The Role of Awareness of Age-Related Change in the Longitudinal Association between Pain and Physical Activity.

We examined how physical pain impacts the developmental construct of Awareness of Age-Related Change (AARC-gains and AARC-losses) and, in turn, how AARC mediates and moderates the association between pain and subsequent physical activity. We used longitudinal data from 434 participants of the UK PROTECT Study (mean age = 65.5 years; SD = 6.94 years). We found that pain in 2019 predicted higher AARC-losses (ß = .07; p = .036) and less physical activity (ß = -.13; p-value = .001) in 2020. Additionally, we found that AARC-losses partially mediated, but did not moderate, the association of pain in 2019 and physical activity in 2020. AARC-losses may explain physical inactivity in middle-aged and older adults experiencing pain. Incorporating developmental constructs such as AARC into theories and empirical studies on pain and pain management may be necessary to more fully capture people's responses to pain.

Age, Individual Resources, and Perceived Expectations for Active Aging: General and Domain-Specific Effects.

Exposure to expectations for active aging may be modulated by age and individual resources (socioeconomic status, social integration, and health) via multiple pathways. Using a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of adults aged 17 to 94 (N = 2,007), we investigated the relations between age, individual resources, and perceived expectations for active aging (PEAA) in three domains (physical health, mental health, and social engagement). Across domains, young adults and individuals aged 70+ reported slightly lower PEAA than emerging adults did; no other age differences emerged. Multiple regression showed that a higher subjective socioeconomic status, better perceived general health, and partnership (in older adults) predicted higher PEAA (almost) across domains, whereas church attendance, employment status, and occupational prestige yielded domain- and age-specific effects, which were not always positive. We conclude that the effects of individual resources on PEAA are limited in general but vary depending on life domain and age.

Self-reported hearing and awareness of age-related change : A domain-specific perspective.

BACKGROUND: Impaired hearing is associated with disadvantages in developmental outcomes, such as compromised everyday social communication or reduced well-being. Hearing impairment might also have an impact on how individuals evaluate their own aging as deterioration in hearing can be interpreted as being age-related and as a phenomenon individuals attribute to getting older. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated how self-reported hearing is related to awareness of age-related change (AARC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: AARC is a multidimensional construct comprising perceived age-related gains and losses in general as well as across five functional domains (health and physical functioning, cognitive functioning, interpersonal relations, social cognitive and social emotional functioning, lifestyle and engagement). A sample of 423 individuals (age range 40-98 years; mean age, M = 62.9 years; standard deviation (SD) = 11.8 years) was assessed up to 3 times over approximately 5 years. RESULTS: Based on longitudinal multilevel regression models, controlling for age, gender, subjective health and education, it was found that poorer self-reported hearing was associated with more perceived general AARC losses as well as with more AARC losses in health and physical functioning and in cognitive functioning at baseline. With an older age at baseline, poorer self-reported hearing was associated with a steeper decline in AARC gains regarding interpersonal relations over time, whereas in those who were younger at baseline poorer hearing was related to fewer gains in social cognitive and social emotional functioning at baseline. DISCUSSION: Self-reported hearing reveals differential associations with AARC domains; however, changes in most AARC domains of gains and losses seem to be only weakly related to subjective hearing.

Associations of Agency and Communion With Domain-Specific Self-Perceptions of Aging: A Cross-Sectional Study In Old-Old Adults in Poor Health.

A large body of research indicates that self-perceptions of aging (SPA) play an important role for health in later life. Hence, more research on SPA and correlates is needed, especially in old age and poor health, where negative SPA tend to prevail. Recent studies identified personality as an important correlate of SPA in young-old and relatively healthy samples. Thus, we investigated cross-sectional associations of agency and communion with two SPA domains in a sample of old-old adults in poor health (n = 154; Mage = 81.55, SD = 4.56, 58.4% women). In multiple regression analyses, agency and communion were associated with SPA related to ongoing development beyond health. In contrast, only health as a covariate was significantly associated with SPA related to physical losses. Thus, personality may be a resource associated with gain-related SPA, at least for those in poor health and old age.

