scholarly journals THE MANIFESTATION OF MULTI-LEVEL STIGMA IN THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF TRANSGENDER OLDER ADULTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S743-S743
Author(s):  
Vanessa Fabbre ◽  
Eleni Gaveras
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Multiple Levels

Abstract Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) older adults experience disparities in mental health outcomes when compared to non-TGNC sexual minority older adults. Stigmatizing experiences are thought to influence these outcomes, but little is known about this process. Recent conceptualizations of stigma draw attention to multiple levels – individual, interpersonal, and structural – experienced by TGNC people of all ages. To explore how multi-level stigma manifests in the lives of TGNC older adults, we conducted a two-phase qualitative content analysis of in-depth biographical interviews with 88 TGNC adults aged 50 and older, from across the United States. Data were obtained from the photography and interview project To Survive on This Shore. Our interpretive analyses suggest that TGNC older adults’ development and well-being are impacted by multiple levels of stigma, which are dynamic and unpredictable, resulting in constant awareness of a changing social environment. Individual level stigma is experienced as ongoing vigilance about aspects of oneself that break gender norms, which is also marked by self-imposed social isolation and fears about accessing older adult services. At the interpersonal level, TGNC older adults navigate unpredictable interpersonal relationships, which manifest as fluctuating levels of love, acceptance, strain, and exclusion. Structural stigma manifests in the awareness of stigmatizing policies and systems but also in the conscious action of TGNC older adults to resist these structures. TGNC older adults promote supportive structural responses to stigma to both improve conditions for younger generations while also reducing experiences of individual and interpersonal stigma for themselves.

scholarly journals Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study of Older Adults Across the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M. Finlay ◽  
Jasdeep S. Kler ◽  
Brendan Q. O'Shea ◽  
Marisa R. Eastman ◽  
Yamani R. Vinson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Sample Mean

Objective: Older adults may struggle with stresses and daily life challenges associated with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Yet they may also utilize emotional and behavioral coping strategies. This qualitative paper aims to identify ways of coping with worries and stress during the pandemic from the perspectives of older adults in the United States.Methods: The COVID-19 Coping Study recruited 6,938 adults aged ≥55 through online multi-frame sampling from April 2-May 31, 2020 across all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The online questionnaire focused on the effects of COVID-19 on daily life, mental health, and well-being. This included an open-ended question regarding participants' coping strategies. We used qualitative content analysis to identify and code diverse coping strategies. Our general inductive approach enabled findings to emerge from the most frequent and dominant themes in the raw data.Results: A total of 5,180 adults [74% of the total sample; mean age 67.3 (SD 7.9); 63.8% female] responded to the question about using strategies to cope with living through the COVID-19 pandemic. Frequently-reported strategies included exercising and going outdoors, modifying routines, following public health guidelines, adjusting attitudes, and staying socially connected. Some coping strategies were health-limiting (e.g., overeating), while most strategies encouraged self-improvement, positive adjustment, and wellness.Conclusions: This study provides novel qualitative evidence on coping strategies of older adults early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings can inform community and clinical interventions to support older adults that harness positive coping strategies such as exercise, modified routines, and social strategies to improve physical and mental health, foster social support, and encourage meaningful daily activities during times of stress and trauma.

Psychosocial Consequences of Body Weight and Obesity

2018 ◽  
pp. 274-286
Author(s):  
Deborah Carr ◽  
Vera K. Tsenkova
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
The Body ◽  
Integrative Health ◽  
Psychosocial Consequences ◽  
Adults And Children

The body weight of U.S. adults and children has risen markedly over the past three decades. The physical health consequences of obesity are widely documented, and emerging research from the Midlife in the United States study and other large-scale surveys reveals the harmful impact of obesity on adults’ psychosocial and interpersonal well-being. This chapter synthesizes recent research on the psychosocial implications of body weight, with attention to explanatory mechanisms and subgroup differences in these patterns. A brief statistical portrait of body weight is provided, documenting rates and correlates of obesity, with a focus on race, gender, and socioeconomic status disparities. The consequences of body weight for three main outcomes are described: institutional and everyday discrimination, interpersonal relationships, and psychological well-being. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the ways that recent integrative health research on the psychosocial consequences of overweight and obesity inform our understanding of population health.

scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 on the well-being and cognition of older adults living in the United States and Latin America

