scholarly journals Early Trauma and Later Health: Examining the Mediation of Social Relationships in Adulthood in HRS

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 214-214
Author(s):  
William Chopik ◽  
Amanda Leggett ◽  
Jooyoung Kong ◽  
Courtney Polenick ◽  
Yin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Memory ◽  
Social Contacts ◽  
The Family ◽  
Drug Problems ◽  
Early Trauma ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Retirement Study

Abstract Early trauma is associated with compromised health and well-being in later life, but whether social functioning mediates the association is unclear. Participants in the Health and Retirement Study (n = 15,946) had baseline surveys in years 2006 and 2008 (T1), and were followed up twice (T2-3) every 4 years. Health outcomes included depressive symptoms, chronic health conditions, and subjective memory complaints. Social relationships were measured by contacts, relationship strains, and feelings of loneliness. Early trauma was measured by parental physical abuse and alcohol and drug problems in the family before the age of 16. Social contacts decreased over time, while relationship strains and loneliness increased especially for older adults with early trauma, which in turn mediated the associations between early trauma and poorer health in later life. The findings suggested that maintaining positive social relationships are beneficial for better health in late life, especially for individuals with early trauma exposures.

scholarly journals Early Adversity and Later Health: The Pathway of Social Relationships in Adulthood in HRS and ELSA

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 484-485
Author(s):  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
William Chopik ◽  
Amanda Leggett ◽  
Jooyoung Kong ◽  
Courtney Polenick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Early Adversity ◽  
Subjective Memory ◽  
The Family ◽  
Drug Problems ◽  
Early Trauma

Abstract Early adversity is associated with compromised health and well-being in later life, but whether social functioning mediate the association is unclear. We examined 2 longitudinal samples of older adults (>= 50 years) whose baseline surveys were between 2006 and 2008 with follow-up until 2016 in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, n = 15,946) and its sister study in England (ELSA, n = 9,692). Health outcomes included depressive symptoms, chronic health conditions, and subjective memory complaints. Social relationships were measured by contacts, relationship strains, and feelings of loneliness. Early adversity was measured by parental physical abuse and alcohol and drug problems in the family before the age of 16. Patterns of association were similar in these 2 samples, where social contacts decreased over time, while relationship strains and loneliness increased especially for older adults with early trauma, which in turn mediated the associations between early adversity and poorer later health.

scholarly journals Individual parental conversations with non-birthing parents

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaretha Larsson ◽  
Irene Eriksson ◽  
Karin Johansson ◽  
Anna-Karin Stigsson ◽  
Rebecka Svahn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Child Health Service ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
The Family ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Family Focus

Abstract Aim: The aim of this study was to describe Child Health Service (CHS) nurses’ experiences with conducting individual parental conversations (IPCs) with non-birthing parents. Background: CHS nurses in Sweden mainly focus on monitoring a child’s physical and mental development and the mothers’ health in order to support their parenthood. The assignment of the CHS includes identifying dysfunctional social relationships in a family and strengthening responsive parenting. An imbalance arises within the family when someone in the family suffers from illness, which could have a negative effect on the whole family’s health and well-being. Methods: An inductive, descriptive qualitative study design was used to describe and to gain an understanding of the CHS nurses’ experiences. Data were collected in 13 interviews, and a qualitative content analysis was performed. Findings: The analysis of interviews with CHS nurses resulted in two main categories, each with three subcategories. The main categories are: working for equality and applying a family focus, and dealing with challenges in the developing assignment. The IPCs stimulate the CHS nurses to work for more equality and to apply a family focus, which can be a way of strengthening the families’ health and the children’s upbringing. Developing the CHS nurses’ assignment can be a challenge that appears to entail positive outcomes for CHS nurses, while also generating the need for CHS nurses to receive supervision to find ways to improve their approach and practice.

scholarly journals Cross-National Perspectives on Health and Well-Being in Later Life

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 484-484
Author(s):  
Jennifer Ailshire ◽  
Yuan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Aging Research ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Cross National

