'Does it matter how old I feel?' The role of subjective age in a psychosocial intervention for improving depressive symptomatology among older adults in Brazil (PROACTIVE).

OBJECTIVES: Depression is a prevalent mental health condition that also often affects older adults. The PROACTIVE psychosocial intervention was developed to reduce depressive symptomatology among older adults within primary care settings in Brazil. An important psychological marker that affects individuals' aging experience relates to how old people feel. Known as subjective age, this marker has been shown to be a risk factor for experiencing greater depressive symptoms if individuals report feeling older than their (chronological) age. In this study, we perform secondary analyses of the PROACTIVE cluster-randomized controlled trial to examine the role of subjective age. METHOD: The sample included 715 Brazilian older adults (74% female, Mage 68.6, SD = 6.9, age range: 60-94 years) randomized to intervention (n = 360, 74% female, Mage 68.4, SD = 6.6, age range: 60-89 years) or control (n = 355, 74% female, Mage 68.9, SD = 7.2, age range: 60-94 years) arms. Here our primary outcome was depressive symptoms at the 8-month follow-up assessed with the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) as a continuous variable. Our previous analyses demonstrated improved recovery from depression at follow-up in the intervention compared with the control arm. RESULTS: Relevant main effects and interactions in regression models for PHQ-9 presented here found that those reporting older subjective age had worse depressive symptoms at follow-up but that they benefitted more from the intervention when initial levels of depression were high. For participants who reported younger subjective ages the intervention showed positive effects that were independent of initial levels of depression. CONCLUSION: Our findings emphasize the importance of investigating possible underlying mechanisms that can help clarify the impact of mental health interventions.

Idade subjetiva e suas relações com o envelhecimento bem-sucedido / Subjective age and its relationship with the successful aging / Edad subjetiva y sus relaciones con el envejecimiento exitoso

O artigo traz uma revisão teórica a respeito do conceito “idade subjetiva” a partir de evidências da literatura internacional sobre suas relações com indicadores de envelhecimento bem-sucedido. A partir de estudos derivados da perspectiva life span e life course em Psicologia e Sociologia, os estudos sobre idade subjetiva revelam associações significativas desta com medidas de bem-estar físico e subjetivo, o que pode ser considerado uma variável importante na pesquisa e um potencial indicador clínico.(AU)

The article presents a theoretical review on the concept "subjective age" and evidences from the international literature on its relationship with indicators of successful aging. From the studies derived from the life span and life course perspectives in psychology and sociology, subjective age showed significant associations with measures of physical well-being and subjective, which can be considered an important variable in clinical research and a potential clinical indicator.(AU)

>El artículo presenta una revisión teórica sobre el concepto "edad subjetiva" y pruebas de la literatura internacional sobre las relaciones con los indicadores del envejecimiento exitoso. De los estudios derivados de la perspectiva life span y life course en psicología y sociología, edad subjetiva mostró asociaciones significativas con las medidas de bienestar físico y subjetivo y puede considerarse una variable importante en la investigación clínica y como un potencial indicador clínico.(AU)

Idade subjetiva e suas relações com o envelhecimento bem-sucedido / Subjective age and its relationship with the successful aging / Edad subjetiva y sus relaciones con el envejecimiento exitoso

O artigo traz uma revisão teórica a respeito do conceito “idade subjetiva” a partir de evidências da literatura internacional sobre suas relações com indicadores de envelhecimento bem-sucedido. A partir de estudos derivados da perspectiva life span e life course em Psicologia e Sociologia, os estudos sobre idade subjetiva revelam associações significativas desta com medidas de bem-estar físico e subjetivo, o que pode ser considerado uma variável importante na pesquisa e um potencial indicador clínico.

The article presents a theoretical review on the concept "subjective age" and evidences from the international literature on its relationship with indicators of successful aging. From the studies derived from the life span and life course perspectives in psychology and sociology, subjective age showed significant associations with measures of physical well-being and subjective, which can be considered an important variable in clinical research and a potential clinical indicator.

>El artículo presenta una revisión teórica sobre el concepto "edad subjetiva" y pruebas de la literatura internacional sobre las relaciones con los indicadores del envejecimiento exitoso. De los estudios derivados de la perspectiva life span y life course en psicología y sociología, edad subjetiva mostró asociaciones significativas con las medidas de bienestar físico y subjetivo y puede considerarse una variable importante en la investigación clínica y como un potencial indicador clínico.