Daily Dynamics of Awareness of Aging and Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration in Middle and Older Adulthood.

OBJECTIVES: This daily diary study examined associations between awareness of age-related change (AARC) and satisfaction/frustration of basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in a sample of midlife and older adults. We expected that greater satisfaction and lower frustration of needs would be associated with higher AARC-gains and lower AARC-losses. We also examined whether within-person associations of need satisfaction/frustration with AARC were moderated by age. METHODS: Participants (N = 152; aged 53+) completed measures of AARC and basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration on their smartphones for 10 consecutive days. Data were analyzed using multilevel models, with time-varying basic need satisfaction/frustration variables disaggregated into between-person and within-person components. RESULTS: On days participants reported higher than usual overall satisfaction of needs, and lower than usual frustration of needs, AARC-gains was higher, and AARC-losses was lower. Analysis of individual needs showed that autonomy and competence were more consistently related to higher AARC-gains and lower AARC-losses than relatedness. Within-person autonomy satisfaction was more strongly (negatively) associated with AARC-losses at older ages. DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that daily experiences related to satisfaction and frustration of goals related to autonomy and competence in particular may be proximal antecedents of short-term variation in AARC.

Does Awareness of Aging Matter? The Moderating Function of Awareness of Age-Related Change on the Relationships Between COVID-19 Disruption, Perceived Stress, and Affect.

OBJECTIVES: How people reflect on their own age may influence their well-being in the face of disruptions associated with the coronavirus (COVID-19). Subjective aging was operationalized in terms of one's awareness of age-related change (AARC), specifically, the gains and losses associated with aging. We developed a measure assessing disruptions to daily life associated with the COVID-19 pandemic across 3 dimensions (i.e., Social and Lifestyle Disruption, Work and Health Disruption, and Others Contracting COVID-19). We hypothesized that COVID-19 disruption would be positively associated with both AARC-losses and AARC-gains. Greater COVID-19 disruption would also be associated with poorer psychosocial outcomes (higher perceived stress and negative affect [NA] and lower positive affect [PA]) and these associations would be stronger for those reporting greater AARC-losses and weaker for those reporting greater AARC-gains. METHODS: Cross-sectional questionnaire data were collected from 263 participants from the United States (aged 40-83; mean age: 62.88 years, standard deviation = 9.00; 56.3% females). RESULTS: After controlling for age, gender, education, employment, socioeconomic status, and physical functioning, greater Work and Health Disruption was associated with greater AARC-losses. Greater Social and Lifestyle Disruption was associated with both greater AARC-gains and AARC-losses. Moderation effects showed an exacerbating effect of AARC-losses on NA in the face of Work and Health Disruption and a protective effect of AARC-gains on PA in the context of Social and Lifestyle Disruption. DISCUSSION: We extend research detailing antecedents of AARC and highlight the need for longitudinal research that considers the ever-changing nature of the pandemic.

Bidirectional Associations of Awareness of Age-Related Change and Attitudes Toward Own Aging With Social Media Use.

OBJECTIVES: We test whether higher awareness of age-related gains (AARC-gains), lower awareness of age-related losses (AARC-losses), and more positive attitudes toward own aging (ATOA) are cross-sectionally related to more frequent social media use. We also investigate the strength and direction of the associations of AARC-gains, AARC-losses, and ATOA with social media use over 1 year, from before to after the onset of the coronavirus 2019 pandemic. METHODS: We used cross-sectional data from 8,320 individuals (mean age = 65.95 years; standard deviation = 7.01) and longitudinal data from a subsample of 4,454 individuals participating in the UK PROTECT study in 2019 and 2020. We used ordered regression models, linear regression models, and tests of interaction. Models were adjusted for age, sex, education, and employment. RESULTS: Higher AARC-gains and more positive ATOA, but not AARC-losses, were cross-sectionally associated with more frequent social media use. Social media use became more frequent at follow-up. In the longitudinal models controlling for baseline levels of the outcome variable, more frequent baseline social media use predicted increases in AARC-gains, whereas baseline AARC-gains did not significantly predict the frequency of social media use at follow-up. Baseline frequency of social media use did not significantly predict AARC-losses, nor ATOA at follow-up, whereas lower levels of AARC-losses and more positive ATOA predicted more frequent social media use at follow-up. DISCUSSION: Although effect sizes were small, decreasing negative views on aging may help increase the engagement of middle-aged and older people with social media. At the same time, fostering social media use could promote positive self-perceptions of aging.

