scholarly journals THE IMPACT OF EARLY EDUCATION ON LATER-LIFE COGNITION: FINDINGS FROM THE HRS LIFE HISTORY MAIL SURVEY

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. 793-793
Author(s):  
H Lee ◽  
J Smith
2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-564
Author(s):  
Yura Lee ◽  
Iris Chi ◽  
Jennifer A. Ailshire

AbstractOne of the major aspects of successful ageing is active engagement in later life. Retirement and widowhood are two significant life transitions that may largely influence leisure engagement patterns among older adults. Limited findings exist regarding the impact of life transitions on leisure activity engagement due to the scarcity of longitudinal data with repeated measurement of older individuals’ leisure engagement. This study longitudinally examined changes in leisure activity engagement as influenced by retirement and widowhood using five waves of national panel data from the Health and Retirement Study and its supplementary Consumption and Activities Mail Survey. Multi-level modelling was conducted with retirement and widowhood status as time-varying variables. Socio-economic status, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, self-rated health and functional limitations were also included as time-varying and time-invariant covariates. Findings show that engagement in mental, physical, social and household activities significantly decreased during an eight-year period. Moreover, transition from working to retired status was associated with increased engagement in mental, social and household activities but decreased engagement in physical activities among men only. Transition from married to widowhood status was associated with decreased engagement in household activities among women only. Encouraging active leisure engagement among individuals who experience either or both life transitions may help maintain their health after transition.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S320-S320
Author(s):  
Miles G Taylor ◽  
Stephanie Ureña ◽  
Dawn Carr ◽  
Stella N Min

Abstract Objectives Drawing on the life course framework and theoretical concept of resilience, we examine the impact of early-life service-related exposures (SREs) on later-life functional impairment trajectories among older U.S. male veterans. We conceptualize resilience as a psychological resource potentially moderating the lasting negative consequences of traumatic military exposures. Method Using the 2013 Veterans Mail Survey linked to the Health and Retirement Study 2006–2014 Leave Behind Questionnaire and RAND Data File (v.N), we estimate latent growth curve models of functional impairment trajectories. Results SRE to death has a persistent positive effect on functional limitations and activities of daily living limitations. Psychological resilience significantly moderates this association, such that veterans maintaining higher levels of resilience in the face of adverse exposures have considerably less functional impairment over time compared to their counterparts with low levels of resilience. Discussion Our findings point to the importance of psychological resilience in later life, especially within the realm of traumas occurring in early life. We discuss implications for current military training programs, stressing the importance of research considering individual resources and processes that promote adaptation in the face of adverse life events.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Tobias Krause ◽  
Barbara A. Caspers

Early developmental conditions can have a strong influence on the life history. Fire salamanders represent an interesting system due to their biphasic life cycle consisting of an aquatic larval stage and a subsequent terrestrial stage. The environment experienced as larvae affects growth, age at metamorphosis and behaviour. In particular, diet restrictions can cause developmental stress. However, the impact of such developmental stress on the growth and behaviour in a long-lived amphibian are not yet well studied. We manipulated the early diet of sibling pairs of fire salamander larvae. One sibling was raised under food-restriction and the other was raised under conditions of abundant food. We report long-term effects on growth and exploratory behaviour; exploratory behaviour was tested in two sessions, first as young juveniles and later as sub-adults. We found that food-restricted conditions during early development affected exploratory behaviour. Early deficits in body mass and body size were compensated later in life, by approximately 18 months of age. When morphological differences were compensated, the initial differences in exploratory behaviour also disappeared. Thus, compensation not only led to an alignment of body parameters but was also accompanied by an adjustment in exploratory behaviour. No cost of compensation was detected, but future research will need to verify whether the potential costs of compensation are negligible in slow-growing salamanders or whether they are shifted to later life stages. Our study provides novel insights into the life history of fire salamanders and reveals that early larval conditions have effects on individuals long after metamorphosis.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janske van de Crommenacker ◽  
Martijn Hammers ◽  
Hannah Louise Dugdale ◽  
Terry Burke ◽  
Jan Komdeur ◽  
...  