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 100848
Author(s):  
Ganesh M. Babulal ◽  
Valeria L. Torres ◽  
Daisy Acosta ◽  
Cinthya Agüero ◽  
Sara Aguilar-Navarro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Financial Resources and Later-Year Relocation From the Annuitized Assessment of Income and Assets

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 50-50
Author(s):  
Jun-Hong Chen ◽  
Sojung Park
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Living Arrangement ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Behavioral Model ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Factor ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Mortality Table

Abstract Solid evidence has shown financial resources play important roles in housing decisions among older adults. Despite the growing research on the joint assessment of income and assets as valid economic well-being, little attention is paid to its role in relocation in old age. Drawing from the Behavioral Model of Elderly Migration, this study examined to what extent financial resources are associated with the likelihood of moving in later years. The data came from the 2017 Panel Study of Income Dynamic (PSID). A sample of 1354 people, 65 years and older, was used in the analyses. We used the annuitized approach, which is different from conventional approaches that assume people draw down all available assets to satisfy daily needs and leave no assets for use in later years. We (1) assessed annuitized assets based on the 2019 IRS Mortality Table, (2) assessed yearly income using supplementary income (i.e. income plus non-discretionary expense). A final indicator of the summed score was used in a logistic regression to predict the likelihood of moving. A set of covariates known to affect later- year relocation at an individual level (e.g. health condition, living arrangement change), environmental level (e.g. rural, non-metro area) are controlled for. In clear conflict with previous studies, we found annual financial resources did not significantly influence relocation among older adults. The notable absence of the well-known role of the economic factor provides critical initial evidence about the importance of simultaneous assessment of financial resources for the literature on later year relocation.

scholarly journals Food Insecurity in the United States: Identification, Treatment, and Implications

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 772-773
Author(s):  
Rose Ann DiMaria-Ghalili ◽  
Connie Bales ◽  
Julie Locher
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Clinic ◽  
High Risk Population ◽  
Geriatric Syndrome ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Food insecurity is an under-recognized geriatric syndrome that has extensive implications in the overall health and well-being of older adults. Understanding the impact of food insecurity in older adults is a first step in identifying at-risk populations and provides a framework for potential interventions in both hospital and community-based settings. This symposium will provide an overview of current prevalence rates of food insecurity using large population-based datasets. We will present a summary indicator that expands measurement to include the functional and social support limitations (e.g., community disability, social isolation, frailty, and being homebound), which disproportionately impact older adults, and in turn their rate and experience of food insecurity and inadequate food access. We will illustrate using an example of at-risk seniors the association between sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and function, with rates of food security in the United States. The translational aspect of the symposium will then focus on identification of psychosocial and environmental risk factors including food insecurity in older veterans preparing for surgery within the Veterans Affairs Perioperative Optimization of Senior Health clinic. Gaining insights into the importance of food insecurity will lay the foundation for an intervention for food insecurity in the deep south. Our discussant will provide an overview of the implications of these results from a public health standpoint. By highlighting the importance of food insecurity, such data can potentially become a framework to allow policy makers to expand nutritional programs as a line of defense against hunger in this high-risk population.

scholarly journals COVID-19 as a Stressor: Pandemic Expectations, Perceived Stress, and Negative Affect in Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda R Whitehead
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Stress And Coping ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
And Coping

Abstract Objectives The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic is appraised as a stressor influences perceived stress (PS) and psychological well-being during the event. Here, the association of older adults’ expectations concerning the pandemic’s duration and impact with PS and negative affect (NA) is investigated. Based on the stress and coping framework, PS is expected to mediate the association between COVID-19 expectations and NA. Methods Seven hundred fourteen residents of the United States and aged 60 and older completed an anonymous online survey in late March 2020 reporting PS, NA, and expectations regarding the pandemic. Results Regression analyses controlling for demographic factors revealed that more dire pandemic expectations significantly predicted PS and NA directly, and the effects on NA were significantly mediated by PS. Discussion Findings provide evidence that expectations about a pandemic influence the extent to which older adults experience stress and NA in the midst of a pandemic event. Implications for mental health are discussed.

