A home-based exercise program for nondisabled older adults.

OBJECTIVES: This paper describes a videotaped, home-based, strength training program, titled Strong-for-Life and reports on its effectiveness in improving muscle strength, psychological well-being, and health status in a sample of older persons. DESIGN AND SETTING: We enrolled 102 nondisabled, community-dwelling older people aged 66 to 87, identified from the Medicare beneficiary list, into a randomized, controlled trial. MEASUREMENTS: Effectiveness was based on change in isokinetic upper and lower extremity muscle strength, psychologic well-being, and health status. RESULTS: Results revealed several statistically significant short-term benefits after 12 to 15 weeks of exercise, especially for men. Younger older adults demonstrated a 10% improvement in knee extensor strength relative to control subjects. Older male exercisers achieved significant differences relative to controls in perceived anger, tension, and overall social functioning. Male exercisers, in general, achieved significant improvement in perceived vigor. Women did not report psychological benefits following participation in the program. CONCLUSION: Study results reveal that the Strong for Life program, designed to be widely disseminated to the nondisabled older population, has many short-term positive benefits.

The sense of control as a moderator of social class differences in health and well-being.

The authors examined social class differences in 2 aspects of the sense of control (mastery and perceived constraints) in 3 national probability samples of men and women ages 25-75 years (N1 = 1,014; N2 = 1,195; N3 = 3,485). Participants with lower income had lower perceived mastery and higher perceived constraints, as well as poorer health. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that for all income groups, higher perceived mastery and lower perceived constraints were related to better health, greater life satisfaction, and lower depressive symptoms. However, control beliefs played a moderating role; participants in the lowest income group with a high sense of control showed levels of health and well-being comparable with the higher income groups. The results provided some evidence that psychosocial variables such as sense of control may be useful in understanding social class differences in health.

Locus of control in aging research: a case for multidimensional and domain-specific assessment.

Do locus of control beliefs change in later life? Is locus of control related to aging-relevant outcomes involving intelligence and health? In past research on these topics, the use of unidimensional and generalized measures of locus of control has led to a set of inconsistent findings. Three studies were conducted to examine the usefulness of multidimensional and domain-specific measures of locus of control for examining age differences and correlates. College students and elderly adults were compared on Levenson's multidimensional and generalized (internal, chance, and powerful others) locus of control scales and two domain-specific versions related to intelligence and health. As predicted, no age differences were found with generalized measures, but the elderly were more external on intelligence- and health-specific locus of control dimensions. Age differences were found most often on the chance and powerful others control dimensions, suggesting that the elderly acknowledge the importance of external sources of control and at the same time preserve their sense of internal control. In addition, the domain-specific scales were better predictors of behavioral outcomes within their respective domains for the elderly but not for the young. The findings suggest that multidimensional and domain-specific conceptions of control are advantageous for aging research.

When bad things happen to older people: age differences in attributional style.

This study expanded on earlier attributional work with the elderly by examining age differences in the generality, as well as the locus and stability, of causes for bad events and the relationship of these attributions to self-reported health. One hundred twenty young (mean age = 18.3) and elderly (mean age = 74.39) adults rated the internality, stability, and globality of causes for good and bad events using the Attributional Style Questionnaire (Peterson et al., 1982). Older adults were more likely than younger adults to see bad events as being due to stable and specific factors. Older adults who attributed negative outcomes to more internal and global factors also reported their health to be poorer than that of others.

Adulthood age differences in causal attributions for cognitive, physical, and social performance.

Past research has revealed an unflattering pattern of attributions for the performance of the elderly. More specifically, poor performance by the elderly is attributed to internal and stable factors such as inability, whereas poor performance by the young is attributed to external and unstable factors such as bad luck. In the present study, 42 young (M age = 19.18 years) and 39 elderly (M age = 74.90 years) men and women made causal attributions for their own or for another person's hypothetical performance in the cognitive, physical, and social domains. When attributions for the same performance by young and elderly adults were compared, the results presented an unflattering view of the elderly, similar to the pattern in previous research. In contrast, when attributions for good versus poor performance by the elderly were compared, a more favorable picture emerged: The elderly were more likely to be given credit for their good performance than to be blamed for their poor performance. These findings give reason to question the pervasiveness of the negative view of the elderly that has been presented in previous studies.