Domain-specific self-perceptions of aging are associated with different gait patterns in older adults: a cross-sectional latent profile analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have pointed to the impact of self-perceptions of aging (SPA) on self-reported physical function in later life. However, less is known about associations of SPA with objectively measured physical function, especially gait. Research that examined other psychological variables and objectively measured gait has focused on single gait parameters such as gait speed, which seems to fall short for the complexity of this movement. Some approaches have proposed ways to identify gait patterns in specific patient groups, but not in community samples. Our goal was (a) to identify gait patterns based on a combination of important gait parameters in a community sample, and (b) to investigate differential associations of gain- and loss-related SPA with these gait patterns. METHODS: The study used an electronic walkway to assess gait parameters of 150 community dwelling adults aged 71-93 years (61.0% women) at their usual and maximum gait speed. SPA were assessed with a questionnaire. We used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify groups exhibiting distinct gait patterns and binary logistic regression to investigate associations of SPA with these groups, controlling for personality traits, number of illnesses, age, gender, and education. To compare overall function between groups, a t-test for scores in the Short Physical Performance Battery was used. RESULTS: LPA revealed two distinct groups in both gait speed conditions. The fit group exhibited a stable, well-coordinated and faster gait pattern, while the functionally limited group's gait pattern was less stable, less coordinated and slower. The odds of belonging to the functionally limited group were increased by loss-related SPA at usual gait speed, while the odds of belonging to the fit group were increased by gain-related SPA at individual maximum speed. CONCLUSIONS: The findings (a) suggest LPA as a useful approach to investigate complex gait patterns considering several gait parameters simultaneously, and (b) provide first evidence for differential associations of gain- and loss-related SPA with gait patterns at usual and maximum gait speed. Intervention studies addressing gait in older adults should additionally address gain-related views on aging.

Nine-year changes in self-reported problems with vision and hearing among older adults: do subjective age views matter?

OBJECTIVES: So far, little is known about linkages between subjective age views and long-term changes in vision and hearing. METHOD: We examined the predictive role of two key measures of subjective age views (attitude toward own aging [ATOA]; aging-related cognitions comprising continuous growth, social loss, and physical decline) for changes in self-reported problems with vision and hearing over a period of up to 9 years. A subsample of the German Ageing Survey was used, consisting of 2,499 older adults. RESULTS: Controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, self-rated health, and depressive symptoms, we found that with increasing age, more favorable ATOA scores, as well as higher scores on continuous growth and lower scores on physical decline, were associated with fewer self-reported vision problems at baseline. With advancing age, more favorable ATOA scores were also related with fewer hearing problems at baseline. However, among individuals with an older baseline age, more favorable ATOA scores were associated with a steeper increase in vision problems. Higher scores on continuous growth were related with less increase in hearing problems, independent of age. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that subjective age views predict individuals' self-reported vision and hearing problems.

Views on aging among undergraduates, faculty, and staff: Domain-specific measurement invariance and comparisons.

Views on aging have been shown to reliably predict various psychological and physical health outcomes. To our knowledge, this is the first study exploring domain-specific views on aging using a university sample including students, faculty, and staff (N = 646). Specifically, we assessed how one's age stereotypes (AS), current self-views on aging (CS), and future self-views on aging (FS) vary among students, faculty, and staff by age and by eight everyday functioning domains using an existing domain-specific scale. In general, the older one becomes, the more positive one's views on aging are in various domains with a few exceptions. No single group (e.g., students, faculty, or staff) consistently had more positive views across domains than the other groups. Moreover, faculty and staff tended to share similar views on aging compared to students. The most salient difference between students and faculty/staff was in the finance domain; students had more positive age stereotypes and future self-views than faculty and staff but not for current self-views. The results highlight the importance of examining the domain-specific age stereotypes, current and future self-views on aging to understand the differences among university populations and provide implications for future educational programs on ageism.

