Lifespan Perspective Research Articles

Pornography: How Does the Boomer Generation and Older Predict Others’ Viewing Time?

The increase of exposure to online pornography has decreased the age of initial exposure to pornography. However, very little is known about the outcomes resulting from increased pornography exposure in the Baby Boomer generation and beyond. The current study asked what predictors were significant in individuals born in 1965 and earlier when predicting the perceived pornography viewing time for the average man and woman. To answer this question, a nationally representative population (N = 1073, 510 males) completed a web-based survey measuring the age of the participant, gender of the participant, self-directed sexual behaviors (“How frequently have you masturbated while viewing pornography alone?”), partner-directed sexual behaviors (“How frequently have you viewed pornography with a partner?”), a religiosity index (“How important is your religion?”), and the predicted perceived time that a woman and man watches pornography, Results showed that perceived time that the average man spent viewing pornography was significantly predicted by age of the participant, gender of the participant, self-motivated sexual behaviors and partner-motivated sexual behaviors. Religiosity was not a significant predictor. In the regression predicting perceived time that the average woman viewed pornography were age of the participant, self-motivated sexual behaviors, and partner-motivated sexual behaviors. Gender of the participant and religiosity of the participant were not significant predictors. Further research should expand this work to a lifespan perspective and longitudinal studies.

Reciprocal effects of neuroticism and life stress in adolescence

Background: Stressful life experiences and personality can influence one another. Personality may contribute to the amount and type of stress individuals experience, which is referred to as a selection effect. Life stress may also impact one's personality, which is referred to as a socialization effect. It was hypothesized that neuroticism would predict increased chronic and episodic stress (selection effect) and that chronic and episodic stress would predict increased neuroticism (socialization effect).Methods: The current study investigated selection and socialization effects of neuroticism and life stress over a three-year period in 627 adolescents. Life stress data were examined in terms of duration (chronic versus episodic) and type (interpersonal versus non-interpersonal). Episodic stress data were examined as dependent or independent.Results: The results from ten cross-lagged panel models provided some evidence for significant selection and socialization effects depending on stress type. Over three years, we observed that neuroticism increases interpersonal chronic stress and non-interpersonal stressful events (selection effects) and that dependent non-interpersonal stressful events and chronic stress increase neuroticism (socialization effects).Limitations: Study limitations include a lack of a lifespan perspective and a statistical approach that does not differentiate between- from within-person variance.Conclusions: Findings suggest the value of attending to stress response as well as targeting neuroticism in prevention and intervention approaches in adolescents.

Confía en mí, Confío en ti: Applying developmental theory to mitigate sociocultural risk in Latinx families.

Ed Zigler was a champion for underprivileged youth, one who worked alongside communities to fight for long-lasting systemic changes that were informed by his lifespan and ecological perspective on the development of the whole child. This paper reports on the development, implementation, and preliminary outcomes of an intervention that embodied the Zigler approach by adopting a community participatory research lens to integrate complementary insights across community-based providers (promotoras), Latinx immigrant families, and developmental psychologists in the service of promoting parent-child relationship quality and preventing youth aggression and violence. Analyses from the first 112 Latinx mother-youth dyad participants (46% female children, ages 8-17) in the resultant, Confía en mí, Confío en ti, eight-week intervention revealed significant pre-post increases in purported mechanisms of change (i.e., attachment security, reflective functioning) and early intervention outcomes (i.e., depressive, anxiety, and externalizing problems). Treatment responses varied by youth age. A case analysis illustrated the lived experiences of the women and children served by this intervention. We discuss future directions for the program, as well as challenges to its sustainability. Finally, we consider Ed's legacy as we discuss the contributions of this work to developmental science and our understanding of attachment relationships among low-income immigrant Latinx families.

Spiritual Reports from Long-Term HIV Survivors: Reclaiming Meaning While Confronting Mortality

Reports from Long-term HIV Survivors: Reclaiming Meaning while Confronting Mortality presents research completed by Kyle Desrosiers in conjunction with the Baylor University Institute for Oral History. Applying lifespan theory to spiritual development, it discusses the narratives of four American long-term HIV survivors from Latter-day Saints, Roman Catholic (2), and Conservative Jewish backgrounds. The fifth profile is from a Protestant pastor with an HIV ministry in a rural area. These profiles are five selected from among 10 interviews with HIV-positive people and caregivers across America now archived by the author at Baylor University. Questions directing this research were: how does HIV status affect participants’ relationship to their religious communities, identities, and spiritualties?; what narratives emerge from lifespan perspectives of HIV-positive and queer participants?; and what spiritual practices, mythos, and beliefs evolve/remain as a product of living at the margins of religion and society, alongside coping with a deadly global epidemic? This project reports narratives of change, continuity, and meaning-making to discuss how several gay/queer men from a range of ethnic and faith backgrounds have used spirituality and worldview to navigate life.

