Rising above It: Status Ambivalence in Older Adults

Gerontology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 576-588
Author(s):  
Deirdre A. Robertson ◽  
David Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Protective Mechanism ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Social ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

Background: Social status is the standing of a person or group in the social hierarchy, and is perceived to change across the life span from low social status in early life, to peak in midlife, and to a decline thereafter. As threats to subjective social status are known to be detrimental to individuals’ health, it is important to better understand how older adults perceive themselves and others in terms of age-related social status. Objective: We examined status ambivalence – the potential discrepancy between how older adults’ perceive social status for themselves compared to older adults in general. Method: Study 1 used qualitative data from 37 semi-structured interviews with older adults to assess perceptions of social status. Study 2 used quantitative survey data from 114 older adults who completed explicit and implicit measures of social status. Results: Study 1 (n = 37, meanage = 71.72, SDage = 5.69; 81.1% women) provided preliminary evidence for status ambivalence such that older adults reported unequivocal low social status for other older adults but a more ambivalent perception of their own social status. Study 2 (n = 114, meanage = 64.32, SDage = 8.98, 57.9% women) compared implicit and explicit measures of social status revealing that older adults consistently perceive older adults to have low social status but again show a more ambivalent perception of their own social status. Conclusion: We discuss status ambivalence as a potential protective mechanism in the context of negative societal perceptions of age-related social status that may be important for well-being in later life.

scholarly journals Effects of Participation in Social Activities on Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Korea

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 2315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jongnam Hwang ◽  
Sangmin Park ◽  
Sujin Kim
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Activities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Gender Groups

Cognitive function is a critical health issue in later life, the decline of which disrupts well-being and daily life function. Cognitive decline in older ages can also be understood in the context of the social environment such as social connectedness and engagement in personal life. This study aimed to examine: (1) whether participation in social activities contributes to preventing cognitive decline, and (2) what type of social activities are beneficial to maintaining cognitive function. Data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLOSA) 2006–2014, a longitudinal survey of the household-dwelling population aged 45 and older in Korea were used. The results revealed that Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores decreased with increasing age, at a rate of approximately 0.18 units across all age-gender groups, and the decrease was steeper for adults aged 65 and over. Participation in social gatherings was likely to delay the decline in cognitive function after the age of 65. In a gender-stratified model, social activity may not have an impact on the decline of cognitive function for men, whereas participation in social gatherings was negatively related to the decline of MMSE scores in women. This study suggests the need for a gender-stratified policy for preventing the decline of cognitive function while promoting engagement in social activities in Korean older adults.

scholarly journals Religiosity and Perceived Social Support Enhance Older Adults’ Resilience after the 2016 Flood

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 929-929
Author(s):  
Katie Cherry ◽  
Matthew Calamia ◽  
Emily Elliott ◽  
Angelina Cantelli
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Perceived Social Support ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Severe Weather ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Age Related

Abstract In 2016, catastrophic flooding destroyed homes and property across south Louisiana. This study is part of a larger program of research that addresses the role of prior hurricane and flood experiences on current health and well-being in later life. Participants were predominately middle-aged and older adults who varied in current and prior severe weather experiences (M age=49.6 years, age range 18-88 years). All were tested during the immediate aftermath of the 2016 flood (Wave 1; N=223) and most participated in a follow-up assessment 9 (+/- 3) months later (Wave 2; N=202). Cherry et al. (2021) reported that greater flood stressors at Wave 1, such as displacement, flood-related losses, and damage to homes and property, were associated with more symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study, we tested the hypothesis that age, religiosity, and perceived social support would be positively associated with post-flood resilience at the Wave 2 follow-up. Results indicated that age was positively associated with religiosity and resilience, and negatively correlated with symptoms of PTSD. Additionally, faith community involvement, non-organizational religiosity, and religious beliefs and practices were all significantly correlated with post-flood resilience. Perceived social support was positively associated with resilience, and inversely correlated with PTSD symptoms. These data suggest that religiosity and perceived social support are valuable resources that foster post-disaster resilience among middle aged and older adults. Implications of these data for current views on age-related strengths and vulnerabilities after severe weather events are discussed.

