RESUMEN

Beliefs about aging are grounded in social experience. This study considered the extent to which married older adults' shared beliefs about aging and markers of aging maintain a concurrent and enduring association with their partners' beliefs about and markers of aging. Data from the 2010/2012 and 2014/2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study provided measures of husbands' and wives' (3,779 couples) positive and negative beliefs about aging and internal (Cystatin C) and external (grip strength) markers of aging at 2 time points. Latent dyadic models parsed beliefs and markers into partners' individual and shared variances, which were connected both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Longitudinal analysis showed that the cross-sectional associations between shared beliefs and markers of aging were stable over 4 years. Partners' shared beliefs and markers of aging were found to have enduring associations with each other over time. The enduring association between grip strength and future negative beliefs remained significant after accounting for partner selection and similarity in health. Model comparisons across marriage duration and emotional closeness showed partners' beliefs to be more similar in marriages that were either long established or emotionally close. In all groups, shared beliefs and markers of aging were associated with each other over time. The association between positive beliefs and future grip strength was stronger in long-established than in recent marriages. In summary, this study provides evidence that, within older couples, beliefs about aging are shaped in part through experiences of aging together. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) is a life-span theory of motivation grounded in the subjective awareness of human mortality. The cardinal postulate is that time horizons shape the relative priority placed on emotionally meaningful and knowledge-seeking goals. Because goals are always set in temporal contexts, and time left in life is inversely related to chronological age, SST predicts systematic age differences in goal pursuit. The theory has garnered considerable empirical support. In this paper, we consider the role of age-related time acceleration on goal setting and argue that it may interact with the more gradual age-related changes in time horizons presumed in SST. If so, the favoring of emotionally meaningful goals may follow an exponential (as opposed to linear) function across adulthood.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Is 50 considered "old"? When do we stop being considered "young"? If individuals could choose to be any age, what would it be? In a sample of 502,548 internet respondents ranging in age from 10 to 89, we examined age differences in aging perceptions (e.g., how old do you feel?) and estimates of the timing of developmental transitions (e.g., when does someone become an older adult?). We found that older adults reported older perceptions of aging (e.g., choosing to be older, feeling older, being perceived as older), but that these perceptions were increasingly younger than their current age. The age to which individuals hope to live dramatically increased after age 40. We also found that older adults placed the age at which developmental transitions occurred later in the life course. This latter effect was stronger for transitions involving middle-age and older adulthood compared to transitions involving young adulthood. The current study constitutes the largest study to date of age differences in age perceptions and developmental timing estimates and yielded novel insights into how the aging process may affect judgments about the self and others.

RESUMEN

Purpose of the Study: Biased judgments about others can operate both within and outside of our conscious awareness. However, little attention has been paid to how implicit and explicit attitudes differ across the life span, particularly with respect to age bias. In the current study, we examined age differences in implicit and explicit attitudes towards older individuals. Design and Method: Participants (N = 704,151) ranging from age 15 to 94 completed the Implicit Association Test and explicit self-report measures of bias against older adults. The associations between age bias and several demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, education) were also examined. Results: A preference for younger people was found among participants of all ages; however, implicit and explicit attitudes showed divergent associations with age. Implicit preference for younger people was highest among older adults; explicit preference for younger people was lowest among older adults. Implications: Examining age differences in implicit and explicit attitudes sheds light into the development and complexities of aging perceptions in different age groups. The current study's findings are discussed in the context of applications to and implications of reducing prejudice toward older adults.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Background and Objectives: From midlife onwards, age stereotypes increasingly underlie social judgments and contribute to age-based discrimination. Whereas many studies compare differences between young and older adults in reports of age discrimination or sensitivity to age stereotypes, few consider age group differences among adults over 50. We form subgroups corresponding to social age group membership (early midlife, late midlife, young old, oldest old) and examine differences in reported experiences of everyday age discrimination and associations with self-perceptions of aging. Research Design and Method: Using cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS: N = 15,071; M Age = 68, range 50-101), multivariate logistic regression was used to examine experiences of everyday discrimination attributed to age, and associations between age discrimination and self-perceptions of aging, in four age groups: early midlife, late midlife, young old, oldest old. Results: People in the early midlife group (aged 50-59) reported more experiences of unfair treatment than the older age groups but were less likely to attribute their experiences to age discrimination. After controlling for covariates, individuals in all age groups who perceived their own aging positively were less likely to report experiences of age discrimination. The magnitude of this effect, however, was greatest in the early midlife group. Discussion and Implications: Findings support proposals that midlife is a pivotal life period when individuals adjust to life events and social role transitions. Future longitudinal studies will provide further insight into whether positive self-perceptions of aging are especially important in this phase of the life course.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