Sociodemographic variations in the sense of control by domain: findings from the MacArthur studies of midlife.

Past research has focused on general control beliefs with little attention to whether control beliefs vary across domains. Also, most age-comparative studies have examined control beliefs in younger and older adults but not in middle-aged adults. This study examined assessments of control in 7 domains for a large probability sample of adults 25-75 years in age. Results revealed differential age patterns across domains: Increases in control by age were found for control over work, finances, and marriage, whereas decreases were found for control over relationship with children and sex life. Control beliefs in some domains also varied by gender and education, but the age patterns were consistent across these sociodemographic groups. Domain-specific control beliefs were significantly related to a variety of domain-relevant experiences and outcomes.

Planning for the future: a life management strategy for increasing control and life satisfaction in adulthood.

The study examined the social, personality, and cognitive correlates of self-reported future planning and the relationship of future planning to perceived control and life satisfaction. Using 2 probability samples of adults ages 25-74 (n = 2,971, n2 = 300) findings suggest, for Study 1, that education, income, social support, predictability, Conscientiousness. and Openness to Experience were positively related to future planning, whereas Neuroticism and Agreeableness were negatively related. Men were more future oriented; as age increased, future planning decreased. Study 2 replicated the findings with the exception of age, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. For both studies, results supported a model in which the effects of future planning on life satisfaction were mediated by sense of control. A Planning x Age interaction for Study I indicated that although self-reported future planning decreased with age, the positive effects of future-oriented planning strategies on life satisfaction were most pronounced for the older adults, and this relationship was also mediated by control beliefs.

"You're only as old as you feel": self-perceptions of age, fears of aging, and life satisfaction from adolescence to old age.

We examined differences in subjective age identification from adolescence to old age and the relation between subjective age and fears about one's own aging and life satisfaction. Using a questionnaire format, 188 men and women from 14 to 83 years of age made judgments about how old they felt, looked, acted, and desired to be. Respondents also answered questions about their personal fears of aging and present life satisfaction. Results revealed that individuals in their teens held older subjective age identities, whereas during the early adult years, individuals maintained same age identities. Across the middle and later adult years, individuals reported younger age identities, and women experienced younger age identities than men across these adults years. Results also revealed that discrepancies between subjective and actual age were associated with personal fears of aging and life satisfaction, especially in younger men and women.

Primary and secondary control strategies for managing health and financial stress across adulthood.

The study examined the relation among three types of control strategies (persistence, positive reappraisals, lowering aspirations) and subjective well-being across adulthood (N = 3,490). Specifically, the authors investigated whether age-adapted endorsement of control strategies is conducive to subjective well-being if individuals experience health or financial stress. The results reveal an overall enhanced reliance on control strategies in older as compared with younger adults. In addition, persistence showed a stronger positive relation to subjective well-being in young adulthood as compared with old age. In midlife and old age, positive reappraisals had a stronger positive relation to subjective well-being than persistence. Lowering aspirations was negatively related to subjective well-being, independent of age. Age differences in the relation of control strategies to subjective well-being were particularly salient in individuals who faced either health or financial stress.

Effects of control beliefs and attributions on memory self-assessments and performance.

Individual differences in memory performance among elderly adults be due, in part to variability in personality and metamemory variables. We examined whether control beliefs, attributions, and depression were related to memory self-assessments, performance, and change in these variables across two trials. Participants were 47 elderly adults (M age = 69.72 years). Results of multiple regression analyses were consistent with predictions. Those individuals with stronger internal control beliefs made higher self-assessments at the first trial. Those who made higher assessments and those younger in age had higher performance at the first trial. Those with higher performance at the first trial and those who attributed this performance to internal, stable, and global causes were less likely to show decrements in self-assessments and performance across trials. Implications of the findings for enhancing memory performance are discussed.

