Changes in sense of control in the second half of life: results from a 5-year panel study

Association of Chronic Diseases and Functional Limitations with Subjective Age: The Mediating Role of Sense of Control

OBJECTIVES

This study examined the relationships between chronic diseases, functional limitations, sense of control, and subjective age. Older adults may evaluate their subjective age by reference to their younger healthier selves and thus health and functional status are likely to be determinants of subjective age. Although sense of control is also a potential predictor of subjective age, stress-inducing factors associated with disease and functional limitations may reduce older adults' sense of control, making them feel older.

METHODS

Using the 2010 and 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, structural equation modeling was performed on a sample of 6,329 respondents older than 50 years to determine whether sense of control mediated the relationship between chronic diseases, limitations in instrumental/basic activities of daily living (ADLs, IADLs), and subjective age.

RESULTS

Chronic diseases and limitations in ADLs had a positive, direct association with subjective age (β = 0.037, p = .005; β = 0.068, p = .001, respectively). In addition, chronic diseases and limitations in ADLs and IADLs were positively, indirectly associated with subjective age via a diminished sense of control (β = 0.006, p = .000; β = 0.007, p = .003; β = 0.019, p = .000, respectively).

DISCUSSION

As predicted by the Deterioration model, the findings showed that chronic diseases and functional impairment are associated with older adults feeling older by challenging the psychological resource of sense of control. Appropriate interventions for dealing with health challenges and preserving sense of control may help prevent the adverse downstream effects of older subjective age.

Why Not Lonely? A Longitudinal Study of Factors Related to Loneliness and Non-Loneliness in Different Age Groups Among People in the Second Part of Life

Age-related changes and losses may lead to loneliness. However, some people do not become lonelier, even after negative life events. This study examines the development of loneliness based on Norwegian panel data (N = 2,315), age 40-80 years at baseline, and the impacts of partnership and health measured in 2002, 2007, and 2017. We ask: How does loneliness develop over time, and who resists becoming lonely? In the total group, loneliness decreased from 2002 to 2007 and then leveled off. In the eldest age group, 70-80 years at baseline, loneliness increased but only in the last period, from 2007 to 2017. In all age groups and at all three times, those who were not lonely more often had a partner and were more often in good health compared to those who were lonely. Period effects, cohort, and age-related changes influencing the development in loneliness over time are discussed.

Socioeconomic Inequalities in Mortality After Age 67: The Contribution of Psychological Factors

Diverging trends of longer lives and increased inequalities in age-at-death invite to updated research on late-life mortality. Earlier studies have identified health behavior, childhood, psychosocial, and material conditions as key determinants of life expectancy, but the role of psychological factors remains a topic of debate. The current study is framed in a life course developmental perspective and assesses the mediating role of secondary control strategies (subjective age) and primary control capacity (perceived control) to socioeconomic (wealth and education) inequality in mortality after age 67. Data are derived from the second wave of the Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation study (N=1,432 and age 67–85). All in all, 366 deaths were observed over a mean follow-up of 9.6years. Perceived control was measured by the Pearlin and Schooler Mastery Scale. SA was measured with proportional discrepancy scores in felt age and ideal age. Stepwise Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were conducted to analyze the relative contribution of SES (education and accumulated wealth), felt age, and ideal age discrepancies and perceived control on 11-year mortality. Findings show that lower levels of wealth and perceived control independently predict increased elderly mortality over an 11-year period. Feeling younger and smaller ideal age discrepancies are positively associated with perceived control, but do not account for additional variability in longevity among older adults. Findings add to the interdisciplinary field of socioeconomic inequalities in elderly mortality and underline the specific importance of structural conditions (wealth) and the continued importance of (perceived) primary control capacity for longevity also after age 67. Future research may assess in more detail how wealth and perceived control complement each other in contributing to healthy aging and longevity, for example, by longitudinal research including the role of significant life events in the second half of life in different welfare state contexts.

Mastery and Depressive Symptoms: How Does Mastery Influence the Impact of Stressors From Midlife to Old Age?

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research is to study depressive symptoms (DS) among adults aged 40 to 79 years and examine how mastery influences the impact of sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and health factors on DS.

METHOD

We used a sample of the Norwegian Life Course, Generation, and Gender (LOGG) study ( N = 6,879) and analyzed how mastery influences the independent variables on DS via regression analyses.

RESULTS

Mastery affected DS directly and influenced the effects of sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and health factors on DS. There was a stronger relationship between stressors and DS among respondents with low than high mastery. DS were most prevalent among people aged 70 to 79 years. When mastery was also controlled for, the oldest group (70-79 years) had significantly fewer DS than those aged 40 to 49 years.

DISCUSSION

The influence of mastery and stressors on DS seems to vary along the life span. The result that mastery was a relatively stronger buffer against DS in midlife than in old age is discussed.

Coping efforts and resilience among adult children who grew up with a parent with young-onset dementia: a qualitative follow-up study

Background

It is estimated that one in four persons with young-onset dementia (YOD) (<65 years old) has children younger than 18 years old at the onset of the dementia. These children experience a childhood different from what is expected. Adult children of parents with YOD are seldom addressed in research, and the impact of the dementia on the children's development over time has rarely been studied.

Aim

The goal of this study was to explore how adult children experienced the influence of their parents’ dementia on their own development during adolescence; what coping efforts, strategies, and resources they employed; and how they evaluated the most recent changes in their life situation.

Method

A follow-up, grounded theory approach in two phases was used. Qualitative interviews with 14 informants (18–30 years of age) were conducted in 2014 and one year later, in 2015.

Findings

Nearly all the informants expressed that their emotional well-being and their life situation were better at the second interview compared to the time of dementia onset in their parents. To overcome the difficulties of being a child of a parent with YOD, they used different instrumental, cognitive, and emotional coping strategies, subsumed analytically under the concept detachment. This category covers three subcategories of coping strategies: moving apart, greater personal distance, and calmer emotional reactions. Another category, resilience, designates combinations of the coping strategies. Vital for the development of coping resources and resilience was the need the informants had for social support—for people they saw who listened to them and responded to their needs.

Conclusion

Most of the informants reported that they experienced a better life situation and less emotional stress over time as their parent's dementia progressed. They developed better coping capacities and greater resilience. Vital for the development of coping resources and resilience was the need the informants had for social support.

Responses to Financial Loss During the Great Recession: An Examination of Sense of Control in Late Midlife

OBJECTIVES

The "Great Recession" shocked the primary institutions that help individuals and families meet their needs and plan for the future. This study examines middle-aged adults' experiences of financial loss and considers how socioeconomic and interpersonal resources facilitate or hinder maintaining a sense of control in the face of economic uncertainty.

METHOD

Using the 2006 and 2010 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, change in income and wealth, giving help to and receiving help from others, household complexity, and sense of control were measured among middle-aged adults (n = 3,850; age = 51-60 years).

RESULTS

Socioeconomic resources predicted both the level of and change in the engagement of interpersonal resources prior to and during the Great Recession. Experiences of financial loss were associated with increased engagement of interpersonal resources and decreased sense of control. The effect of financial loss was dampened by education. Sense of control increased with giving help and decreased with household complexity.

DISCUSSION

Findings suggest that, across socioeconomic strata, proportional loss in financial resources resulted in a loss in sense of control. However, responses to financial loss differed by socioeconomic status, which differentiated the ability to maintain a sense of control following financial loss.