Positive mental health moderates the association between PTSD symptoms and subjective accelerated aging among older adults.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are known for predicting accelerated aging. However, it has not been examined whether individuals are subjectively aware of this process. The present study examined whether PTSD symptoms predict subjective accelerated aging and whether positive mental health status moderates this relationship. One hundred and thirty-two community-dwelling older adults (M = 66.85, SD = 9.13) who were sampled through random dialing of Jewish residents in the south of Israel completed the questionnaire twice: At Wave 1 after the flare-up of an Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and at Wave 2, a year later. Participants reported their PTSD symptoms, positive mental health, and on their subjective accelerated aging a year later. Higher levels of PTSD symptoms and lower levels of positive mental health were separately related to increased subjective accelerated aging. Participants with a lower level of positive mental health demonstrated a stronger association between PTSD symptoms and subjective accelerated aging. These findings emphasize that individuals who suffer from higher levels of PTSD symptoms and specifically those with lower levels of positive mental health status tend to feel they are aging faster. This finding adds to previous research suggesting that alongside the physiological process of accelerated aging there is also a subjective similar process.

Feasibility and Efficacy of the AgingPlus Program: Changing Views on Aging to Increase Physical Activity.

This study evaluated the feasibility and efficacy of the AgingPlus intervention program. AgingPlus is an 8-week multi-component motivational program which promotes increased physical activity by targeting adults' negative views on aging (NVOA) and perceptions of control, two known psychological barriers to physical exercise. A total of 62 adults, ages 50-82 years, participated in this feasibility study. We assessed NVOA, perceptions of control, and physical activity level at baseline (Week 0), immediate posttest (Week 4), and delayed posttest (Week 12). High attendance rates, low attrition, and positive participant feedback indicated that the program had high acceptability. Repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance (RM-MANOVA) showed statistically significant and substantively meaningful improvements in NVOA, control beliefs, and physical activity from pretest to immediate and delayed posttest. The program effects did not differ between those younger or older than age 65. These findings provide promising support for the feasibility and efficacy of the AgingPlus program.

Aging in precarious times: Exploring the role of gender in shaping views on aging.

The present study explores views on aging and how these differ according to gender and precariousness status. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 men and 10 women with secure and insecure pensions. Themes like fear of illness and health decline were more present in men, while fear of losing their attractiveness in old age more present among women. For all participants, loss of autonomy and social roles represented a negative view of old age, while activity in the form of work, volunteering, or leisure represented positive views. Differences in views on aging were related to pension security and less to gender. Women with insecure pension plans displayed the most negative views of aging. Implications for practice and policy to prevent health and gender inequalities are discussed.

Age stereotypes: Dimensions, origins, and consequences.

We give an overview of what age stereotypes (AS) are, how they are acquired and change across the lifespan, and how they shape development in old age. AS reflect complex beliefs and expectations that vary on the following dimensions: They differ in content and valence, depending on the life-domain to which they are applied (context), they refer to different age-groups (reference), to older people or to oneself as an old person (direction of relevance), and they either describe how older people are or prescribe how they should be (modality). AS are acquired early, and later taint beliefs about one's own aging (internalization). Once they are part of the self-concept, AS act as self-fulfilling prophecies that shape the actual aging process (stereotype embodiment).

Felt Age and Its Psychological Correlates in Dementia Spousal Caregiving Dyads: Findings From the IDEAL Programme.

OBJECTIVES: Evidence suggests spouses influence each other's subjective views on aging. Aligned with the Theory of Dyadic Illness Management, we investigated for the first time similarities in felt age (how old people feel relative to their chronological age) between people with dementia and their spousal caregivers, and how each partner's felt age was related to psychological correlates in the other partner. METHODS: We used baseline (2014-2016) data from 1,001 people with dementia and their spousal caregivers who participated in the British Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life study. We ran linear regressions to analyze the extent to which the felt age of people with dementia and their caregivers were similar, and whether relationship quality was associated with the similarity. We utilized actor-partner interdependence models to analyze whether the felt age of people with dementia and their caregivers were associated with each other's well-being, satisfaction with life, and self-efficacy. RESULTS: The felt age of people with dementia was associated with the felt age of their caregivers (ß = 0.10; p = .001). Caregivers and people with dementia reported a more similar felt age when caregivers rated the caregiving relationship more positively (ß = 0.07; p = .04). Caregivers' felt age was associated with well-being (ß = 0.07; p = .02) and satisfaction with life (ß = 0.06; p = .04), but not with self-efficacy, in people with dementia. DISCUSSION: Felt age in caregivers and people with dementia may be interwoven, and important psychological variables in people with dementia are related to caregivers' felt age. Findings offer empirical evidence on dementia caregiving dynamics and how family relationships are related to views on aging.