Barriers to activity engagement in older adulthood: Results of a community survey.

OBJECTIVES: Losses that occur with age can create barriers to meaningful activity engagement, a crucial aspect of ageing well. Research on this topic is frequently qualitative, with few studies accessing large community samples. This study (a) assessed the frequency specific personal and environmental barriers (such as poor health and limited transport access), identified by older adults in previous research, were endorsed; (b) used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify population subgroups based on combinations of these barriers, and (c) examined associations of subgroups with purpose in life and quality of life. METHODS: Four hundred and thirty-two randomly selected Australian adults aged 65+ years (average age 76.7, 58% female) completed a telephone survey. They were asked whether certain barriers affected engagement and provided data on sense of purpose and quality of life. RESULTS: Physical health/mobility were the most frequently reported barriers, followed by sensory difficulties, financial limitations, and caring responsibilities. The LCA revealed up to three subgroups/classes of participants according to the barriers endorsed. Class 1 had low endorsement of all barriers, including physical health. The majority of Class 2 endorsed physical health barriers and other barriers more frequently than Class 1. Class 3 were comparable to Class 2, but also frequently endorsed community access barriers. Class 1 were younger and reported a greater sense of purpose and higher quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Physical health/mobility barriers to engagement are those most frequently endorsed by older adults. These barriers may increase vulnerability to, or exacerbate the impact of additional barriers, such as sensory difficulties, access to transport and lack of finances.

A behavioural activation intervention to increase engagement with life and wellbeing in older adults: Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Meaningful activity engagement is a critical element of ageing well. Interventions designed to increase activity engagement tend to be activity-specific and do not always meet the needs of older adults with diverse interests and capacities. Behavioural activation (BA) provides a promising person-centred framework for promoting engagement in valued activities. This study will examine the effectiveness of a behavioural activation-based intervention for promoting engagement with life and wellbeing among older adults. METHOD: Participants will be randomly allocated to one of two conditions (BA intervention, Active Control) and take part in a six-week intervention that consists of one-on-one weekly sessions of up to one hour to be administered either via telephone or online video conferencing with a trained facilitator. This study will recruit 120 + participants aged 65 + who score at or below the median on a test of life engagement. Participants will complete questionnaires of primary and secondary measures both pre-program, one-week and three months post-program. Participants will also complete a daily diary questionnaire during the fourth and fifth weeks of the intervention. The primary outcome measure is the Life Engagement Test, and secondary outcome measures include assessments of subjective wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, mental health, self-reported health, social engagement, loneliness and life satisfaction. DISCUSSION: The outcomes from this study will provide evidence as to whether a BA based approach represents an effective method for promoting engagement with life and wellbeing among older community-dwelling adults. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (Reg no. ACTRN 12621001192875). Trial retrospectively registered 6th September, 2021.

Awareness of age-related gains and losses as moderators of daily stress reactivity in middle- and older-adulthood.

