Perceived control across the adult lifespan: Longitudinal changes in global control and daily stressor control.

Perceived control is an important psychosocial resource for health and well-being across the lifespan. Global control (i.e., overall perceived control) decreases over time in studies following people every few years to upwards of 10 years. Changes across wider intervals of the lifespan, however, have yet to be examined. Further, how perceived control changes for specific aspects of daily life, such as stressors, remains comparatively less clear. Using data from the Midlife in the United States National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE, N = 1,940, M = 56.25 years, SD = 12.20, 57% female), we examined longitudinal changes in global control across 20 years and daily stressor control across 10 years. Global control was assessed in the first wave of the NSDE (∼1996). In follow-up waves, conducted in ∼2008 and ∼2017, participants again not only reported their global control but also reported their perceived control over stressors they experience across 8 consecutive days. Longitudinal analyses revealed differential change trajectories for global control across 20 years and stressor control across 10 years (ps < .001). Global control declined for younger and older adults but stayed relatively stable for individuals in midlife. The rate of decline in daily stressor control was steeper than the decline in global control and did not vary by age at baseline. In addition, declines were amplified among individuals with higher global control at baseline. Results suggest that daily stressor control is a specific aspect of control beliefs that follows a different rate of change than global control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

When and how perceived control buffers against cognitive declines: A moderated mediation analysis.

Although perceived control is a well-established predictor of cognitive aging, less is known about how and under what developmental circumstances these beliefs about personal influence may protect against cognitive declines. Our study examined light physical activity (LPA) as an unexplored mechanism that may link changes in two facets of perceived control (personal mastery, perceived constraints) to longitudinal trajectories of cognitive functioning. We also examined whether mediated pathways were moderated by age (i.e., differed across the adult lifespan). We analyzed two-wave, 9-year data from the national Midlife in the United States Study (n = 2,456; Mage = 56 years, range = 30-84; 56% female) using autoregressive mediation and moderated mediation models. Mediation models showed that changes in personal mastery and perceived constraints predicted episodic memory and executive functioning via self-reported change in LPA. Only the mediated effects of constraints remained significant in a model that included both mastery and constraints as predictors. Moderated mediation models showed that, for episodic memory, the mediated pathways were strongest in old age and emerged only for constraints: For older but not younger adults, declines in constraints were associated with less decline in episodic memory, as mediated by increases in LPA. Results were consistent in sensitivity analyses that controlled for levels and change in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Findings inform lifespan theories of control and provide initial evidence that change in a largely overlooked health behavior (LPA) may underlie the link between perceived constraints and cognitive functioning, with this pathway becoming more pronounced in late life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).