RESUMEN
So far little is known with regard to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on changes in psychosocial functioning of middle-aged and older adults across multiple indicators, interindividual differences in these changes, as well as the extent to which pandemic-related changes are temporary or not. We investigate different domains of psychosocial functioning (views on aging: attitude toward own aging [ATOA] and subjective age; subjective well-being: life satisfaction and depressive symptoms; health: self-rated health) across up to 7 years (prepandemic measurement occasions: 2014 and 2017; peri-pandemic measurement occasions: Summer 2020 and Winter 2020/2021) among middle-aged and older adults (n = 10,856; Mage in 2014 = 64.3 years, SD = 11.58), based on data of the German Ageing Survey. Longitudinal multilevel regression models revealed that mean-level change toward more negative ATOA over time was aggravated by an additional shift toward more pessimistic ATOA in Summer 2020. In contrast, the mean-level change toward older subjective ages over time was interrupted by a shift toward younger subjective ages in Summer 2020. This shift was more pronounced among chronologically younger individuals. Depressive symptoms remained on average stable over time, but there was a temporary increase in Summer 2020. No pandemic-related change was observed for life satisfaction and self-rated health. Our findings suggest that different psychosocial functioning indicators reveal a different susceptibility to "COVID-19 effects," but all changes were temporary, potentially reflecting processes of adaptation. We discuss our results in the context of established theories, such as socioemotional selectivity theory or set-point theory of well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Asunto(s)
Envejecimiento , COVID-19 , Humanos , Persona de Mediana Edad , Anciano , Envejecimiento/psicología , Pandemias , Funcionamiento Psicosocial , ActitudRESUMEN
This narrative review brings together findings from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) on the health situation of people in the second half of life during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, this review answers the question of whether older adults (i.e., people in late adulthood) were indeed more vulnerable in the early days of the pandemic than younger adults (i.e., people in middle adulthood). Findings on the following health indicators are presented: perceived threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, perceived age discrimination, self-reported changes in physical activity, loneliness, and self-rated health.The results show that a higher age should not be considered as a universal risk factor for particularly severe indirect health consequences due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most older adults did not perceive the COVID-19 pandemic as very threatening and rarely experienced discrimination based on their age. By contrast, many younger and older adults reported to be less physically active and they showed an increase in loneliness that was equally distributed across age groups. Moreover, self-rated health deteriorated compared to pre-pandemic levels-but only among older adults. This deterioration, however, seems to be associated with individual ageing rather than the pandemic situation.It can be concluded that older people in private households did not show a particularly unfavorable health situation in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asunto(s)
COVID-19 , Humanos , Anciano , Adulto , COVID-19/epidemiología , Pandemias , Alemania/epidemiología , Autoinforme , EnvejecimientoRESUMEN
Relationship science contends that the quality of couples' communication predicts relationship satisfaction over time. Most studies testing these links have examined between-person associations, yet couple dynamics are also theorized at the within-person level: For a given couple, worsened communication is presumed to predict deteriorations in future relationship satisfaction. We examined within-couple associations between satisfaction and communication in three longitudinal studies. Across studies, there were some lagged within-person links between deviations in negative communication to future changes in satisfaction (and vice versa). But the most robust finding was for concurrent within-person associations between negative communication and satisfaction: At times when couples experienced less negative communication than usual, they were also more satisfied with their relationship than was typical. Positive communication was rarely associated with relationship satisfaction at the within-person level. These findings indicate that within-person changes in negative communication primarily covary with, rather than predict, relationship satisfaction.
Asunto(s)
Comunicación , Relaciones Interpersonales , Satisfacción Personal , Esposos/psicología , Humanos , Estudios LongitudinalesRESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: Despite the centrality of people's approach goals (i.e., approach toward positive outcomes) and avoidance goals (i.e., avoidance of negative outcomes) in romantic relationships, little is known about the interdependence of approach and avoidance relationship goals between partners. Assuming that short-term, state-level goals accumulate into general goal tendencies, the present research tested whether partners' daily (i.e., state level) and aggregated daily (i.e., trait level) approach and avoidance goals are mutually predictive in the short term (after one day) and the long term (after 10-12 months). In addition, we explored whether goal interdependence unfolds differently across adulthood and in relationships of different duration. METHOD: Approach and avoidance goals were assessed daily on two 14-day measurement-burst occasions that were conducted 10-12 months apart. The sample consisted of N = 456 female-male couples (age: M = 33.6, SD = 13.8 years; relationship duration: M = 9.6, SD = 10.7 years). RESULTS: We observed significant short- and long-term partner effects in the prediction of couple members' approach and avoidance goals. These partner effects were restricted to trait level and they did not emerge at the state level. Almost all effects were independent of age and relationship duration. DISCUSSION: The present research underscores the importance of disentangling state- and trait-level goal tendencies when investigating the interdependence of approach and avoidance goals within romantic relationships.
Asunto(s)
Reacción de Prevención , Objetivos , Relaciones Interpersonales , Amor , Adulto , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Factores de Tiempo , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
This work aims to integrate previous research perspectives on terminal well-being decline and partner bereavement by investigating the codevelopment of life satisfaction in the years preceding the death of one partner. We analyzed longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (N = 1,450 couples) and applied dyadic multilevel models to estimate both partners' trajectories of life satisfaction and to reveal the pathways of well-being transmission in couple members approaching [partner] death. Findings were compared with a propensity-score-matched control sample of couples in which neither partner died during the study. We found that to-be-deceased and to-be-bereaved partners experienced increasing disparities in their trajectories of life satisfaction in the years before [partner] death: Although both partners exhibited significant and accelerated declines in life satisfaction, these declines were more pronounced in to-be-deceased individuals. In the control sample, we also identified significant and accelerated declines in life satisfaction but these declines were less intense and they did not differ between partners. Regarding between-partner correlations, we observed that couples approaching [partner] death experienced weaker interdependencies in their declines of life satisfaction. Finally, and concerning the pathways of well-being transmission, we found that life satisfaction was significantly transmitted between partners and the strength of this effect did not differ between the samples. These findings suggest that the years before [partner] death are characterized by distinctive patterns of change and interdependence in life satisfaction. Future studies may explore the sources of increasing between-partner disparities in life satisfaction in an end-of-life relationship context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).