Objectives: Associations between awareness of one's own aging and wellbeing have received increasing attention in the field of gerontology over the last decade. The current study examines how between-person differences and within-person fluctuations of awareness of age-related change (AARC) relate to daily negative affect and vitality. Of key interest was the extent to which fluctuations in AARC moderated reactivity to stressor exposure. We predicted that higher positive perceptions of aging (AARC-gains) would buffer the relationship between daily stressors and negative affect/vitality. Conversely, we expected that higher negative perceptions (AARC-losses) may exacerbate the relationship between daily stressors and the outcome variables. Methods: Data were collected from a community-based sample of 152 Australian adults aged 53-86 (M = 69.18, SD = 5.73). For 10 consecutive days, participants completed surveys on their smartphones measuring daily stressors, AARC, and affect (positive and negative). Bayesian hierarchical linear models were used to examine whether AARC-gains and AARC-losses moderated within-person associations of daily stressors and affect (i.e., stress reactivity). Results: At the between-person level, higher AARC-gains was associated with lower negative affect and higher vitality, whereas those reporting higher AARC-losses scored higher on negative affect and lower on vitality. Within-person variables revealed that on days when AARC-gains was higher and AARC-losses was lower, this corresponded with lower negative affect and higher vitality. There was no evidence in support of individual moderating effects of within-person AARC-losses or within-person AARC-gains on stress reactivity. A trend was evident in support of a three-way WP Stress severity × WP AARC-gains × WP AARC-losses interaction in the prediction of negative affect, indicating that on days when AARC-losses was higher, the association of stress severity with negative affect was weaker if AARC-gains was higher. Follow-up analyses modeling quadratic stress severity revealed a trend suggesting an interaction of within-person stress severity and within-person AARC-losses. Discussion: Results indicate that both individual differences and short-term fluctuations in AARC are associated with daily negative affect and vitality. The results provided qualified support for a possible protective role of AARC-gains in the context of stress reactivity.

Awareness of Age-Related Gains and Losses and Their Associations With Psychological Well-Being: A Longitudinal Examination.

OBJECTIVES: How people experience their own aging is more strongly linked to well-being than chronological age. This study examined associations of awareness of age-related change (AARC) with between-person differences and longitudinal changes in psychological well-being (PWB). We expected that higher AARC gains would be associated with higher PWB and increases in PWB over time. Conversely, we expected higher AARC losses would be associated with lower PWB and a steeper decline in PWB over time. Furthermore, we tested the interaction of AARC gains and AARC losses to examine whether negative associations between AARC losses and PWB would be weaker among those reporting higher AARC gains. METHODS: Data were collected in 3 waves from a 12-month longitudinal study of 408 community-dwelling older adults (aged 60 and older). Multilevel growth models were used to analyze associations between AARC and a composite measure of PWB which included key components of PWB identified in self-determination theory (satisfaction and frustration of basic psychological needs), as well as vitality, and life engagement. RESULTS: At the between-person level, higher AARC gains and lower AARC losses was consistently associated with higher PWB. Furthermore, associations between AARC losses and lower PWB were weaker among those with higher AARC gains. There was no evidence to suggest the interplay of AARC gains and AARC losses had implications for change in PWB over time. DISCUSSION: Appreciation of age-related gains may buffer the impact of AARC losses on PWB. However, longitudinal studies conducted over varying macro- and micro-time scales are needed to better understand the developmental significance of AARC for later life.

Age Trajectories of Perceptual Speed and Loneliness: Separating Between-Person and Within-Person Associations.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed at examining between-person and within-person associations across age trajectories of perceptual speed and loneliness in old age. METHOD: We applied multilevel models to 4 waves of data collected over 6 years from 1,491 participants of the Berlin Aging Study II (60-88 years at baseline, 50% women) to disentangle between-person and within-person associations across age trajectories of perceptual speed and both emotional and social loneliness. Sex and education were considered as relevant individual characteristics and included as covariates in the model. RESULTS: Analyses revealed that on average perceptual speed exhibited moderate within-person age-related declines, whereas facets of loneliness were rather stable. Perceptual speed did not predict age trajectories of emotional or social loneliness, at either the between- or within-person level. In contrast, loneliness discriminated individuals at the between-person level, such that those feeling emotionally or socially more lonely showed lower cognitive performance than those feeling emotionally or socially less lonely. Predictive effects of social loneliness were stronger for relatively young people (i.e., in their mid to late 60s) than for relatively older participants (i.e., in their 80s). In addition, predictive effects of social loneliness for perceptual speed at the within-person level were modest and deviated in direction and size from between-person social loneliness effects among those in their mid- to late 60s, whereas they did not among those in their 80s. DISCUSSION: We conclude that loneliness may serve as a precursor for basic cognitive functioning in old age and suggest routes for further inquiry.

