the moderating variable. Sociodemographic factors that were significantly correlated with life satisfaction were included as control variables. The overall model explained 6.7% of the variance in life satisfaction (R² = 0.067, F(6, 324) = 3.867, p < 0.05), and the interaction between intergenerational co-residence and productive engagement explained an additional 1.5% of the variance (ΔR² = 0.015, F(1, 324) = 5.074, p < 0.05).

As shown in Table 4, intergenerational co-residence did not have a significant direct effect on life satisfaction (b = 0.422, p > 0.05). Similarly, productive engagement did not show a significant direct effect on life satisfaction (b = −0.474, p > 0.05). However, a significant interaction effect between intergenerational co-residence and productive engagement on life satisfaction was found (b = 2.098, p < 0.05), after controlling for older adults’ education level, adult children’s education level, and adult children’s employment status. This result indicates that productive engagement moderates the relationship between intergenerational co-residence and life satisfaction.

To further interpret the interaction effect, simple slope analyses were conducted at low (−1 SD), mean, and high (+1 SD) levels of productive engagement (Table 5). The results indicate that the association between intergenerational co-residence and life satisfaction was not significant at low and mean levels of productive engagement. At high levels of productive engagement, the association was positive and approached statistical significance (b = 2.141, p = 0.055). This suggests that the association between intergenerational co-residence and life satisfaction becomes more positive as levels of productive engagement increase.

Figure 1 illustrates the interaction between intergenerational co-residence and productive engagement in predicting life satisfaction. As shown in the figure, life satisfaction increased with higher levels of productive engagement among older adults living with their adult children.