1.Environmental conditions experienced during early life may have long-lasting effects on later-life phenotypes and fitness. Individuals experiencing poor early-life conditions may suffer subsequent fitness constraints. Alternatively, individuals may use a strategic ‘Predictive Adaptive Response’ (PAR), whereby they respond – in terms of physiology or life-history strategy – to the conditions experienced in early life to maximise later-life fitness. In particular, the Future Lifespan Expectation (FLE) PAR hypothesis predicts that when poor early-life conditions negatively impact an individual’s physiological state, individuals will accelerate their reproductive schedule to maximise fitness during their shorter predicted lifespan.2.We aimed to measure the impact of early-life conditions and resulting fitness across individual lifetimes to test the predictions of the FLE hypothesis in a wild, long-lived model species. 3.Using a long-term individual-based dataset, we investigated how early-life conditions are linked with subsequent fitness in an isolated population of the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis). How individuals experience early-life environmental conditions may vary greatly, so we also tested whether telomere length – shorter telomers are a biomarker of an individual’s exposure to stress – can provide an effective measure of the individual-specific impact of early-life conditions. Specifically, under the FLE hypothesis, we would expect shorter telomeres to be associated with accelerated reproduction. 4.Contrary to expectations, shorter juvenile telomere length was not associated with poor early-life conditions, but instead with better conditions, probably as a result of faster juvenile growth. Furthermore, neither juvenile telomere length, nor other measures of early-life conditions, were associated with age of first reproduction or the rate of early-life reproduction in either sex. These results do not support the key prediction of the Future Lifetime Expectation PAR hypothesis. 5.We found no support for the FLE hypothesis. However, at least for males, poor early-life body conditions were associated with lower first year survival and reduced longevity, indicating that poor early-life conditions pose subsequent fitness constraints. Our results also showed that using juvenile telomere length as a measure of early-life conditions requires caution, as it is likely to not only reflect environmental stress but also other processes such as growth.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 404-404
Author(s):  
Joseph Kim ◽  
Kyuree Kim

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify the profiles of older adults according to lifestyle. Data for the study were from the 2017 Consumption and Activities Mail Survey (CAMS). CAMS 2017 is a questionnaire mailed to a sub-sample of respondents from the Health and Retirement Study. Participants were limited to older adults 65 and older, and the final sample consisted of 1136 older adults. The sample included 443 men and 693 women. Caucasians comprised 82.0% of the participants. Lifestyle was measured through items assessing the amount of time spent on activities. Due to high skewness, the items were dichotomized, 0=no time spent on activity and 1=time spent on the activity. Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed to identify groups based on lifestyle. LCA is a person-centered approach for identifying unobserved subgroups based on similarity in responses to items. Three lifestyle groups were identified. Group 1 was “Outgoing” with 471 individuals. Group 2 was “Adequate” with 229 individuals. Group 3 was “Inactive” with 436 individuals. An ANOVA was then conducted to assess mean differences in self-rated health, cognition, depressive symptoms, and loneliness for the three lifestyle groups. The “Outgoing” and “Adequate” groups had significantly higher scores on self-rated health and cognition, and in addition, significantly lower scores on depressive symptoms and loneliness compared to the “Inactive” group. No significant differences were observed between the “Outgoing” and “Adequate” groups. An implication from this study is the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle in later life for better mental health and cognition.


2020 ◽  
pp. 089826432097523
Author(s):  
Stephanie Ureña ◽  
Miles G. Taylor ◽  
Dawn C. Carr

Objectives: We examine the impact of exposure to the dead, dying, and wounded (DDW) during military service on the later-life depressive symptom trajectories of male United States veterans, using psychological resilience as an internal resource that potentially moderates negative consequences. Methods: The Health and Retirement Study (2006–2014) and linked Veteran Mail Survey were used to estimate latent growth curve models of depressive symptom trajectories, beginning at respondents’ first report of resilience. Results: Veterans with higher levels of resilience do not have increased depressive symptoms in later life, despite previous exposure to DDW. Those with lower levels of resilience and previous exposure to DDW experience poorer mental health in later life. Discussion: Psychological resilience is important for later-life mental health, particularly for veterans who endured potentially traumatic experiences. We discuss the importance acknowledging the role individual resources play in shaping adaptation to adverse life events and implications for mental health service needs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 480-481
Author(s):  
Eva Kahana ◽  
Tirth Bhatta ◽  
Boaz Kahana ◽  
Nirmala Lekhak

