Awareness Of Age-related Changes Research Articles

Impact of Age Views on Cognition: Experimental, Longitudinal, and Ecological Momentary Findings

Research on the impact of age views on cognition has seen a strong momentum in recent years, fitting the stereotype embodiment theory prediction that the stereotypes taken in from a culture can impact older persons‘ cognition. These studies utilize experimental, longitudinal, and ecological momentary assessments (EMA), as well as a wide reach of cognitive outcomes. This symposium starts with two experimental studies. One demonstrates that negative age stereotypes reduce cognitive processing in older consumers (Gröppel-Klein et al.). A second study strives to better understand the pathway by which age stereotypes influence cognitive outcomes by focusing on dysregulation of reward-seeking behaviors and the downregulation of the dopaminergic system (Robertson et al.). We next explore two longitudinal studies that reveal differential relations among views of aging and various cognitive indicators. The first study found that older persons with more positive age beliefs are less likely to develop dementia even in a high-risk gene subpopulation of older adults (Levy et al.). The second study examined the association between awareness of age-related changes and cognitive scores (Sabatini et al.) Finally, Lücke et al. examine in their EMA study with 6 measurement occasions per day across 7 days that such a fine-tuned seems not to clearly support a linkage among subjective age and working memory for which beginning but not consistent evidence has been reported previously. Brad Meisner will discuss contributions in the light of meta-analytic finding revealing that older persons‘ negative age stereotypes can impair whereas their positive age stereotypes can improve cognitive performance.

Awareness of Age-Related Change, Future Time Perspective, and Implications for Goal Management in Older Adulthood

How people manage their goals is central to adaptation across the lifespan. However, little is known about the individual difference characteristics that predict how and why people use different self-regulatory strategies. The present study aimed to investigate associations of perceived age-related gains and losses, and their interaction, as predictors of flexibility in goal management in older adulthood. We also examined whether future time perspective (FTP) mediated the relationship between AARC and goal flexibility, such that awareness of aging impacts perceptions of time remaining, impacting how individuals evaluate and manage their goals. A community-based sample of 408 adults aged between 60 and 88 years was recruited via an internet-based research platform. Participants completed questionnaire measures of AARC-gains, AARC-losses, FTP, goal disengagement, and goal re-engagement. A flexibility index reflecting tendencies toward use of both goal disengagement and re-engagement strategies was also analyzed. Although AARC-losses was associated with lower goal re-engagement and goal flexibility, this association was weaker among those with higher AARC-gains, indicating that AARC-gains may be protective in the relationship between AARC-losses and goal management. Furthermore, the association between AARC and goal management was mediated by FTP. Higher AARC-gains were associated with more open-ended FTP, which was associated with higher goal re-engagement and lower goal disengagement. On the other hand, higher AARC-losses was associated with more restricted FTP, which was associated with lower goal re-engagement, and higher goal disengagement. Results suggest that subjective awareness of aging (particularly awareness of gains), has important implications for goal management in older adulthood.

Within- and Between-Person Relationships Among Health, Awareness of Aging, and Control Beliefs: A Microlongitudinal Study.

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. 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. 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.

The Effects of Age Stereotypes on Physical and Mental Health Are Mediated by Self-perceptions of Aging.

Although the evidence linking views on aging (VoA) with aging outcomes is robust, little is known about how different types of VoA may interact to influence such outcomes. Therefore, this study examined two types of VoA, age stereotypes (AS), representing general VoA, and self-perceptions of aging (SPA), representing personal VoA. We operationalized SPA in terms of awareness of age-related change (AARC), distinguishing between gain- and loss-related SPA (e.g., awareness of positive and negative age-related changes, respectively). Based on theoretical reasoning, we hypothesized that AS would be an antecedent of SPA, and that the effect of AS on physical and mental health would be mediated by SPA. A total of 819 German and U.S. adults aged 40-98 completed a survey on VoA, physical health, and mental health at baseline and 2.5 years later. Structural equation modeling with latent variables was used to examine the effects of Time 1 AS (predictor) and Time 2 gain- and loss-related SPA (mediators) on physical and mental health outcomes. As hypothesized, AS predicted later SPA. Loss-related SPA mediated the effect of AS on physical health; both gain- and loss-related SPA mediated the effect of AS on mental health. Congruent with theoretical assumptions, our findings provide empirical support for a directional pathway by which AS shape later SPA. We conclude that AS and SPA may affect physical health outcomes more strongly than mental health outcomes. Studies that assess both types of VoA are needed to illuminate the pathways by which VoA influence aging outcomes.