Feeling Younger on Active Summer Days? On the Interplay of Behavioral and Environmental Factors With Day-to-Day Variability in Subjective Age.

Background and Objectives: Subjective age, that is, how old people feel in relation to their chronological age, has mostly been investigated from a macro-longitudinal, lifespan point of view and in relation to major developmental outcomes. Recent evidence also shows considerable intraindividual variations in micro-longitudinal studies as well as relations to everyday psychological correlates such as stress or affect, but findings on the interplay with physical activity or sleep as behavioral factors and environmental factors such as weather conditions are scarce. Research Design and Methods: We examined data from 80 recently retired individuals aged 59-76 years (M = 67.03 years, 59% women) observed across 21 days. Daily diary-based assessments of subjective age, stress, affect, and sleep quality alongside physical activity measurement via Fitbit (steps, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity) and daily hours of sunshine were collected and analyzed using multilevel modeling. Results: Forty-four percent of the overall variance in subjective age was due to intraindividual variation, demonstrating considerable fluctuation. Affect explained the largest share in day-to-day fluctuations of subjective age, followed by stress and steps, whereas sunshine duration explained the largest share of variance in interindividual differences. Discussion and Implications: In our daily diary design, subjective age was most strongly related to self-reported affect as a psychological correlate. We, however, also found clear associations with objective data on daily steps and weather. Hence, our study contributes to contextualizing and understanding variations in subjective age in everyday life.

The Potential of Informal Care for Self-Perceptions of Aging Among Older Community-Dwelling Adults: Longitudinal Findings From the Health and Retirement Study.

OBJECTIVES: This is the first study to analyze, whether receipt of (informal) care with (instrumental) activities of daily living (IADL/ADL) is associated with (positive and negative) self-perceptions of aging among community-dwelling older adults; and whether chronological age moderates these associations, using a longitudinal design. METHODS: Longitudinal data of the Health and Retirement Study in the United States was used. The sample was composed of up to 9,198 observations of community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 years pooled over 6 waves (2008-2018). Receiving care at all and the amount of care received with (I)ADL were analyzed in association with positive and negative attitudes towards own aging (ATOA; 8-item modified Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale, positive and negative subscore). Adjusted fixed effects regression analyses with robust standard errors were calculated. RESULTS: Transitioning into receipt of care with any (I)ADL was associated with lower positive ATOA but not with any change in negative ATOA. Chronological age moderated the association between receipt of informal care, primarily with IADL, and negative ATOA. More negative ATOA was found among care recipients between 50 and 64 years but less among care recipients aged ≥80 years. DISCUSSION: Receiving any form of informal care was associated with an increase in internalized ageism, in particular among adults aged 50 to 64 years, but a decrease among those aged ≥80 years. Psycho-educative measures are recommended for adults with care needs to prevent a loss of positive self-perceptions of aging, and reduce the danger to their healthy aging, with the receipt of care.

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.

The role of social network diversity in self-perceptions of aging in later life.

While the link between self-perceptions of aging (SPA) and healthy aging is well established, less is known about the association between social factors and SPA. The present study investigated whether higher social network diversity is associated with more positive and less negative SPA and whether this association is moderated by age. We examined cross-sectional data from the German Ageing Survey of 2008 (DEAS; N = 6205, 40-85 years, 49.5% female). Network diversity was assessed as the number of social roles in an individual's network (such as spouse, friend and colleague). Three domains of SPA were measured using the Aging-Related Cognitions Scale (AgeCog): ongoing development (positive SPA), social losses (negative SPA) and physical losses (negative SPA). We conducted multiple linear regression models and tested for a moderator effect of age using an interaction term of age and network diversity. Results showed that at higher ages older adults with higher network diversity reported more positive SPA related to ongoing development and more negative SPA related to social losses than those with less diverse networks, indicating that age has a moderating effect. We found no association between network diversity and negative SPA related to physical losses and no indication that age was relevant to this relationship. The present study adds to evidence on the role of social networks in SPA. Our findings suggest that in certain SPA domains and depending on age, network diversity is related to both more positive and more negative SPA, which emphasizes the importance of considering domain-specific SPA.