OBJECTIVE: Preventive health service use is relatively low among older age groups. We hypothesized that aging satisfaction would be associated with increased use of preventive health services four years later. METHOD: We conducted multiple logistic regression analyses on a sample of 6177 people from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative study of U.S. adults over the age of 50 (M age=70.6; women n=3648; men n=2529). RESULTS: Aging satisfaction was not associated with obtaining flu shots. However, in fully-adjusted models, each standard deviation increase in aging satisfaction was associated with higher odds of reporting service use for cholesterol tests (OR=1.10, 95% CI=1.00-1.20). Further, women with higher aging satisfaction were more likely to obtain a mammogram/x-ray (OR=1.17, 95% CI=1.06-1.29) or Pap smear (OR=1.10, 95% CI=1.00-1.21). Among men, the odds of obtaining a prostate exam increased with higher aging satisfaction (OR=1.20 95% CI=1.09-1.34). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that aging satisfaction potentially influences preventive health service use after age 50.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: The changing scope of women's roles in combat operations has led to growing interest in women's deployment experiences and post-deployment adjustment. OBJECTIVES: To quantify the gender-specific frequency of deployment stressors, including sexual and non-sexual harassment, lack of social support and combat exposure. To quantify gender-specific post-deployment mental health conditions and associations between deployment stressors and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to inform the care of Veterans returning from the current conflicts. DESIGN: National mail survey of OEF/OIF Veterans randomly sampled within gender, with women oversampled. SETTING: The community. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 1,207 female and 1,137 male Veterans from a roster of all Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) Veterans. Response rate was 48.6 %. MAIN MEASURES: Deployment stressors (including combat and harassment stress), PTSD, depression, anxiety and alcohol use, all measured via self-report. KEY RESULTS: Women were more likely to report sexual harassment (OR = 8.7, 95% CI: 6.9, 11) but less likely to report combat (OR = 0.62, 95 % CI: 0.50, 0.76). Women and men were equally likely to report symptoms consistent with probable PTSD (OR = 0.87, 95 % CI: 0.70, 1.1) and symptomatic anxiety (OR = 1.1, 9 5% CI: 0.86, 1.3). Women were more likely to report probable depression (OR = 1.3, 95 % CI: 1.1, 1.6) and less likely to report problematic alcohol use (OR = 0.59, 9 5% CI: 0.47, 0.72). With a five-point change in harassment stress, adjusted odds ratios for PTSD were 1.36 (95 % CI: 1.23, 1.52) for women and 1.38 (95 % CI: 1.19, 1.61) for men. The analogous associations between combat stress and PTSD were 1.31 (95 % CI: 1.24, 1.39) and 1.31 (95 % CI: 1.26, 1.36), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Although there are important gender differences in deployment stressors-including women's increased risk of interpersonal stressors-and post-deployment adjustment, there are also significant similarities. The post-deployment adjustment of our nation's growing population of female Veterans seems comparable to that of our nation's male Veterans.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

What factors predict whether Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans who need mental health care receive that care? The present research examined factors associated with a need for care, sociodemographic characteristics, deployment experiences, and perceptions of care as gender-specific predictors of overall mental health care use and Veterans Affairs (VA) mental health care use for male and female OEF/OIF veterans (N = 1,040). Only veterans with a probable need for mental health care, as determined by scores on self-report measures of mental health symptomatology, were included in the sample. Overall, predictors of service use were similar for women and men. A notable exception was the finding that lower income predicted use of both overall and VA mental health care for women, but not men. In addition, sexual harassment was a unique predictor of VA service use for women, whereas non-White race was predictive of VA service use for men only. Knowledge regarding the factors that are associated with use of mental health care (broadly and at VA) is critical to ensuring that veterans who need mental health care receive it.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Suicidal behavior among military personnel is of paramount public health importance because of the increased risk of death from suicide in this population. Pre- and post-Marine recruit training risk factors for suicide attempts among current and former Marines were examined in 10 years following recruit training. The characteristics of the subsample of current and former Marines who died by suicide during this time are also described. Stressful and traumatic life events (e.g., childhood physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, sexual harassment during recruit training) and pre-recruit training suicide attempts emerged as having strong associations with post-recruit training attempts. Half of those who died by suicide in the 10 years following recruit training endorsed at least one significant life stressor prior to joining the Marines. This study highlights the importance of screening for stressful and potentially traumatic experiences occurring both before and during military service as part of a comprehensive suicide risk assessment in military samples.

Asunto(s)