scholarly journals Older Adults’ Experiences in an Online Intervention for Managing Subjective Depressive Symptoms

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 861-861
Author(s):  
Janella Hudson ◽  
Rachel Ungar ◽  
Laurie Albright ◽  
Rifky Tkatch ◽  
James Schaeffer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Late Life Depression ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Interactions ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Depressive Feelings

Abstract Background Many older adults struggle with late-life depression, stress, and anxiety, especially when facing age-related transitions including retirement, relocation, and the death of a spouse. Given the consequences of depression among older adults, which include higher rates of suicide, timely interventions that help to manage depressive symptoms are essential. Objective The primary purpose of this study was to explore the perceived efficacy of an online program in improving subjective depressive feelings. Methods Older adult participants were recruited for semi-structured interviews (n = 24) in a web-based intervention that included interactive games and activities undergirded by a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approach. Participants were asked to provide feedback about program features, including weekly module content, games, interactive activities and community interactions, and any perceived effects on their health behaviors and/or emotional well-being. Participants’ responses were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results Participants reported several gains, including developing the habit of forming ongoing, incremental goals, achieving wellness-related goals, and experiencing an overall positive shift in perspective. In addition, participants reported feeling greater gratitude, increased positivity, and improvement in mood. Featured games and activities helped to promote stress relief and entertainment, and mindfulness exercises were cited as the most helpful and/or enjoyable among participants. Participants expressed a preference for program content related to aging and aging-related transitions. Conclusions This study demonstrated feasibility of an interactive web-based intervention for older adults with subjective depressive feelings, while also providing important findings about users’ preferences for personalized, aging-related feedback.

Volunteering, Self-Perceptions of Aging, and Mental Health in Later Life

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Huo ◽  
Lisa M Soederberg Miller ◽  
Kyungmin Kim ◽  
Siwei Liu
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Perceptions ◽  
Panel Model ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Perceptions Of Aging ◽  
Design And Methods

Abstract Background and Objectives Scholars argue that volunteering enhances social, physical, and cognitive activities that are increasingly valued as people age, which in turn improves older adults’ well-being via a host of psychosocial and neurobiological mechanisms. This study explicitly tested older adults’ self-perceptions of aging as a mechanism underlying the mental health benefits of volunteering. Research Design and Methods Using 2-wave data from the Health and Retirement Study (2008/2010 for Wave 1 and 2012/2014 for Wave 2), we analyzed reports from a pooled sample of older adults aged 65 or older (N = 9,017). Participants reported on demographic characteristics, volunteer work (did not volunteer, 1–99 h/year, 100+ h/year), self-perceptions of aging, and depressive symptoms. We estimated an autoregressive cross-lagged panel model. Results Volunteering for 100 h or more per year was associated with older adults’ more positive and less negative self-perceptions of aging in the subsequent wave (i.e., 4 years later), which in turn predicted fewer depressive symptoms. Discussion and Implications This study suggests the promising role of volunteering in shaping older adults’ self-perceptions of aging on a sustained basis and refines our understanding of the benefits volunteering brings. Findings shed light on future interventions aimed at improving older adults’ adjustment to age-related changes and lessening ageism in society.

scholarly journals BEING RESPECTED AND ADMIRED IN OLD AGE: DYNAMICS OF SOCIAL STATUS AND AGING

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S728-S729
Author(s):  
David Weiss ◽  
Jennifer A Bellingtier ◽  
Manfred Diehl
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Age ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Age Attitudes