Awareness of age-related change, future time perspective, and implications for goal adjustment in older adulthood.

OBJECTIVES: How people adjust their goals is central to adaptation across the lifespan. However, little is known about individual difference characteristics that predict how and why people use different self-regulatory strategies. The present study investigated associations of perceived age-related gains and losses, and their interaction, as predictors of goal adjustment in older adulthood. Furthermore, we examined whether future time perspective (FTP) mediated relationships between awareness of age-related change (AARC) and goal adjustment. METHOD: A community-based sample of 408 adults (aged 60-88 years) was recruited via an internet-based research platform. Participants completed questionnaire measures of AARC, FTP, goal disengagement, and goal re-engagement. A flexibility index reflecting tendencies toward use of both goal disengagement and goal re-engagement strategies was also analyzed. RESULTS: Although AARC-losses was associated with lower goal re-engagement and goal flexibility, this association was weaker among those with higher AARC-gains, indicating AARC-gains may be protective in the relationship between AARC-losses and goal adjustment. The association between AARC and goal adjustment was also shown to be mediated by FTP. Higher AARC-gains was associated with more expansive FTP, which was associated with lower goal disengagement and higher goal re-engagement. On the other hand, higher AARC-losses was associated with more restricted FTP, which was associated with higher goal disengagement and lower goal re-engagement. DISCUSSION: Results have implications for how we conceptualize the combined effects of age-related gains and losses on developmental outcomes relevant to adaptive aging. Furthermore, perceptions of future time with advancing age may be implicated in processes linking AARC with goal adjustment.

State mindfulness and affective well-being in the daily lives of middle-aged and older adults.

Contemporary conceptualizations of mindfulness refer to paying attention to the present moment with an open and nonjudgmental attitude. Empirical research is increasingly focusing on mindfulness as a dynamic and multifaceted state that can fluctuate across situations and time. The present study aimed to extend existing knowledge by using experience-sampling methodology to examine state-level mindfulness, pleasant/unpleasant event occurrence, and affective well-being in the everyday lives of middle-aged and older adults. A community-based sample of 157 participants aged 53-86 (M = 69.36, SD = 5.80) was recruited in May-June 2020. Participants completed assessments of multidimensional state mindfulness, hassle and uplift occurrence, and positive and negative affect on their smartphones, four times a day over 10 consecutive days. (Total observations: 4,761; M = 30.32, SD = 8.78.) Multilevel models indicated that the state mindfulness-facets present-moment attention and nonjudgmental acceptance were predictive of greater affective well-being in older adulthood. Furthermore, nonjudgmental acceptance appeared to buffer affective reactivity to daily hassles, and importantly, this effect was stronger at older ages. Mindful states did not appear to provide any further boost to uplift-related mood. The findings suggest that occasions characterized by relatively high present-moment attention and nonjudgmental acceptance may contribute to enhanced emotional well-being in later adulthood. Furthermore, adopting a nonevaluative and accepting orientation toward momentary experiences may be a psychological strategy that has particular utility for mitigating emotional reactivity to daily stressors with increasing age. Future research should investigate multidimensional state mindfulness and affective well-being for middle-aged and older adults participating in mindfulness-based interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Older and more mindful? Age differences in mindfulness components and well-being.