Abstract Cross-national comparisons are increasingly being used to re-evaluate whether our theories of aging are dependent on sociocultural context and to develop new insights into both long-standing and emerging issues in aging. The papers in this symposium use harmonized data from the Gateway to Global Aging to examine a range of topics in aging and provide new insights into key questions in aging research. Liu et al., determine whether social relationships mediate the association between early life adversity and later life health and well-being using longitudinal data from the U.S. and England. Considering multiple domains of the social determinants of health, such as socioeconomic status, social relationships, and health care access, Cho et al. identify which are related to self-rated health in China, Japan, and South Korea. Cheng et al. test the age-as-leveler hypothesis for explaining how socioeconomic differentials in health change in older ages in China and 19 European countries to determine if the protective effect of socioeconomic status on multi-morbidity changes with age. Harmonized data facilitate international comparisons papers, but additional efforts are sometimes needed to calibrate specific measures across international surveys. A major challenge in cross-national aging research, for instance, has been the limited ability to compare cognition across countries. Nichols and colleagues present a novel method for cocalibration of cognitive function across the U.S., England, and India that could be used for additional cross-national comparative research. The papers in this symposium demonstrate both the potential and challenges of cross-national studies of health and well-being among older adults.

scholarly journals Digital detox: An effective solution in the smartphone era? A systematic literature review

2021 ◽  
pp. 205015792110286
Author(s):  
Theda Radtke ◽  
Theresa Apel ◽  
Konstantin Schenkel ◽  
Jan Keller ◽  
Eike von Lindern
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Social Network Sites ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Smartphone Use ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Digital Detox

Smartphone use, e.g., on social network sites or instant messaging, can impair well-being and is related to clinical phenomena, like depression. Digital detox interventions have been suggested as a solution to reduce negative impacts from smartphone use on outcomes like well-being or social relationships. Digital detox is defined as timeouts from using electronic devices (e.g., smartphones), either completely or for specific subsets of smartphone use. However, until now, it has been unclear whether digital detox interventions are effective at promoting a healthy way of life in the digital era. This systematic literature review aimed to answer the question of whether digital detox interventions are effective at improving outcomes like health and well-being, social relationships, self-control or performance. Systematic searches of seven databases were carried out according to PRISMA guidelines, and intervention studies were extracted that examined timeouts from smartphone use and/or smartphone-related use of social network sites and instant messaging. The review yielded k = 21 extracted studies (total N = 3,625 participants). The studies included interventions in the field, from which 12 were identified as randomized controlled trials. The results showed that the effects from digital detox interventions varied across studies on health and well-being, social relationships, self-control, or performance. For example, some studies found positive intervention effects, whereas others found no effect or even negative consequences for well-being. Reasons for these mixed findings are discussed. Research is needed to examine mechanisms of change to derive implications for the development of successful digital detox interventions.

scholarly journals Perceived Control and Aging: A Mini-Review and Directions for Future Research

Gerontology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 435-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Robinson ◽  
Margie E. Lachman
Keyword(s):  
Sex Education ◽  
Perceived Control ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
Control Beliefs ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
As Stress ◽  
Health And Well Being

This brief review on perceived control and aging is organized according to 3 perspectives of research involving description, explanation, and modification. An extensive body of literature has utilized cross-sectional and correlational methods to describe the sociodemographic variations and outcomes associated with perceived control. This work has focused on differences in perceived control as a function of age, sex, education, socioeconomic status, and culture and has identified positive associations with many aging-related outcomes involving health and well-being. With growing evidence regarding the health benefits of perceived control in the context of a declining sense of control with aging, there has been an increased effort to uncover the mechanisms involved, with the hopes of developing methods to maintain and/or promote adaptive control beliefs throughout adulthood. Through longitudinal and experimental work, researchers are beginning to clarify the directionality and elucidate the mechanisms to explain the associations. Recent evidence from longitudinal studies shows that control beliefs have an impact on subsequent changes in health. Yet, the findings suggest that it is not a unidirectional relationship. A conceptual model suggesting an ongoing reciprocal relationship between perceived control and health and well-being is discussed. Research examining the mechanisms that link perceived control to aging-related outcomes can help to inform and to develop effective interventions that are tailored to the individual's specific barriers and goals. We consider new directions for research, including more attention to intraindividual variability and reactivity to daily challenges, such as stress, with the goal of advancing our understanding of how perceived control contributes to aging-related outcomes. More work is needed to develop strategies to enhance control beliefs in later life. Although it will not always be possible to modify control beliefs, researchers can take these beliefs into account when developing interventions. A personalized approach is recommended as a way to tailor interventions that are compatible with individuals' beliefs about control to facilitate adaptive behavior change. Conclusions focus on selected issues and considerations for future research.