Abstract Social status - the standing of a person or group in the social hierarchy - is part and parcel of social life and a significant determinant of cognition and behavior. Status hierarchies are basis of virtually all human and primate societies and assign different roles and privileges to its members. However, the dynamic nature of social status and the underlying mechanisms in old age are not well understood. Therefore, this symposium addresses questions of how social status is influenced by aging-related changes in roles, life events, self-concept, and images of aging and how social status shapes in response personality, subjective age, prosocial behavior, performance, and well-being in old age. Bellingtier and colleagues examined objective and subjective social status and their connections to subjective age, attitudes towards aging, and awareness of age-related changes. Zhang shows paradoxical association between aging stereotypes and prosocial behaviors toward older adults. Barber and Hamel investigated how stereotypes of reduced physical competence in old age affect the gait performance on easy and difficult tasks. Weiss and colleagues take a cross-cultural perspective on the different sources of social status in China, Germany, and the US showing that generations in contrast to age groups represent a source of high social status in later life. Finally, Kornadt investigates the dynamic interplay of changes in social roles and personality in old age. Together, these presentations enlarge our understanding of the dynamics of social status in old age.

scholarly journals Transitions in loneliness in later life: the role of social comparisons and coping strategies

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Deborah Morgan ◽  
Vanessa Burholt ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Social Comparison ◽  
Coping Styles ◽  
Social Comparisons ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Life Study ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Adaptive Consequences

Abstract This study explored the coping strategies and social comparisons used by older adults on different loneliness trajectories (decreased loneliness, stable loneliness and degenerating loneliness). The adaptive consequences of social comparison in later life are recognised as an important strategy for preserving life satisfaction regardless of age-related losses. Coping strategies are also important in managing loneliness. Narrative interviews were conducted with lonely older adults (N = 11) who had participated in Wave One of the Maintaining Function and Well-being in Later Life Study Wales (CFAS Wales). The study found key differences in the coping strategies employed by older adults on different loneliness trajectories. Differences in coping styles between those who reported decreased loneliness and those who were chronically lonely stemmed from perceptions as to whether loneliness was modifiable or not. Different types of social comparison were also found to modulate the loneliness experience. The findings indicate that higher-order strategies (problem, emotional and meaning focused) are not distinct entities but are part of a dynamic process. The management of loneliness in later life may be dependent on several factors, including older adults’ interpretations of the cause of loneliness. These interpretations will have implications for interventions aimed at alleviating chronic loneliness, where the focus may have to be on changing older adult's perceptions of unmodifiable loneliness.

scholarly journals Age differences in cognitive control of emotional memory: metacognitive aspects and neural correlates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Nicole Gallant
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Emotional Memory ◽  
Directed Forgetting ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Related Potentials

Previous research has identified a divergent trajectory for the aging brain, characterized by declines in cognition and preservation in emotional processing. According to the socioemotional selectivity theory, reduced time horizons in later life cause a motivational shift to prioritize emotional goals, such as positive well-being. In service of these goals, older adults devote more cognitive effort to attend to and remember positive information; however, whether they can exert control over such information once it enters memory is not well understood. The primary aim of this dissertation was thus to examine age-related changes in cognitive control of emotional memory including its underlying metacognitive and neural components. In three experiments, young and older adults completed a cue- or value-based version of the item-directed forgetting task for positive, negative, and neutral words. Results consistently demonstrated that young and older adults could strategically control encoding of emotional information, by prioritizing relevant over irrelevant words in memory. This was evident when encoding was directed by to-be-remembered (TBR) or to-be-forgotten (TBF) cues as well as by numeric points that signaled a gain or loss of value (+10 vs. -10). Extending previous research on metacognition and aging, results indicated age invariance in prospective judgments of learning made during the encoding of TBR and TBF words that varied in emotion. In contrast, age groups differed when retrospectively monitoring the source of words. Whereas young adults’ source monitoring was not influenced by emotion or cues, older adults tended to attribute positive items to sources that were higher in value for memory (TBR or +10 cues), consistent with an age-related bias to prioritize positivity. Finally, age differences in event-related potentials underlying encoding of TBR and TBF words provided evidence that older adults may recruit additional resources in frontal regions of the brain to facilitate task performance. Moreover, in line with behavioural results, the ERP signatures of directed forgetting were not modulated by emotion. Altogether, this dissertation demonstrates that cognitive control over emotional memory is intact in later life; however, it highlights important age differences in the metacognitive and neural correlates of this ability.