OBJECTIVES: Empirical research on the processes through which mindfulness affects well-being is in its infancy. Furthermore, few studies have considered the positive effects of mindfulness on psychological functioning from a lifespan perspective. The present study aimed to examine the role of age in moderating associations of mindfulness components with well-being in the context of a proposed model of mindfulness. METHODS: A community-based sample of 623 participants aged between 18 and 86 years (M = 48.78, SD = 16.74) was recruited via an internet-based research platform. Participants completed questionnaire measures of mindful characteristics (i.e. present-moment attention, nonjudgment, interoception, acceptance, nonattachment, and decentering), flexible goal adjustment, and well-being. RESULTS: Parallel mediation analyses showed that both present-moment attention and nonjudgment provided significant pathways to (a) flexible goal adjustment through nonattachment and decentering; and (b) well-being through acceptance, nonattachment, and decentering. Furthermore, present-moment attention, nonjudgment, acceptance, nonattachment, and decentering were all positively associated with age. Conditional process analyses revealed that the direct relationships between (1) present-moment attention and well-being, (2) nonjudgment and well-being, and (3) decentering and flexible goal adjustment became stronger with age and were significant for adults from around 40 years of age and older. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the tendency to focus on the present-moment and adopt a nonjudgmental orientation may become especially important for well-being with advancing age, and the ability to appreciate the transitory nature of personal experiences may be particularly important for flexible employment of both goal disengagement and reengagement strategies across the second half of life.

Conscientiousness, Activity Engagement, and Momentary Affect in Oldest-Old Adulthood.

OBJECTIVES: Remaining engaged with life is a hallmark of aging well and pursuing personally meaningful activities is presumably important for late-life affect. We examined how moment-to-moment variability in meaning and degree of challenge ascribed to daily activities relate to positive and negative affect in very old adults. Possible moderating effects of between-person differences in conscientiousness on meaning-affect associations were also examined. METHODS: Participants were 73 adults aged 89 years on average from the Australian Daily Life Time-Sampling module of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging. Participants provided self-report data on activity engagement (meaning and challenge associated with activities) and affect, on 5 occasions per day for a period of 7 consecutive days. RESULTS: Within-person associations of activity meaning with affect varied as a function of within-person challenge ratings. Specifically, gains in positive affect associated with meaningful activity were more strongly evident when activities were regarded as more challenging. In contrast, meaningful activity was associated with higher negative affect when activities were regarded as more challenging and lower negative affect when activities were regarded as less challenging. Conscientiousness did not moderate associations of activity meaning with affect. DISCUSSION: Our findings shed light on the intricate interplay between maintaining meaningful engagement and daily emotional experiences in very old age. We discuss theoretical and practical implications and consider the role of late-life conscientiousness for self- and emotion regulation.

Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Efficacy of an App-Based Mindfulness-Meditation Program Among Older Adults.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Few studies have focused on the utility of mindfulness-meditation for well-being in older adults. The present study investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an app-based mindfulness-meditation program among older adults. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A community-based sample of 46 participants aged between 63 and 81 (M = 70.85, SD = 4.70) engaged with a 30-day app-based mindfulness-meditation program for 10 min daily on their smartphones. Each meditation session comprised focusing on the breath, mentally scanning the body, monitoring the mind's activity, and cultivating a nonjudgmental orientation toward experiences. Participants completed questionnaires at baseline, day 10, and day 30. RESULTS: On average, participants completed 25 sessions and almost 4 h of application use across the 30 days. Results of linear mixed effects models showed significant improvements in positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction across the study interval, but no meaningful change in total mindfulness or perceived stress. Furthermore, relative to high levels of smartphone efficacy, low smartphone efficacy was associated with higher perceived stress and negative affect, and less life satisfaction at baseline; and steeper improvements on these outcomes across the study interval. On average, older adults rated the app-based mindfulness-meditation training as interesting, enjoyable, valuable, and useful. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The findings provide preliminary support for the feasibility and acceptability of an app-based mindfulness-meditation program with community-dwelling older adults and demonstrate potential benefits for well-being. Results suggest the value of further research investigating the efficacy of digital mindfulness-meditation interventions for older adults via larger randomized controlled trials.

"Calm Down," "Cheer Up": How Age Influences the Way We Manage Emotion in Social Partners.