Hard Time

Affilia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel C. Casey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Hard Time ◽  
Personal Accounts

As the number of women incarcerated in the United States continues to rise and their complex needs become more apparent, social workers must fortify their historical commitment to criminal justice reform. However, crafting more effective and compassionate responses to the needs of justice-involved women may very well require a more nuanced understanding of the holistic impact of incarceration on women’s well-being than the current literature offers. Utilizing the framework of feminist standpoint epistemology, the researcher engaged in qualitative content analysis to examine published personal accounts from 43 women to better understand their experiences in prisons and jails in the United States. Two overarching themes emerged from the analysis. First, the personal accounts illustrated that women experience prisons and jails as environments of denial insofar as these carceral environments deny women’s basic needs, their sense of humanity, and their personal power. The second overarching theme pertains to the holistic impact of the carceral environment upon women’s lives, meaning it has expansive effects on women’s biopsychosocial–spiritual functioning. Social workers should dedicate efforts to dramatically reducing the number of women behind bars and engaging in holistic intervention approaches that might counteract the negative effects of incarceration across domains of well-being.

scholarly journals WHETHER INDIVIDUALISM MAKES PEOPLE FROM THE “WEST” HAPPIER AND COLLECTIVISM MAKES PEOPLE FROM THE “EAST” MORE SATISFIED IN LIFE: AN INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL ANALYSIS

2019 ◽  
Vol 128 (6B) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Nguyễn Hữu An ◽  
Lê Duy Mai Phương
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Dimension ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
The West ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Collectivistic Cultures ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Level Of Analysis

Determinants of the variation of happiness have long been discussed in social sciences. Recent studies have focused on investigating cultural factors contributing to the level of individual happiness, in which the cultural dimension of individualism (IND) and collectivism (COL) has been drawing the attention of a large number of scholars. At the cultural level of analysis, happiness is associated with personal achievements as well as personal egoism in individualistic cultures, while it is related to interpersonal relationships in collectivistic cultures. Empirical research yields unconventional results at the individual level of analysis, that is, individuals in collectivistic cultures favor IND to be happy, in contrast, people in individualistic cultures emphasize COL be satisfied in life. Using data from the fifth wave of the World Values Survey (WVS), this study takes the cultural dimension of IND and COL at the individual level of analysis to detect its effects on happiness (conceptualized as subjective well-being – SWB) in the comparison between the two cultures. Multiple linear regression models reveal results that individuals from the “West” experience greater happiness when they expose themselves less individualist, while, individuals from the “East” feel more satisfied and happier in their life when they emphasize more on IND or being more autonomous.

scholarly journals Individual-Level Determinants of Employee Shirking

2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 468-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy A. Judge ◽  
Timothy D. Chandler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Organization Level

Employee shirking, where workers give less than full effort on the job, has typically been investigated as a construct subject to organization-level influences. Neglected are individual differences that could explain why employees in the same organization or work-group might shirk. Using a sample of workers from the health care profession in the United States, the present study sought to address these limitations by investigating subjective well-being (a dispositional construct), job satisfaction, as well as other indiuidual-level determinants of shirking. Results indicate that whites shirk significantly more than nonwhites, and that subjective well-being, job satisfaction, and age have significant, negative effects on shirking. The implications of these results are discussed.

scholarly journals Age Differences in the Relationship Between Daily Social Media Usage and Affect

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 410-410
Author(s):  
Xin Yao Lin ◽  
Margie Lachman
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Negative Affect ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Daily Time

Abstract Social media platforms allow people to connect and share content online (e.g., Facebook, Twitter). Although older adults are becoming more frequent users of social media, there continue to be mixed views on whether social media positively or negatively impacts well-being. Past studies have mainly focused on cross-sectional analyses for individual differences. However, both the time spent on social media and one’s affect can fluctuate on a daily basis. Thus, it is important to understand how the relationship between daily social media usage and affect varies within individuals from day to day. The current study adds to the literature by examining whether daily variations in time spent with social media are related to daily positive and negative affect and whether there are age differences in these relationships. The current study used an eight-day daily diary from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Refresher dataset for 782 participants (ages 25-75). Multilevel modeling results revealed that age moderated the relationship between daily time spent on social media and negative affect: for younger adults, on days when they spent more time on social media, they had more negative affect. For older adults, on days when they spent more time on social media, they had less negative affect. Surprisingly, daily time spent on social media was not related to daily positive affect, nor did this relationship differ by age. Implications for future research are discussed with a focus on how social media usage can contribute to daily well-being for adults of different ages.

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