Does Aging and Disease Increase the Importance of Cognitive Strategies? Social and Temporal Comparisons in Healthy Younger and Older Adults and in Younger and Older Cancer Patients.

Social and temporal comparisons may help the individual anchor his or her self-image in a social and temporal context. In the Life-Span Theory of Control, comparisons are included in the repertoire of secondary control strategies individuals may apply when primary control strategies are obstructed, for example, by age-related losses or physical decline. The aim of this study was to explore differences in prevalence and effects of social and temporal comparisons in younger and older adults and healthy and diseased individuals ( n = 34). Semistructured interviews were conducted and analyzed using a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The results revealed that older adults engaged in more comparisons than younger adults and that the outcomes of comparisons were more positive for older adults, particularly older cancer patients. The results indicate that comparisons may be applied more often by older and diseased individuals in the service of maintaining well-being.

The Mediating Role of Chinese College Students' Control Strategies: Belief in a Just World and Life History Strategy.

The harshness and unpredictability of early life circumstances shape life history strategies for trade-offs between the resources devoted to somatic and reproductive efforts of individuals in the developmental process. This paper uses belief in a just world as a reflection of early environmental cues to predict an individual's life history strategies. Research has found that belief in a just world influences life history strategies through a sense of control. However, the relationship between a sense of control and a life history strategy is flawed because influencing life history strategies should be intrinsic to control strategies rather than a sense of control. A total of 408 Chinese undergraduate students completed the Personal Belief in a Just World Scale, Mini-K Scale, and Primary and Secondary Control Scale. Structural equation modeling suggested that belief in a just world can directly or indirectly influence life history strategies through primary and secondary control strategies, respectively; there was no statistical difference in the degree of influence between the two paths. These results deepen our understanding of the underlying mechanisms in the relationship between belief in a just world and life history strategies, which can be utilized to ensure a slow life history strategy among Chinese university students in the future.

Change in psychological control in visually impaired older adults over 2 years: role of functional ability and depressed mood.

OBJECTIVES: The life-span theory of control is applied to study change in vision-specific control strategies in visually impaired older individuals, depending on performance in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and depressed mood. METHOD: Longitudinal data from visually impaired individuals (at baseline: N = 364; mean age = 82.8 years; visual acuity less than 20/60) measured at three occasions with 1-year intervals in-between were analyzed. A newly established vision-specific control scale to assess selective primary control (SPC), selective secondary control (SSC), compensatory primary control (CPC), and compensatory secondary control (CSC) was used. Linear and nonlinear (quadratic and piecewise) generalized mixed models with gamma response distribution to fit the skewed data were applied. RESULTS: CPC progressively increased as IADL capacity decreased up to a turning point, at which CPC plateaued, whereas all other strategies declined linearly with IADL decrease. Controlling for depressed mood did not change these relationships for CPC, SPC, and SSC but absorbed IADL-related decline of CSC. Higher depression was associated with less SPC, SSC, and CSC, but only slightly with less CPC. DISCUSSION: IADL plays an important role triggering a shift in adaptational strategies from selective control to CPC in visually impaired older adults and possibly other disabled populations.

Understanding retirement: the promise of life-span developmental frameworks.

The impending retirement of large population cohorts creates a pressing need for practical interventions to optimize outcomes at the individual and societal level. This necessitates comprehensive theoretical models that acknowledge the multi-layered nature of the retirement process and shed light on the dynamic mechanisms that drive longitudinal patterns of adjustment. The present commentary highlights ways in which contemporary life-span developmental frameworks can inform retirement research, drawing on the specific examples of Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model, Baltes and Baltes Selective Optimization with Compensation Framework, Schulz and Heckhausen's Motivational Theory of Life-Span Development, and Carstensen's Socioemotional Selectivity Theory. Ultimately, a life-span developmental perspective on retirement offers not only new interpretations of known phenomena but may also help to identify novel directions for future research as well as promising pathways for interventions.