The cross-sectional relationship between pain and awareness of age-related changes.

Background:Awareness of positive and negative age-related changes (AARC gains and losses) captures the perceived changes that older individuals experience in several domains of their lives including physical, cognitive and social functioning; interpersonal relationships; and lifestyle. Exploring antecedents of AARC is important to identify those individuals that could benefit the most from interventions promoting positive experiences of ageing and/or adaptation to age-related changes. This study investigates the experience of pain as a predictor of lower AARC gains and higher AARC losses.Methods:Analyses are based on cross-sectional data from the PROTECT cohort (2019); 1013 UK residents (mean (SD; range) age: 65.3 (7.1; 51.4–92) years, 84.4% women) completed measures of AARC and pain and provided demographic information. Linear regression models were fitted to examine pain as a predictor of AARC gains and AARC losses.Results:Higher levels of pain predicted more AARC losses both before (regression coefficient, B = 0.36; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.29 to 0.42, p-value < 0.001; R2 = 0.11) and after adjusting for demographic covariates (B = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.27 to 0.40; p-value < 0.001; Partial R2 = 0.11). Pain was not significantly associated with AARC gains (unadjusted B = 0.05; 95% CI: −0.03 to 0.12, p-value = 0.21; Partial R2 = 0.01).Conclusion:Individuals experiencing pain may perceive more AARC losses. Interventions aiming to decrease levels of pain could include a component targeting self-perceptions of ageing and/or promoting acceptance of the negative changes that can happen with ageing.Statement of significance:The predictive role of greater levels of pain for more negative perceptions of age-related changes extends the literature on the negative psychological outcomes of pain and on predictors of perceived awareness of age-related changes (AARC). As individuals experiencing pain may be more at risk of perceiving their own ageing in a more negative way, they may benefit from interventions that combine strategies to reduce levels of pain and the interference that pain exerts on their daily activities with an educational component enhancing positive self-perceptions of ageing and promoting acceptance of negative age-related changes.

International relevance of two measures of awareness of age-related change (AARC)

BackgroundA questionnaire assessing awareness of positive and negative age-related changes (AARC gains and losses) was developed in the US and Germany. We validated the short form of the measure (AARC-10 SF) and the cognitive functioning subscale from the 50-item version of the AARC (AARC-50) questionnaire in the UK population aged 50 and over.MethodsData from 9410 participants (Mean (SD) age = 65.9 (7.1)) in the PROTECT cohort were used to explore and confirm the psychometric properties of the AARC measures including: validity of the factor structure; reliability; measurement invariance across men and women, individuals with and without a university degree, and in middle age, early old age, and advanced old age; and convergent validity with measures of self-perception of aging and mental, physical, and cognitive health. We explored the relationship between demographic variables (age, sex, marital status, employment, and university education) and AARC.ResultsWe confirmed the two-factor structure (gains and losses) of the AARC-10 SF and the AARC-50 cognitive functioning subscale. Both scales showed good reliability and good convergent validity for AARC losses, but weak convergent validity for AARC gains. For both scales metric invariance was held for the two subgroups defined by education level and age. For the AARC-50 subscale, but not for the AARC-10 SF, strong invariance was also held for the two subgroups defined by sex. Age, sex, marital status, employment, and university education predicted AARC gains and losses.ConclusionsThe AARC-10 SF and AARC-50 cognitive functioning subscale identify UK individuals who perceive age-related changes in their mental, physical, and cognitive health.

Ultra-High-Resolution in vitro MRI Study of Age-Related Brain Subcortical Susceptibility Alteration in Rhesus Monkeys at 9.4 T.

Iron concentration in the brain has been suggested as a biomarker of pathologic neurodegeneration. However, the iron concentration changes in healthy aging as well. This study aimed to quantify the age-related changes in iron concentration in the gray matter of healthy rhesus monkeys using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM). Three-dimensional gradient-echo images of 16 female rhesus monkey brains aged between 2 and 26 years were acquired in vitro. The susceptibilities in the brain regions of the caudate nucleus (Cd), putamen (Pt), globus pallidus (Gp), and substantia nigra (Sn) were analyzed. The susceptibility varied across different brain regions, with higher levels in the Gp and Sn. Susceptibilities in all analyzed brain regions were linearly correlated with age, yet the plateau period as observed in human brains was absent. This is the first in vitro report of the age-related variability of susceptibility in the deep gray matter of rhesus monkey brains at 9.4 T, with an isotropic resolution of 150 μm. Awareness of age-related changes in susceptibility is vital for the establishment of a baseline to facilitate the differentiation of pathologic neurodegeneration from healthy aging in non-human primate studies.