Covariates of fear of falling and associated activity curtailment.

With a sample survey (N = 266) of elderly adults residing in six housing developments in Massachusetts, we used logistic regression to: (a) identify covariates of fear of falling among all subjects and (b) identify covariates of activity curtailment among the subset of subjects who were afraid of falling. Fifty-five percent of respondents were afraid of falling; of those who were afraid, 56% had curtailed activity due to this fear. Factors associated with fear of falling were: being female, having had previous falls, and having fewer social contacts. Factors associated with activity curtailment among those who were afraid were: not communicating about falls; having less social support; and knowing someone who had fallen. Falls history appears an important contributor to fear of falling, whereas the impact of this fear on activities appears more a function of social support. These findings suggest different strategies for the primary and secondary prevention of fear of falling.

The effects of list-making on recall in young and elderly adults.

This study examined the effects of list-making, and specific aspects of list-making such as intent (whether one expects to refer back to one's list at the time of recall) and organization, on memory performance in young and old adults. Young and old adults were randomly assigned to a list-making or a non-list-making condition. In both conditions, subjects performed two memory tasks in which they were presented with a word list followed by written recall and recognition tests. On one task, subjects were informed that they would not be allowed to refer to the list at the time of testing (internal-intent). On the other task, subjects were informed that they would be allowed to refer back to the list (external-intent), but actually were not allowed to. Planned comparisons found that list-making significantly improved older adults' performance on the recall tasks. Additionally, while the old performed significantly worse than the young in the non-list-making internal-intent recall task (the traditional memory test condition), these significant differences were not found on either of the list-making recall tasks. Both young and old list-makers who spontaneously organized their lists while studying the words recalled more items than subjects who did not organize their lists. These findings suggest future directions for both theoretical and applied research in the area of memory and aging.

Fear of falling and activity restriction: the survey of activities and fear of falling in the elderly (SAFE).

A new instrument was developed to assess the role of fear of falling in activity restriction. The instrument assesses fear of falling during performance of 11 activities, and gathers information about participation in these activities as well as the extent to which fear is a source of activity restriction. The instrument demonstrated good internal consistency reliability and showed convergent validity with other fear of falling measures. Concurrent (empirical) validity was demonstrated in that the scale was effective in differentiating among those who were expected to be afraid vs. not afraid of falling. Criterion validity was examined in relation to quality of life variables. Fear of falling was shown to be related to lower quality of life, even when controlling for related background factors. One advantage of this measure over existing measures is the possibility for differentiating fear of falling that leads to activity restriction from fear of falling that accompanies activity. This may provide useful information for those interested in treating fear of falling of promoting activity among the elderly.

The association of cardiac vagal control and executive functioning--findings from the MIDUS study.

Cardiac vagal control (CVC), an index of parasympathetic contribution to cardiac regulation, has been linked to enhanced executive functioning (EF). However, findings to date have been based on small or unique samples. Additionally, previous studies assessed the CVC-EF link only during rest or recovery period from a cognitive challenge, but not during both states. In the present study, data on 817 socioeconomically diverse participants were obtained from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) study. As part of this study, participants completed cognitive tests, including EF, along with laboratory-based measures of CVC during rest and following recovery from a cognitive challenge. Regression analyses adjusting for respiratory rate revealed no effect of CVC at rest or during recovery on a global index of EF. However, exploratory post-hoc analyses of the components of the global EF index revealed a significant association between faster vagal recovery and better attention-switching and response inhibition abilities, as indexed by faster reaction time to the mixed SGST. This association remained significant after controlling for demographic, clinical (BMI, diseases and medications altering cardiac autonomic functioning, etc.), and health behavior covariates (Beta = .148, p = .010). Our findings suggest that future studies may need to investigate the links of CVC to specific EF abilities, rather than global measures of EF. Additionally, our results highlight the importance of assessing CVC during both rest and recovery from a cognitive challenge. The authors discuss the putative neurobiological underpinning of this link, as well as suggestions for future basic and clinical research.

