scholarly journals TRAIT AND STATE SUBJECTIVE AGING INTERACT TO PREDICT DAILY CONTROL BELIEFS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S52-S52
Author(s):  
Shenghao Zhang ◽  
Shevaun D Neupert

Abstract We examine trait and state subjective aging as antecedents of control beliefs in older adults with a daily diary design. Adults (n=116) ranging in age from 60 to 90 (M=64.71) completed a nine-day daily diary study online. Participants reported trait aging attitudes (Attitudes Towards Own Aging; ATOA) on Day 1 and daily Awareness of Age-Related Change (AARC) of loss and gain experiences and control beliefs (Locus of Control and Perceived Competence) on Days 2-9. Controlling for demographics and known antecedents of control beliefs (health, stressors, emotional well-being, and cognition), daily increases in AARC gain were associated with increases in both Locus of Control and Perceived Competence, and a cross-level interaction revealed that Locus of Control decreased for those with more positive ATOA on days when they reported more AARC losses. Discussion will focus on interpreting the interaction between trait and state subjective aging.

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (5) ◽  
pp. e1-e12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shenghao Zhang ◽  
Alyssa A Gamaldo ◽  
Shevaun D Neupert ◽  
Jason C Allaire

Abstract Objectives The present study examined potential sources of intra- and inter-individual differences in older adults’ control beliefs using a micro-longitudinal design. Method Older adults (n = 205) ranging in age from 60 to 94 (M = 72.70, SD = 6.72) completed 8 in-person testing sessions within 3 weeks which included assessments of control beliefs (Locus of Control and Perceived Competence), physical health (physical symptoms and sleep self-efficacy), stressors, emotional well-being (Positive Affect and Negative Affect), and cognition (basic cognition tests, everyday cognition, and memory failures). Results Multilevel models indicated that on days when older adults had higher sleep self-efficacy, more positive affect, and less negative affect, they also had more internal locus of control and higher perceived competence. Having stressors on the previous occasion was associated with lower internal locus of control on the subsequent occasion. Physical symptoms, everyday cognition, and memory failures could be predictive of locus of control for some older adults. Discussion Our findings showed the differentiated antecedents of locus of control and perceived competence, the unique role of sleep self-efficacy, positive affect, and negative affect in understanding antecedents of both, as well as the need to study well-being and cognition antecedents of control beliefs in future studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 448-448
Author(s):  
Shenghao Zhang ◽  
Shevaun Neupert

Abstract Objective: Control beliefs are bidirectionally related to physical and cognitive health, but it is unclear how health influences control beliefs. Health-related experiences (physical symptoms and memory failures) on a particular day can make older adults more aware of their aging, and may subsequently lead to lower control beliefs. We propose that awareness of aging constructs (subjective age and awareness of age-related change [AARC]) could function as mediating mechanisms between health and control beliefs, and examine this relationship from both between- and within-person perspectives separately for domain-general and domain-specific control beliefs. Methods: Older adults (n=116) ranging in age from 60 to 90 (M=64.71) completed a nine-day daily diary study online, resulting in 743 total days. Participants reported their physical symptoms, memory failures, felt age, daily AARC gain and loss experiences, and control beliefs on Days 2-9. Results: Multilevel mediation results showed that between-person AARC losses mediated the relationship between physical symptoms and both domain-general and domain-specific control over physical symptoms. Between-person AARC losses also mediated the relationship between memory failures and both domain-general and domain-specific control over memory. AARC gains and subjective age did not mediate the relationship between health and control beliefs. Discussion: Our findings suggest that between-person differences in AARC losses function as underlying mechanisms linking health and control beliefs. Efforts to reduce AARC losses may lessen the negative impact of health problems on control beliefs for older adults.


Author(s):  
Shenghao Zhang ◽  
Shevaun D Neupert

Abstract Objective Control beliefs are bidirectionally related to physical and cognitive health, and control beliefs are associated with awareness of aging (subjective age and awareness of age-related change [AARC]), but it is unclear how these processes unfold within persons over time. We examine these relationships from both between- and within-person perspectives. Methods: Older adults (n = 116) ranging in age from 60 to 90 (M = 64.71) completed a 9-day daily diary study online, resulting in 743 total days. Participants reported their sociodemographic characteristics on Day 1 and physical symptoms, memory failures, felt age, daily AARC gain and loss experiences, and control beliefs on Days 2–9. Results Within-person deviations from one’s typical awareness of aging (AARC losses, AARC gains, and subjective age) were associated with fluctuations in control beliefs. Multilevel mediation results showed that between-person AARC losses mediated the relationship between health (both physical symptoms and memory failures) and control beliefs, whereas both within- and between-person control beliefs mediated the relationship between physical health and AARC losses. Model fit comparisons showed that models with control beliefs mediating health and awareness of aging fit better than models with awareness of aging mediating health and control beliefs. Discussion Our findings suggest that within-person physical and cognitive health indicators were associated with awareness of aging indirectly through control beliefs. Although between-person differences in AARC losses may link health and control beliefs, our results suggest that a more consistent pattern involves control beliefs linking health and awareness of aging.