scholarly journals Growing Older in Social Work: Perspective on Systems of Support to Extend Working Lives—Findings from a UK Survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula McFadden ◽  
John Moriarty ◽  
Heike Schröder ◽  
Patricia Gillen ◽  
Gillian Manthorpe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Intention To Leave ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Management Support ◽  
Quality Of Working Life ◽  
Working Lives ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract Social work, like many other human service professions, is ageing. This article reports and discusses the findings of a UK social work survey undertaken in 2018 (1,397 responses). It investigated how organisational policies and individual factors were affecting individual social workers’ decisions about working in later life. The survey measured (i) social workers’ attitudes to ageing at work and self-reported planning around retirement; (ii) mental health and well-being, quality of working life and home and work interface and (iii) intention to leave work and retirement planning. Statistical analysis enabled examination of how the interrelationship of these factors and relevant individual characteristics interact within the systemic work environment. Findings revealed that all participants had considered factors that might cause them to retire early. Framing the findings in an ecological conceptual model suggests that age-inclusive professional and organisational cultures, age-positive human resource management, support from line managers, fair working conditions and the ability to manage health and well-being, might enable social workers to extend their working lives in line with government policy. These findings provide insights for social work workforce policymakers and for employers to assist in their development of organisational and individual adjustments to sustain well-being in the social work profession.

scholarly journals Marital quality and loneliness in later life

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey E. Stokes
Keyword(s):  
Marital Quality ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Dyadic Data ◽  
Initial Wave ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Unpleasant Experience ◽  
The U.S

Loneliness is not merely an unpleasant experience but is harmful for older adults’ health and well-being as well. While marriage buffers against loneliness in later life, even married adults experience loneliness, and aspects of adults’ marriages may either protect against or actually foster loneliness among spouses. The current study analyzed dyadic data from 1,114 opposite-sex married Irish couples who participated in the initial wave of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (2009–2011) in order to extend findings of two prior dyadic studies of marital quality and loneliness in the U.S. to older married couples in Ireland and to directly compare two theoretical and methodological frameworks used by these studies to explain associations between husbands’ and wives’ reports of marital quality and loneliness in later life. Results revealed that both spouses’ perceptions of positive and negative marital quality were significantly related with husbands’ and wives’ loneliness and that spouses’ reports of loneliness were significantly related with one another. Findings also indicated that associations between marital quality and loneliness were similar for Irish and American couples in later life. Comparison of differing modeling strategies suggested that emotional contagion may serve as a pathway for dyadic partner effects.

scholarly journals EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS: DOES GENDER MATTER?

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S931-S931
Author(s):  
Celeste Beaulieu ◽  
Jeffrey E Stokes
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
Retirement Study

Abstract Previous research has suggested that informal socializing can be beneficial for mental health, whereas prior findings concerning solitary activities and mental health have been equivocal. Activity theory posits that involvement in activities – particularly social activities – can improve adults’ self-concept and self-esteem, leading to improved well-being. Solitary activities may perform the same function, though without any social reinforcement. However, social engagement and mental health may both vary by gender. Thus, we examined associations of informal socializing and solitary activities with depressive symptoms among 13,387 respondents of the 2012/2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, and further assessed potential gender differences. Results revealed that both informal socializing and solitary activities were significantly associated with lower depressive symptoms when analyzed separately. However, when both types of activities were modeled simultaneously, only informal socializing remained significant. Further, stratified analyses revealed that informal socializing was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms among women but not men, although these coefficients were not significantly different from each other. Overall, findings suggest that both informal socializing and solitary activities may be beneficial for mental health, yet results were clearly stronger for informal socializing. Socializing may benefit mental health not only by bolstering one’s self-concept, but also by linking adults with social ties and support networks that are instrumental for well-being in mid- and later life. Moreover, gender differences in effects were minimal and largely non-significant, indicating that activity involvement can bolster mental health for men and women alike.

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