Self-efficacy and attributions for intellectual performance in young and elderly adults.

This study examined subjective assessments of intellectual performance in young (M age = 19.46) and elderly (M age = 75.13) adults. Male and female college students (n = 37) and senior citizens (n = 48) were asked to predict their performance before and after taking fluid and crystallized intelligence tests on two trials. Participants also made causal attributions for their test performance. Elderly participants scored significantly higher on the crystallized test, and young participants scored higher on the fluid test. Men's and women's actual performance did not differ, but the elderly women made lower performance predictions on the fluid test than the elderly men. Both the young and the elderly groups were more accurate in predicting their test performance for the test on which their performance was higher. Accuracy of performance predictions improved across the two trials. Both age groups were more likely to attribute successful performance to ability and unsuccessful performance to task difficulty.

The relative effects of perceived personal control and responsibility on health and health-related behaviors in young and middle-aged adults.

We examined whether perceptions of personal control over health and perceptions of personal responsibility for well-being were related, whether they had independent or interactive effects on health and health-related behaviors, and whether the effects of the perceptions varied by income. Young and middle-aged employees of a technology company (N = 186; aged 20-63) completed a questionnaire about perceived control and responsibility, health, health-related behaviors, and demographic information. Correlation analysis indicated that the perceived control and perceived responsibility variables were unrelated. Regression analysis indicated that a main effect of perceived control--but not responsibility--contributed significantly to the explanation of variance in health and several health-related behaviors (medical checkup, breast self-examination, exercise, and health promotion program membership). Perceived control and responsibility did not interact in their influences over health and behavior; however, the hypothesis that the variables would interact with income was partially confirmed. Overall, the results suggest that the sense of control rather than sense of responsibility should be targeted for health promotion efforts.

Taking charge of remembering: locus of control and older adults' memory for speech.

The relation between control beliefs and recall of spoken word lists and prose passages was assessed for 32 older adults, ages 62 to 85, in a task where they were given control over presentation of stimuli. They differed in the degree to which they believed that factors within their control (internals) or outside their control (externals) affected their intellectual functioning; they were similar in age, education, vocabulary, and digit span. They were required to stop the speech input at points of their own choosing to recall the stimuli on a segment-by-segment basis. Externals were more likely than internals to make inaccurate predictions of the number of words they could remember and to choose longer segments than they could recall. Results suggest that externals are poorer than internals in monitoring on-line memory processing.

Effects of cognitive training and testing on intellectual efficacy beliefs in elderly adults.

Elderly adults (N = 116; average age = 73 years) were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups varying in the amount of training and testing on fluid intelligence tests. They were compared before and after treatment on self-efficacy and utility beliefs for intelligence tests and everyday competence. Although both ability training and extended retest practice resulted in significant gains in objective test performance (Baltes, Kliegl, & Dittmann-Kohli, 1988), only ability training resulted in positive changes in self-efficacy. However, these changes were restricted to test-related self-efficacy. Training had no impact on perceived utility or on everyday self-efficacy beliefs. Implications of the results are discussed with regard to interventions to increase intellectual self-efficacy in elderly persons.

Improving memory and control beliefs through cognitive restructuring and self-generated strategies.

Memory problems are a major source of concern among older adults. The goal of this research was to evaluate methods for improving memory performance and beliefs about memory ability and control. Men and women between the ages of 60 and 85 were randomly assigned to one of five treatment groups: (1) cognitive restructuring to promote adaptive beliefs about memory, (2) memory skills training, (3) combined cognitive restructuring and memory skills training, (4) practice on memory tasks, and (5) a no-contact control group. Beliefs about memory (ability and control) and memory performance (working memory, recall of text materials, categorizable word list, and names and faces) were assessed at a pretest and two posttests. As predicted, those receiving the combined treatment showed the greatest increases in their sense of control and perceived ability to improve memory. Results indicated that all groups improved equally on the memory tasks, although those who had received memory training were more likely to report at the second posttest that they had begun using new strategies for remembering things.