From dawn to dusk

Abstract This piece introduces a lifespan perspective on cognitive changes associated with sustained practice of simultaneous interpreting. First, I briefly describe the elevated demands posed by this activity in training and work settings. Second, I argue that a broad lifespan perspective on it requires tracking psychobiological reconfigurations in the preparation for, course of, and withdrawal from sustained professional practice. Third, I summarize the core foci and findings of three articles addressing each of those stages. To conclude, I propose that the field’s ongoing agenda should gravitate towards more age- and experience-sensitive models and practices.

Predicting smoking behavior: intention and future self-continuity among Austrians

ABSTRACT Smoking is a major public health problem in Austria, but relevant research and intervention is limited. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the present study aimed to test the model utility in an Austrian sample. As future self-continuity is likely to impact on health behavior, we also hypothesized an extended TPB with future self-continuity could further explain the variance in smoking. Using a prospective design, 94 current smokers (74.5% women; M age = 24.27 years; 61.7% daily smokers) from a university in South Austria completed the baseline and follow-up survey (one month after the baseline). Consistent with the TPB, intention and perceived behavioral control (PBC) significantly predicted smoking behavior; affective attitude and PBC were significantly associated with smoking intention. In contrast, cognitive attitude and subjective norm were unrelated to smoking intention. As hypothesized, the TPB explained 42% variance of smoking behavior and 31% variance of smoking intention. Participants' future self-continuity further explained the variance of smoking behavior. Our study demonstrates the utility of the TPB in understanding Austrian smoking behavior. The role of psychological perception of future self among smokers has been highlighted. Future smoking intervention may target PBC, affective attitude, as well as a life-span perspective.

Cohort studies in child and adolescent psychiatry

HintergrundKohortenstudien mit frühem Beginn und Lebensspannenperspektive sind essenziell, um die Verläufe psychiatrischer Erkrankungen sowie deren Risiko- und Resilienzfaktoren zu beleuchten.Ziel der ArbeitDie Bedeutung von Längsschnittstudien wird dargestellt und exemplarisch die Mannheimer Risikokinderstudie (MARS), die ABCD (Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development), KiGGS (Kinder- und Jugendgesundheitssurvey) und AIMS LEAP (Longitudinal European Autism Project) -Kohortenstudien beschrieben.Material und MethodenEs erfolgte eine Literatursuche in MEDLINE.ErgebnisseDie MARS begleitet Teilnehmer mit psychosozialen und organischen Risiken seit über 30 Jahren von der Geburt an und hat gezeigt, dass Risiken vor und kurz nach Geburt bis in die frühe Kindheit besonders wichtig für die neurobiologische und psychische Entwicklung sind. Die ABCD-Kohortenstudie (Beginn 9–10 Jahre) unterstreicht die Wichtigkeit früher sozioemotionaler, pränataler Risiken sowie Toxinexposition für die Entwicklung. Die KiGGS-Kohortenstudie, die Kinder und Jugendliche von 0 bis 17 Jahren bis zum Alter von 10 bis 28 Jahre verfolgte, hebt die Bedeutung des sozioökonomischen Status sowie auch geschlechtsspezifischer Effekte hinsichtlich sensitiver Perioden für das Auftreten psychischer Auffälligkeiten sowie deren Verlauf hervor. Die AIMS-Kohortenstudie begleitet Menschen mit und ohne Autismusspektrumstörungen im Alter von 6 bis 30 Jahren, wobei erste Befunde auf Gruppenebene kleine Effekte zeigen.SchlussfolgerungenExistierende Kohortenstudien zur frühen psychischen Entwicklung weisen spezifische Schwerpunkte auf. Um allgemeine und spezifische Risiko- und Resilienzfaktoren zu identifizieren und trajektorielle Verläufe zu modellieren, können bestehende multimodale Datensätze integriert werden. Weitere epidemiologische und klinische Kohortenstudien mit Beginn in der Pränatalzeit sowie multidimensionale Untersuchungsstrategien (deep phenotyping) sind erforderlich, um die komplexe Ätiopathogenese psychischer Störungen weiter zu entschlüsseln.

