In a new study, Canadian adults aged 65 and older were more likely to have flourishing mental health if they were male, married, and reported having social support, important spiritual beliefs, and excellent health, among other characteristics. Daniyal Rahim of the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on April 8, 2026.
Researchers are increasingly interested in characteristics associated with high levels of emotional, psychological, and social well-being—often referred to as "complete" mental health. Multiple studies have found that older adults tend to score higher than younger adults on measures of complete mental health.
However, few studies have explored which characteristics are associated with complete mental health among older adults. To help clarify, Rahim and colleagues analyzed survey data collected from 2,024 Canadians aged 65 and older. They used the data to uncover statistical associations between personal characteristics and participants' complete mental health—measured by their reports of experiencing life satisfaction, happiness, and social and psychological well-being nearly every day over the previous month, as well as lack of suicidality, mental illness, and substance use disorder over the previous year.
The analysis revealed that participants with complete mental health tended to be male, married, have social support, have spiritual or religious beliefs that were important to them, and have excellent health. Complete mental health was also more prevalent among participants who lacked chronic pain, had no difficulties with daily household responsibilities, had no trouble sleeping, and had no history of depression, anxiety, or substance use disorder.
Notably, people with social support were at least twice as likely to have complete mental health than people without. The researchers note that social support is one of several modifiable risk factors they identified, which could serve as targets for strategies to enhance older adults' mental health. For instance, they suggest, efforts could include increasing access to social support programming, spiritual practices, and resources for addressing chronic pain, anxiety, and other concerns.
The researchers note that future research is needed to further strengthen understanding of mental health among older adults and the best strategies to help more people to flourish in later life.
Author Esme Fuller-Thomson adds: "We often hear narratives that portray aging in bleak terms, but our findings paint a much more hopeful picture. Three-quarters of older adults are not only free of mental illness but are thriving emotionally, socially, and psychologically."
"One striking finding was how strongly social support, pain-free living, and healthy sleep patterns were linked to flourishing in later life. These are areas where targeted interventions could make a meaningful difference for older adults."
"One of the most uplifting findings was how much support from friends and family matters. Older adults with people they can count on were far more likely to feel happy and be free of any mental health problems."
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/4dJvGpP
Citation: Rahim D, Halls SK, Jiang Y, Fuller-Thomson E (2026) Flourishing older Canadians: What characteristics are associated with complete mental health? PLoS One 21(4): e0344898. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0344898
Author countries: Canada
Funding: DR received funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada's Federal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP) to support this research activity. The funders had no role in study design, data collection or decision to publish.