Factorial Structure and Measurement Invariance of the PANAS in Spanish Older Adults

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Buz ◽  
Diana Pérez-Arechaederra ◽  
Ramón Fernández-Pulido ◽  
David Urchaga
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Measurement Invariance ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Correlated Errors ◽  
Good Reliability ◽  
Age Related

AbstractDevelopmental theories suggest age-related changes in the structure of affect. Paradoxically, the internal structure of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) has not been tested in Spanish older adults by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) despite it is the most widely used measure of emotional well-being in later life. The aim of this study was to examine competing models of the internal structure of the Spanish version of the PANAS, its measurement invariance, reliability, and external validity. Participants were a representative sample of 585 community-dwelling people aged 60 and over, who also completed depression, loneliness and life satisfaction measures. Results showed that the orthogonal two-factor model with correlated errors (RMSEA = .057, 90% CI [.051, .063], SRMR = .084, CFI = .97, NNFI = .97) was the best fitting solution. Measurement invariance analyses confirmed that the two-independent factor structure can be used across young-old and very old people, as well as in both males and females. It showed good reliability (PA: α = .93, NA: α = .83), criterion, convergent and discriminant validity (p < .01). Our discussion highlights the role of age and culture in the experience and expression of emotions.

scholarly journals A Qualitative Analysis of the Relationship Between Older Adults’ Daily Lives and Life Outlook

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 608-608
Author(s):  
Isabella Bouklas ◽  
Giancarlo Pasquini ◽  
Renee Gilbert ◽  
Cindy Bergeman ◽  
Stacey Scott
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Adult Development ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Use Of Time ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Dialectical Relationship

Abstract Leading theories of adult development suggest age-related changes in one’s life perspective and changes in one’s priorities are reflected in daily behavior. The present study explored how older adults understand their current lives through a qualitative study of midwestern Americans. Twenty-four participants (Mage= 69.53 years; age range=63-78 years) from the Notre Dame Study of Health & Well-Being (Whitehead & Bergeman, 2014) completed semi-structured interviews in which they were asked about turning points across their lives. Inductive analysis using the constant comparative method (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994) resulted in 10 life-domains based on common descriptions across participants. These domains represented the ways in which participants understood their identities over the course of their lives, as well as their organization and use of time and space in daily life. Participants’ descriptions of both general life outlook and daily life informed one another, revealing the dialectical relationship between micro-level behaviors and macro-level attitudes.

scholarly journals Capitalizing and Compensating: Older Adults’ Religious and Spiritual Uses of Technology

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-31
Author(s):  
Samantha L.C. Kang ◽  
Camille G Endacott ◽  
Gabrielle G Gonzales ◽  
Vern L Bengtson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Unexpected Finding ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Faith Traditions ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Religious Lives

This study explores how older adults use information and communication technologies (ICTs) in their spiritual and religious lives. How widespread is their use? What kinds of ICTS do they use and for what reasons? What impact do they have on their religious and spiritual lives? We explored these questions by collecting interviews with 90 older adults, average age 77, from six major Judeo-Christian faith traditions. The sample was developed from nominations by pastors, priests, and rabbis in three southern California cities. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews and analyzed through abductive analysis. Many older adults in our sample reported using ICTs to assist their devotional lives—nine in ten of our participants provided examples, thus dispelling technology as merely a tool for the young to incorporate into their religious lives. An unexpected finding of the research was the wide variety of ICT usage mentioned by these elderly participants —over 15 distinct ones were mentioned.  The reasons for using ICTs fell into two primary categories: compensating for age related changes and capitalizing on unique opportunities for growth in later life. The results demonstrate support for Carstensen’s Socio-Emotional Selectivity Theory and have implications for practitioners working with older adults, such as social workers and clergy, as well as for marketers in industry.  

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