Multilingualism and Ageing

Abstract This publication provides an overview of research on a large range of topics relating to language processing and language use from a life-span perspective. It is unique in covering and combining psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic approaches, discussing questions such as: Is it beneficial to speak more than one language when growing old? How are languages processed in multilingual persons, and how does this change over time? What happens to language and communication in multilingual aphasia or dementia? How is multilingual ageing portrayed in the media? It is a joint, cross-disciplinary venture of researchers from the Centre for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan at The University of Oslo and the editors of this publication.

Generations and Generational Differences: Debunking Myths in Organizational Science and Practice and Paving New Paths Forward.

Talk about generations is everywhere and particularly so in organizational science and practice. Recognizing and exploring the ubiquity of generations is important, especially because evidence for their existence is, at best, scant. In this article, we aim to achieve two goals that are targeted at answering the broad question: “What accounts for the ubiquity of generations despite a lack of evidence for their existence and impact?” First, we explore and “bust” ten common myths about the science and practice of generations and generational differences. Second, with these debunked myths as a backdrop, we focus on two alternative and complementary frameworks—the social constructionist perspective and the lifespan development perspective—with promise for changing the way we think about age, aging, and generations at work. We argue that the social constructionist perspective offers important opportunities for understanding the persistence and pervasiveness of generations and that, as an alternative to studying generations, the lifespan perspective represents a better model for understanding how age operates and development unfolds at work. Overall, we urge stakeholders in organizational science and practice (e.g., students, researchers, consultants, managers) to adopt more nuanced perspectives grounded in these models, rather than a generational perspective, to understand the influence of age and aging at work.

Neurocognitive and psychosocial outcomes in adult congenital heart disease: a lifespan approach

### Learning objectives In 1964, Glaser recognised that, ‘Despite benefits derived from these remarkable therapeutic gains, children with congenital heart disease face many difficulties in their efforts toward social and...

Ecological Perspectives on Religion and Positive Youth Development

A positivist orientation that marginalized the study of religion and spirituality in social science research has limited both its scope and focus. Given a primarily cognitive orientation to this inquiry, children, adolescents, and emerging adults were typically not the focus of research. More recently, the scope of research has been broadened to emphasize the need to understand contextual and developmental nuances, which are increasingly being reflected in a range of research designs, methods, and samples. The burgeoning scholarship on the role of religion and spirituality in the development of youth during this particularly formative developmental period has begun to shed light on how religion promotes and challenges positive youth development. While this expanding focus has begun to describe youth’s developmental experiences, the deep interconnections between individual youth, religious and spiritual systems, and the contexts and relationships in which youth develop remain understudied. This special issue on the role of religion and spirituality on positive youth development asserts the import of exploring ecological perspectives and influences when studying the role of religion and spirituality in the development of diverse youth and draws from interdisciplinary and lifespan perspectives to continue mapping the terrain of this area of study and ways to navigate it.

Cognitive Ageing in Developing Societies: An Overview and a Cross-sectional Study on Young, Middle-aged and Older Adults in the Indian Context

Cognitive ageing in developing societies is marked with psychosocial issues such as education, occupation, lifestyle, social support, social interaction and exclusion that may affect cognitive–affective–behavioural changes with ageing. We also present a study based on cognitive profiling of young (N = 79), middle-aged (N = 54) and older adults (N = 43) in India, which examined learning and memory for verbal and visuospatial information, overall cognitive functions, subjective complaints about cognitive difficulties, neuropsychiatric problems, anxiety and emotion regulation. The study shows cognitive changes compared to young and comparable rate of learning and retrieval among middle-aged and older adults for verbal and visuospatial material, correlated with general cognitive ability. The subjective complaints were not correlated with the objective measures of cognitive functions, highlighting the importance of both to show early cognitive changes. The relationship between cognitive functions and emotion regulation or behavioural/emotional changes was observed for young and middle-aged adults but not for older adults. Findings are discussed in the context of the lifespan perspective of cognitive ageing, cognitive reserve, psychosocial environment and social–emotional selectivity theory.