This study examines how individuals (regulators) manage emotion in their social partners (targets) and whether the age of the regulator or the age of the target influences extrinsic emotion regulation strategy preference. An online questionnaire was used to assess extrinsic emotion regulation among 580 participants aged 18-87 years (M = 50.04, SD = 18.13). Participants (regulators) indicated the extent to which they would be likely to use different strategies when interacting with a younger or older target who was upset. Results of multi-level modeling showed that older regulators endorsed less use of situation modification than younger regulators, but age differences in regulators' use of other strategies were not significant. After adjustment for relationship-specific covariates, regulators endorsed less use of attentional deployment and cognitive change, for older targets than younger targets. Results are discussed in the context of lifespan perspectives on social behavior and emotion regulation.

The Increasing Importance of Friendship in Late Life: Understanding the Role of Sociohistorical Context in Social Development.

Historically, family ties have been understood as the primary source of support for aging adults, and past empirical and theoretical work has highlighted the tendency of older adults to focus on close family. However, in line with demographic changes and historical increases in the diversity of social structures, friendships are increasing in importance in recent generations of older adults. Given the powerful role of context in shaping these changes, this paper offers a conceptual analysis linking individual agency to sociohistorical context as a way to understand this increasing diversity of social ties. More specifically, we propose that the individual invests time and energy to form and maintain social ties, and that each individual has a specific social opportunity structure (all potential ties that are available to invest in, as well as the costs of those investments). Furthermore, this investment of time and energy is determined in part by individual differences in capacities and motivations. We argue that sociohistorical context influences this process in three important ways: (1) in its effect on the social opportunity structure; (2) in its direct effect on time and energy; and (3) in its effect on individuals' capacities and motivations. We believe that these mechanisms can account for the increasing diversity of social ties across adulthood, as well as the potential for future historical changes.

Social Resources as Compensatory Cognitive Reserve? Interactions of Social Resources With Education in Predicting Late-Life Cognition.

OBJECTIVE: Access to social relationships has been linked with better cognitive performance. We examined whether social resources interact with education to predict cognitive outcomes, which could indicate that social resources fulfill a compensatory role in promoting cognitive reserve. METHOD: We applied multilevel growth models to 6-wave, 13-year longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study (aged 70-103 years at first occasion; M = 84.9 years, 50% women) and have taken into account key individual difference factors, including sociodemographic variables, medically diagnosed comorbidities, and depressive symptoms. To account for possible reverse causality, analyses were conducted on a subset of the BASE participants without dementia (n = 368), and in follow-up analyses with the full sample (n = 516) using wave-specific longitudinal assessments of probable dementia status as a covariate. RESULTS: Larger networks were associated with better performance on tests of perceptual speed and verbal fluency, but did not interact with education, providing little support for a compensatory reserve hypothesis. An interaction of education with emotional loneliness emerged in the prediction of perceptual speed, suggesting that the educational divide in speed was minimal among people who reported lower levels of loneliness. DISCUSSION: We discuss our results in the context of differential implications of social resources for cognition and consider possible mechanisms underlying our findings.

Perceived ease of activity (but not strategy use) mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and activity engagement in midlife and older adults.

Objectives: Activity participation is associated with a range of positive outcomes in older adults but tends to decline with age. Understanding protective factors is important to facilitate activity in later life. Social cognitive theory suggests that having high self-efficacy may promote activity because individuals with higher self-efficacy perceived their activities to be easier and use adaptive strategies to overcome barriers to activity. Despite considerable research linking self-efficacy and activity, limited research has examined the proposed mechanisms behind this association. This study therefore examined whether perceived ease of activity and use of adaptive strategies account for the association between self-efficacy and activity. Method: Participants were 412 adults aged 50-93 years who completed a cross-sectional survey. Structural equation modelling was used to examine whether the effects of self-efficacy on activity were mediated by perceived ease of activity and use of adaptive strategies. Results: Perceived ease of activity mediated the positive associations between self-efficacy and social (0.04 [0.02, 0.07]) and physical activity (0.16 [0.08, 0.25]), but not mental activity (0.01 [0.000, 0.03]). For physical activity, this effect was stronger for adults aged 70+ years than those aged 50-69 years (older a2*b2 - younger a2*b2 0.13 [0.04, 0.24]). Use of adaptive strategies was not a significant mediator in any model. Conclusion: This study suggests that self-efficacy may influence older adults' perception of activities and, in turn, the activities they choose to participate in. This has potential implications for the development of interventions aimed at promoting activity engagement in later life.