Measuring (Non)Essentialist Beliefs About the Process of Aging.

We validated an aging mindset measure that captures beliefs about the process of aging. Specifically, we introduce a brief 4-item and an extended 10-item measure assessing (non)essentialist beliefs about aging. We report findings from one longitudinal and one cross-cultural study, including young, middle-aged, and older adults between 18 and 88 years. The studies established (retest) reliability and measurement invariance as well as convergent and discriminant validity of the measures. First, in a longitudinal study (N = 124, 50-84 years) including 4 measurement occasions, we showed that the 4-item scale assessing (non)essentialist beliefs about aging has good retest reliability and convergent as well as discriminant validity (e.g., awareness of age-related change). Second, in a large cross-cultural sample (N = 1,080, 18-82 years) of participants in the United States and Germany, we established an extended 10-item measure of (non)essentialist beliefs about aging, providing support for a 2-factor structure as well as measurement invariance across samples within and across countries (the United States and Germany), age groups (young, middle-aged, and older adults), as well as across men and women. Our results highlight the importance of distinguishing between fixed versus malleable aging beliefs in research on aging and life-span development.

DIFFERENCES OF THE HEALTH- RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE SENIOR CITIZENS

The aim of the study was to examine the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the elderly in Poland. Researcher investigated if differences between gender groups were influenced by other variables such as period of ageing („young-old” vr „old-old”) and place of residence (big city, small town, village). The study sample comprised 2565 elderly who were at least 60 years of age. The average age for men was 72,76 and for women 72,39. The health-related quality of life was evaluated using the Polish adaptation WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Respondents rated both quality of life and general health well. Nevertheless the health-related quality of life domains’ rating decreases with age. Women are commonly less satisfied with the WHOQOL-BREF domains. Men living in little towns declared not only a high level of quality of life, but their estimates in the early and late old age are similar. The diversity of health-related quality of life needs further investigation along with a number of more subjective indicators of individual experiencing one’s old age (e.g. sense of one’s time of life or the awareness of age-related changes).

Mock jurors’ awareness of age-related changes in memory and cognitive capacity

While age-related changes in memory have been well documented, findings about jurors’ perceptions of older witnesses are conflicting. We investigated the effect of victim age (25 vs. 75 years old) and crime severity (victim injured vs. not injured) on mock jurors’ decisions in a robbery trial. Jury-eligible participants (120 women; 84 men) read a mock trial summary and delivered their verdicts online. Mock jurors believed the young victim more than the older victim when the crime was severe, while no age differences emerged for the less severe crime. Whereas previous research demonstrated that juror characteristics were generally associated with culpability, we demonstrated that with case-specific information, these general views became less important. In all, mock jurors were aware of age-related decline in memory provided by eyewitnesses only to a limited extent. Accordingly, in trials involving older witnesses, jurors will benefit from educative information about age-related memory changes.

META-ANALYSIS OF AARC AND EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL WELL-BEING

Associations of awareness of age-related change (AARC) with emotional and physical well-being and cognitive functioning were synthesised in a systematic review with a correlational random-effects meta-analysis. Twelve studies were included in the review, nine exploring the association between AARC and emotional well-being and eleven exploring the association between AARC and physical well-being. No study explored the association between AARC and cognition. There is evidence of weak associations between higher level of AARC gains and better emotional well-being and between higher level of AARC losses and both poorer emotional well-being and poorer physical well-being. There was no association between AARC gains and physical well-being. There is some indication that AARC gains and losses can play a role in emotional well-being and that AARC losses are associated with physical well-being but these associations are weak. Due to the limited number of studies and their high heterogeneity, interpretation of these results remains unclear.

TRAIT AND STATE SUBJECTIVE AGING INTERACT TO PREDICT DAILY CONTROL BELIEFS

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.