Abstract Existing scholarship in social gerontology has surprisingly paid little attention to broader loving emotions, such as compassionate and altruistic love, as potentially meaningful mechanisms for improving later life psychological well-being. This study examined the influence of feeling love toward other persons and experiencing love from others on later life psychological well-being. We conducted a 3-wave longitudinal study of a representative sample of 340 ethnically heterogeneous community dwelling older residents of Miami, Florida. The increase in feeling of being loved (β=-1.53, p<0.001) and love for others (β=-1.43, p<0.001) led to decline in odds of reporting greater level of depressive symptoms over time. The odds of reporting higher level of positive affect were significantly greater for older adults who reported feeling loved by others (β=1.16, p<0.001) and expressed love for other people (β=1.18, p<0.01). Older adults who felt loved had 0.92-point lower ordered log odds of reporting higher negative affect than those who reported lower level of love. The impact of compassionate love on depressive symptoms and negative affect remained statistically significant even after adjustment for altruistic attitudes and emotional support. The influence of loving emotions on positive affect was, however, explained by altruistic attitudes and emotional support. Our findings underscore the powerful influence of both receiving and giving love for the maintenance of later life psychological well-being. We offer support for the expectation that love is a significant force in the lives of older adults that transcends intimate relationships.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 835
Author(s):  
Manoja P. Herath ◽  
Jeffrey M. Beckett ◽  
Andrew P. Hills ◽  
Nuala M. Byrne ◽  
Kiran D. K. Ahuja

Exposure to untreated gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in utero increases the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes in adulthood, and increased adiposity in GDM-exposed infants is suggested as a plausible mediator of this increased risk of later-life metabolic disorders. Evidence is equivocal regarding the impact of good glycaemic control in GDM mothers on infant adiposity at birth. We systematically reviewed studies reporting fat mass (FM), percent fat mass (%FM) and skinfold thicknesses (SFT) at birth in infants of mothers with GDM controlled with therapeutic interventions (IGDMtr). While treating GDM lowered FM in newborns compared to no treatment, there was no difference in FM and SFT according to the type of treatment (insulin, metformin, glyburide). IGDMtr had higher overall adiposity (mean difference, 95% confidence interval) measured with FM (68.46 g, 29.91 to 107.01) and %FM (1.98%, 0.54 to 3.42) but similar subcutaneous adiposity measured with SFT, compared to infants exposed to normal glucose tolerance (INGT). This suggests that IGDMtr may be characterised by excess fat accrual in internal adipose tissue. Given that intra-abdominal adiposity is a major risk factor for metabolic disorders, future studies should distinguish adipose tissue distribution of IGDMtr and INGT.


1934 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-249

Ernest William Hobson, who was born at Derby on October 27, 1856, and died rather suddenly, after a short illness, on April 19, 1933, had been for many years one of the first of English mathematicians. Although he lived to be 76, he was active almost up to his death; his last book (and perhaps in some ways his best) was published when he was 74. He was a singular exception to the general rule that good mathematicians do their best work when they are young. Hobson was the son of William Hobson, who was editor and part proprietor of the Derbyshire Advertiser and was prominent in municipal affairs. He was the eldest of a family of six, J. A. Hobson, the wellknown economist, being one of his brothers. His early education was at Derby School. Derby had a mathematical master* of more than usual ability, and Hobson’s mathematical talents were very soon, noticed and encouraged. At 13 he had his first opportunity of distinguishing himself in competition, and was first in all England in the old “ Junior Local ” . It is interesting to observe that he also attained u distinction ” in French, music, and natural science ; such lists usually show nothing but general ability, but in Hobson’s case the subjects represented interests which survived. He was a good linguist (though German was his language in later life rather than French); was definitely musical; and, as he showed in his Gifford lectures, had an exceptional all-round knowledge of science.


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