Sexual Activity and Satisfaction in Older Adult Dyads: The Role of Perceptions of Aging.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the associations between perceptions of aging (POA) and sexual frequency and satisfaction in older adult dyads. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Using dyadic data from up to 1,122 different-sex married and cohabiting couples ages 50-89 (Mmen = 66.63 [7.40]; Mwomen = 64.43 [7.27]), we estimated 2 actor-partner interdependence models. We first examined the association between men's and women's POA and each partner's reports of frequency of partnered sexual activity (e.g., intercourse, oral sex, kissing, petting, and fondling). Then, we tested the link between POA and each partner's sexual satisfaction. RESULTS: Actor effects were detected in both models. Both men's and women's positive POA were associated with their own reports of more frequent sexual activity and greater satisfaction with their sex lives. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: These findings provide insight into how positive views on aging relate to older couples' sexuality. Future research should consider how attitudes shape later-life sexuality over time.

The association of functional limitations and diseases with multidimensional subjective age: Does chronological age matter?

OBJECTIVE: As the longstanding culture of respecting for older adults and filial piety norms is diminishing in China, how older Chinese perceive their health loss becomes a significant question. Based on the biological-psycho-social model of successful aging, the present study combines physiological and subjective indicators into a complete framework of successful aging, and examines the influence of disease and disability situation on multidimensional perceptions of senescence during the aging process among Chinese older adults. METHODS: In a representative sample of Chinese older adults aged 60-89 from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS) (n = 7,668 respondents), we use multiple linear regression model to analyze the heterogeneous association of suffering from various disease types and activity restrictions with 3 facets of subjective age (SA): felt age, look age and self-defined aging standard with the increasing chronological age. RESULTS: The negative association of limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) with perception of senescence is stabilized with chronological age. Respondents with non-life-shortening disease (type N) and chronic disease (type C) are associated with older felt age and look age and the discrepancy increases with age, while the negative association between acute and chronic disease (type AC) and self-defined aging standard becomes weaker with age. DISCUSSION: Our results highlight the match between physiological indicators and different dimensions of aging perception, and how these factors map subjective senescence experience across aging process. Our identification of physical conditions in individuals with negative aging perceptions could help form effective interventions to achieve a more positive overall image of old age.

Physical and mental health conditions account for variability in awareness of age-related changes.

Background: The concept of Awareness of Age-Related Changes captures people's perceptions of the positive (AARC-gains) and negative (AARC-losses) age-related changes they experience in several life domains, including their health. We investigated the cross-sectional associations of number and type of physical and mental health conditions with AARC-gains and AARC-losses. Methods: The sample comprised 3,786 middle-aged and older adults (mean age = 67.04 years; SD = 6.88) participating to the UK PROTECT study. We used hierarchical regression models to analyze whether after having included sociodemographic variables (model 1), number of physical (model 2) and of mental (model 3) health conditions explained a significant additional amount of variance in AARC-gains and AARC-losses, and whether the association between number of conditions and AARC depended on participants' age. We used multiple regression models to analyze the associations of types of physical and mental health conditions with AARC-gains and AARC-losses. Results: A higher number of physical health conditions was associated with higher AARC-gains and higher AARC-losses, but the association did not depend on participant age. After controlling for the number of physical health conditions, a higher number of mental health conditions was associated with higher AARC-losses but not with AARC-gains, and the association was stronger among older participants. Small effects were found between greater AARC-gains and current cancer and between greater AARC-losses and diagnoses of mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson's disease, arthritic condition, cancer in full remission, osteoporosis, depression, anxiety disorders, and personality disorder. The remaining health conditions were either negligibly or non-statistically related to AARC-losses. Conclusion: Middle-aged and older adults having more physical health conditions and more mental health conditions may be at higher risk of negative views on their own aging. However, specific physical health conditions, such as arthritis, and certain mental health conditions, such as depression, may make adults particularly vulnerable to negative age-related perceptions.