EXAMINING THE DETERMINANTS AND OUTCOMES OF SUBJECTIVE AGING

Given a growing body of evidence for the developmental relevance of the perceived experience of aging and for the presence of interindividual variability in the way people experience aging, this symposium examines the determinants and outcomes of various subjective aging constructs. This session will explore the role of various psychological variables in explaining variability in subjective aging experiences. Consequences of various subjective aging concepts on cognitive functioning, emotional and physical well-being will also be discussed. The first two presentations examine Attitudes Toward Own Aging (ATOA). Kornadt, Siebert and Wahl will address the developmental co-dynamics of personality and ATOA across the second half of life. Siebert and Wahl will examine the associations of ATOA with subjective and objective cognitive functioning. The last two presentations focus on awareness of age-related change (AARC). Sabatini, Silarova, Collins, Martyr, Ballard, Anstey, Kim & Clare will present findings from a systematic-review and meta-analysis synthesizing and quantifying associations of awareness of age-related change (AARC) with emotional and physical well-being and cognitive functioning. Finally, Rothermund and de Paula Couto will show how both the experience of positive and/or negative changes (gains and losses) and the presence of positive and/or negative age stereotypes predict individual’s attributions of change to age. This last presentation will also examine how together the presence of change and attribution of change to age predict developmental outcomes. The symposium will conclude with summarizing remarks from the discussant who suggests possible directions for future research on determinants and outcomes of perceived experience of aging.

AGE-RELATED ATTRIBUTIONS OF CHANGE: DETERMINANTS AND CONSEQUENCES

Diehl and colleagues recently introduced the concept of “Awareness of Age-related Change” (AARC; Diehl & Wahl, 2010), emphasizing the need to investigate the subjective experience of one’s own aging. In the Aging-as-Future project (n=1,300 participants, age range 35-85), we separately assessed the experience of changes and attributions of these changes to age. Attributions of changes were driven by a correspondence between the direction of change (gain vs. loss) and negative vs. positive age stereotypes. Importantly, our data also support the assumption that changes interact with age-related attributions in predicting life satisfaction. Specifically, age-related attributions were shown to exacerbate negative effects of losses on well-being.

KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES: SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AND SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTIONS OF AGING

Money may not buy happiness, but can it buy a more positive outlook on aging? Past research examining the associations between indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) and subjective perceptions of aging have been mixed with some finding greater socio-economic resources predict more positive aging perceptions, whereas others find no connection. We examine objective (i.e., income and education) and subjective social status (i.e., MacAurthur ladder) and their connections to subjective age, attitudes towards aging, and awareness of age-related changes using hierarchical multiple regression analyzes. Participants (n =296, age range 60-90) completed survey measures online. Results indicate minimal connection between income, education, and aging perceptions. However, perceiving oneself to be higher in social standing compared to one’s community was consistently related to more favorable perceptions of aging. Higher community standing may indicate favorable development, fewer stressors, or more resources compared to others, which could contribute to more positive perceptions of aging.

BEING RESPECTED AND ADMIRED IN OLD AGE: DYNAMICS OF SOCIAL STATUS AND AGING

Social status - the standing of a person or group in the social hierarchy - is part and parcel of social life and a significant determinant of cognition and behavior. Status hierarchies are basis of virtually all human and primate societies and assign different roles and privileges to its members. However, the dynamic nature of social status and the underlying mechanisms in old age are not well understood. Therefore, this symposium addresses questions of how social status is influenced by aging-related changes in roles, life events, self-concept, and images of aging and how social status shapes in response personality, subjective age, prosocial behavior, performance, and well-being in old age. Bellingtier and colleagues examined objective and subjective social status and their connections to subjective age, attitudes towards aging, and awareness of age-related changes. Zhang shows paradoxical association between aging stereotypes and prosocial behaviors toward older adults. Barber and Hamel investigated how stereotypes of reduced physical competence in old age affect the gait performance on easy and difficult tasks. Weiss and colleagues take a cross-cultural perspective on the different sources of social status in China, Germany, and the US showing that generations in contrast to age groups represent a source of high social status in later life. Finally, Kornadt investigates the dynamic interplay of changes in social roles and personality in old age. Together, these presentations enlarge our understanding of the dynamics of social status in old age.

Managing expectations: How stress, social support, and aging attitudes affect awareness of age-related changes.

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.