2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1819-1830
Author(s):  
Eric S Cerino ◽  
Robert S Stawski ◽  
G John Geldhof ◽  
Stuart W S MacDonald

Abstract Objective Control beliefs are established correlates of cognitive aging. Despite recent demonstrations that response time inconsistency (RTI) represents a proxy for cognitive processing efficiency, few investigations have explored links between RTI and psychosocial correlates. We examined associations among RTI and control beliefs (perceived competence and locus of control) for two choice-response time (RT) tasks varying in their attentional demands. Method Control beliefs and RTI were measured weekly for 5 weeks in a sample of 304 community-dwelling older adults (Mage = 74.11 years, SD = 6.05, range = 64–92, 68.58% female). Results Multilevel models revealed that for the attentionally demanding task, reporting higher perceived competence than usual was associated with lower RTI for relatively younger participants and greater RTI for relatively older participants. For the less attentionally demanding task, reporting higher perceived competence than usual was associated with lower RTI for relatively older participants. Links between locus of control and RTI were comparatively scant. Discussion Our findings suggest that control beliefs may have adaptive and maladaptive influences on RTI, depending on dimension of control beliefs, individual differences in level of control beliefs and age, as well as attentional task demands. Both for whom and when control beliefs can be leveraged to optimize cognitive aging are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas B. Neubauer ◽  
Veronika Lerche ◽  
Friederike Köhler ◽  
andreas voss

We compared two approaches towards assessing inter-individual differences in the effect of satisfaction and frustration of basic needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) on well-being: perceived need effects (beliefs about the effect of need fulfillment on one’s well-being) and experienced need effects (the within-person coupling of need fulfillment and well-being). In two studies (total N=1,281), participants reported perceived need effects in a multidimensional way. In Study 2, daily need fulfillment and affective well-being were additionally assessed (daily-diary study; ten days). Associations between perceived and experienced need effects were significant (albeit small) for all three frustration dimensions, but only for one satisfaction dimension (relatedness), suggesting that they capture different constructs and might be related to different outcomes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 986-1007
Author(s):  
Erica L. O’Brien ◽  
Neika Sharifian

The degree to which social support (SS) moderates the effects of stress on self-perceptions of aging may depend on individual differences in general aging attitudes. We examined how stress, different types of SS, and general expectations regarding aging (ERA) affect awareness of age-related changes (AARCs). The sample included 137 adults (21–76 years; 56.2% women) who took an online survey on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Regression analyses showed differential moderation of stress effects due to ERA and the SS measure (perceived and received) and function (emotional and instrumental). Received emotional SS was only associated with AARC losses, whereas perceived support—both emotional and instrumental—was associated with AARC gains and losses. Findings may help guide future work aimed at promoting health and well-being in adulthood.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariela F. Pagani ◽  
Miriam Parise ◽  
Silvia Donato ◽  
Shelly L. Gable ◽  
Dominik Schoebi

The way in which individuals react to a partner’s disclosure of positive news (capitalization response) is associated with relational well-being. Two studies analyzed the role of couple identity in explaining the association between perceived capitalization responses and relationship quality. A daily diary study ( n = 90 couples) revealed that on days people perceived their partners’ responses as active-constructive, they reported higher levels of couple identity. A longitudinal two-wave study ( n = 169 couples) showed that couple identity mediated the link between active-constructive (for both women and men) and passive-destructive responses (only for men) and relationship quality. Overall, our findings suggest that the experience of the partner’s involvement and support in good times contribute to a sense of couple identity, which over the long turn, is associated with partners’ relational well-being.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S813-S813
Author(s):  
Eric S Kim ◽  
Anthony Ong

Abstract As populations age, identifying factors that foster the maintenance of health is crucial for improving the health and well-being of older adults. Yet, most psychological, biomedical, and public health efforts have focused on reducing harmful risk factors. While the risk management approach has contributed greatly to prevention and treatment programs, our aging society continues to grapple with the steadily rising tide of chronic conditions. Expanding the focus to include upstream, health-promoting psychosocial assets may help inform a more comprehensive response effort. Mounting research suggests that different dimensions of psychological well-being are uniquely associated with reduced risk of chronic conditions. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations remain understudied. This symposium presents 4 studies evaluating potential mechanisms. The first talk presents research evaluating how a spouse’s level of optimism may be uniquely associated with an individual’s cognitive health over time (above and beyond that own individual’s level of optimism). A second talk, draws upon a multi-burst daily diary study and focuses on affective stress response as a potentially modifiable target that could explain the health benefits of optimism. A third talk evaluates how baseline levels purpose in life might be associated with repeated measures of five key health behaviors over time. A fourth talk discusses results from a longitudinal-burst daily diary study determining the reciprocal relationships among optimism, pain interference, and goal-directed activity among older women who experience pain. Overall, these studies add to the growing research on psychological well-being and physical health by providing evidence around potential biobehavioral pathways.


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