Perceived Control and Social Activity in Midlife and Older Age: A Reciprocal Association? Findings From the German Ageing Survey.

Objectives: Perceived control may promote social activity in older adults because individuals with greater perceived control have greater confidence in their ability to achieve outcomes and are more likely to choose difficult activities, show persistence, and employ strategies to overcome challenges. Cross-sectional research has linked perceived control with social activity in life span and older adult samples but provides little insight into the direction of influence. We examined reciprocal associations between perceived control and social activity in order to establish temporal sequencing, which is one prerequisite for determining potential causation. Method: Participants were 14,126 midlife and older adults from the German Ageing Survey. Using cross-lagged autoregressive modeling with age as the time metric (40-87 years), we examined reciprocal 3-year lagged associations between perceived control and social activity, while controlling for concurrent associations. Results: Perceived control significantly predicted social activity 3 years later. Reciprocally, social activity significantly predicted perceived control 3 years later. The influence of perceived control on social activity was greater than the influence of social activity on perceived control. Discussion: The finding that perceived control significantly predicts future social activity has potential implications for developing interventions aimed at promoting social activity in midlife and older adults.

Is Occupational Complexity Associated with Cognitive Performance or Decline? Results from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

BACKGROUND: Long-term protective associations proposed between previous complex occupational tasks and cognitive functioning in later life point to work roles contributing to cognitive reserve. OBJECTIVE: To examine occupational complexity involving data, people, and things in relation to the level of, and rate of change in, cognitive functioning. METHODS: Participants were 1,290 members of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing and initially aged 65-102 years (mean = 79). Information about main lifetime occupation was collected retrospectively. Cognition was assessed 4 times over a 13-year interval. RESULTS: In multilevel models adjusted for demographics, medical conditions, and depressive symptoms, higher complexity involving data was associated with faster speed (ß = 0.73, p < 0.001), better memory (ß = 0.32, p < 0.05), and mental status (ß = 0.40, p < 0.001) at baseline. These associations remained statistically reliable after adjusting for complexity with people and things, sedentary and heavy physical work, retirement age, and leisure activity. Complexity with things was associated with slower speed (ß = -0.50, p < 0.001) and poorer mental status (ß = -0.26, p < 0.01) and was not explained by other variables. There were no associations of occupational complexity with rates of cognitive decline over time. CONCLUSION: Older individuals retired from occupations characterized by higher complexity with data maintain their cognitive advantage over those with lower complexity into older adulthood, although without additional moderation of this advantage in terms of less postretirement cognitive decline. Complexity of work with things confers a negative relation to cognition whilst also not affecting postretirement cognitive change. Although the relative contributions of occupation or other early life influences for cognition remain to be established, it nevertheless may be beneficial to promote workplace design strategies and interventions that incorporate complex activities, particularly tasks involving data.

Perceived Control Moderates the Effects of Functional Limitation on Older Adults' Social Activity: Findings From the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

OBJECTIVES: Research has shown that functional limitation is related to reduced social activity in older adults; however, individuals with high perceived control have greater confidence in their ability to achieve outcomes and are more likely to show persistence and employ strategies to overcome challenges. The aim of this study was to examine whether perceived control protects against the negative effects of functional limitation on older adults' social activity. METHOD: Participants were 835 older adults aged 69 to 103 years at baseline from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Multilevel modeling was used to examine baseline and within-person change in functional limitation and perceived control as predictors of 18-year trajectories of social activity. RESULTS: An interaction between baseline functional limitation and perceived control indicated that having greater functional limitation was associated with less social activity and greater decline over time for those with lower perceived control, but not for those with higher control. Within-person change in functional limitation was not reliably associated with social activity. DISCUSSION: This study highlights the importance of perceived control as a protective psychological resource and may have implications for developing interventions aimed at enabling older adults to maintain their social activity as they experience functional decline.