Associations of Awareness of Age-Related Change With Emotional and Physical Well-being: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background and ObjectivesThis systematic review aimed to synthesize and quantify the associations of awareness of age-related change (AARC) with emotional well-being, physical well-being, and cognitive functioning.Research Design and MethodsWe conducted a systematic review with a correlational random effects meta-analysis. We included quantitative studies, published from January 1, 2009 to October 3, 2018, exploring associations between AARC and one or more of the following outcomes: emotional well-being, physical well-being, and cognitive functioning. We assessed heterogeneity (I2) and publication bias.ResultsWe included 12 studies in the review, 9 exploring the association between AARC and emotional well-being and 11 exploring the association between AARC and physical well-being. No study explored the association between AARC and cognitive functioning. Six articles were included in the meta-analysis. We found a moderate association between a higher level of AARC gains and better emotional well-being (r = .33; 95% CI 0.18, 0.47; p <.001; I2 = 76.01) and between a higher level of AARC losses and poorer emotional (r = −.31; 95% CI −0.38, −0.24; p < .001; I2 = 0.00) and physical well-being (r = −.38; 95% CI −0.51, −0.24; p < .001; I2 = 83.48). We found a negligible association between AARC gains and physical well-being (r = .08; 95% CI 0.02, 0.14; p < .122; I2 = 0.00). Studies were of medium to high methodological quality.Discussion and ImplicationsThere is some indication that AARC gains and losses can play a role in emotional well-being and that AARC losses are associated with physical well-being. However, the number of included studies is limited and there was some indication of heterogeneity.PROSPERO RegistrationCRD42018111472.

The Role of Personality in Becoming Aware of Age-Related Changes.

Awareness of age-related change (AARC) refers to an individual's conscious knowledge about the gains and losses resulting from growing older. Personality traits reflect dispositional patterns of behavior, perception, and evaluation and should therefore influence the experience of AARC. The 4.5-year longitudinal study examines this association between personality traits and AARC in a sample of 423 individuals aged 40 to 98 years (M = 62.9 years) using latent change analyses. After controlling for sex, health, and education, a different pattern of associations for cross-sectional vs. longitudinal relations. Cross-sectionally, neuroticism was positively related to AARC losses, whereas openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism were positively related to AARC gains. Longitudinally, the impact of personality traits on change in AARC was rather limited with only higher conscientiousness acting as a predictor of decreases in AARC losses over time. Overall, the findings add to the existing literature on associations between personality traits and subjective aging. Specifically, the results indicate that personality traits are differentially related to awareness of age-related gains in comparison to awareness of age-related losses.

Investigation of intraoperativedosing patterns of neuromuscular blocking agents.

There is a growing body of literature documenting the use of deep neuromuscular block (NMB) during surgery. Traditional definitions of depth of NMB rely on train-of-four assessment, which can be less reliable in retrospective studies. The goal of our study wasto investigate the real-world practice pattern of dosing of neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBA), utilizing the amount of NMBA used during the course of a case, adjusted for patient weight and case duration, as a surrogate measure of depth of NMB. We also aimed to identify case factors associated with larger NMBA doses. In this retrospective observational analysis of our anesthesia information management system, we analyzed all general endotracheal anesthesia cases from 2012 to 2015 in which an intermediate-acting NMBA was used. Cases using a long-acting NMBA or only succinylcholine were excluded. The expected duration of the case was calculated based on the cumulative dose of NMB used, normalized to the patient's ideal body weight and the ED95 of the drug. If the expected duration of the case was greater than the actual case duration documented in the case record, it was classified as higher dosing (HD). If the expected duration was equal to or less than the actual duration, it was considered predicted dosing (PD). Categorical comparisons between HD and PD groups were made for various patient, procedural, and provider factors. 72,684 cases were included in the final analysis, of which 46,358, or 64% of cases, used HD. Cases with patients who were morbidly obese, younger than 65years, and who werelower ASA Physical Status classification (I or II) used more HD as opposed to PD. Cases that were non-open, used total intravenous anesthesia, emergent cases, or usednon-rapid sequence anesthesiainduction had higher rates of HD than their matched counterparts. All results were statistically significant. HD was more common in cases that documented train-of-four and used the reversal agent neostigmine. Approximately two-thirds of general endotracheal anesthesia cases using an intermediate-acting NMBA used HD. Cases with higher rates of HD may be those that are traditionally technically complexor emergent, would benefit from greater paralysis, or do not use adjunctive medications for muscle relaxation. Age greater than 65years was shown to have lower rates of HD, likely due to provider awareness of age-related changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Intraoperative monitoring and NMB antagonism with neostigmine were used more frequently with HD.