A Lifespan Perspective on Emotion Regulation Repertoires at the Workplace

Emotion regulation at work has received considerable attention in recent years. According to lifespan-psychological theory and research, aging is associated with improvements in emotion regulation. Nevertheless, results regarding better emotion regulation strategy use with age in the organizational aging literature have been inconsistent. In the present study, we aim to reconcile some of these divergent results by studying emotion regulation strategies at the repertoire level as opposed to investigating the use of single strategies, and by investigating the role of work conditions as contextual affordances of these emotion regulation strategies. Using a sample of 980 participants, we first identified five work-related emotion regulation latent profiles and examined their associations with well-being outcomes. Second, using configural frequency analysis, we found that overall, emotion regulation profiles that were positively associated with well-being were more (less) likely to be afforded in favorable (unfavorable) working conditions, which calls into question the hypothesis of emotion regulation as a buffer to occupational demands. Third, older workers were more likely to be members of emotion regulation profiles that were positively associated with well-being, thereby replicating the older-age advantage in emotion regulation in the work context. Interestingly, older workers’ emotion regulation strategy use seemed more stable across all work contexts than younger workers’ strategy use, which points to the need for more research regarding younger workers’ responses to work conditions. Keywords: Emotion regulation; age; latent profile analysis; well-being; job design

Achievement Across the Life Span: Perspectives From the Terman Study of the Gifted

The Terman Study of the Gifted presents a unique opportunity to study the implications of achievement for life satisfaction in adulthood and aging. This article uses a life-span developmental perspective to summarize research concerning the lifetime achievement of the Terman sample, their appraisals of living up to their intellectual abilities, and their approaches to aging. A large majority of the Terman men reached high levels of occupational achievement, while the achievements of the Terman women were more varied. The historical context is important in understanding these gender differences. The participants’ appraisals of having lived up to their intellectual abilities were generally positive, and appraisals were related to lifetime achievement pattern and gender. Early knowledge of being labeled as gifted was negatively related to participants’ appraisals of their life accomplishments in adulthood. Finally, the lives of the Terman Study participants provide insight into possibilities for successful aging.

“Calm Down,” “Cheer Up”: How Age Influences the Way We Manage Emotion in Social Partners

This study examines how individuals (regulators) manage emotion in their social partners (targets) and whether the age of the regulator or the age of the target influences extrinsic emotion regulation strategy preference. An online questionnaire was used to assess extrinsic emotion regulation among 580 participants aged 18-87 years (M = 50.04, SD = 18.13). Participants (regulators) indicated the extent to which they would be likely to use different strategies when interacting with a younger or older target who was upset. Results of multi-level modeling showed that older regulators endorsed less use of situation modification than younger regulators, but age differences in regulators' use of other strategies were not significant. After adjustment for relationship-specific covariates, regulators endorsed less use of attentional deployment and cognitive change, for older targets than younger targets. Results are discussed in the context of lifespan perspectives on social behavior and emotion regulation.

Do Unconventional Oil and Gas Wells Generate More Wastewater? A Lifespan Perspective

The rapidly increasing oil and gas wastewater has caused widespread concerns about its adverse environmental and health effects. Using panel data of 49,050 wells from 2008 to 2016, we estimate a difference-in-difference-in-differences model to study the wastewater discharge patterns across wells’ lifespan and cohorts for unconventional wells, i.e., horizontal wells in shale formations, compared with conventional wells, i.e., vertical wells in shale or non-shale regions. Our analysis shows that since the 2010 cohort an average unconventional well has generated more wastewater than a conventional well in the initial six months of production while this gap increased in more recent well cohorts. However, the contemporaneous gap always decreased with the age of a well and reversed eventually regardless of cohorts, leading to less lifespan cumulative water discharge of an unconventional well than a conventional one. Moreover, unconventional oil wells had a lower lifespan wastewater-to-energy ratio than conventional counterparts, whereas no such efficiency difference existed among gas wells. Our findings show the trade-off between higher near-term wastewater discharge and lower lifespan cumulative generation as well as higher long-run efficiency of shale energy extraction compared with conventional energy production.

Brain Age Prediction Reveals Aberrant Brain White Matter in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: A Multisample Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

BackgroundSchizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) share substantial neurodevelopmental components affecting brain maturation and architecture. This necessitates a dynamic lifespan perspective in which brain aberrations are inferred from deviations from expected lifespan trajectories. We applied machine learning to diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) indices of white matter structure and organization to estimate and compare brain age between patients with SZ, patients with BD, and healthy control (HC) subjects across 10 cohorts. MethodsWe trained 6 cross-validated models using different combinations of DTI data from 927 HC subjects (18–94 years of age) and applied the models to the test sets including 648 patients with SZ (18–66 years of age), 185 patients with BD (18–64 years of age), and 990 HC subjects (17–68 years of age), estimating the brain age for each participant. Group differences were assessed using linear models, accounting for age, sex, and scanner. A meta-analytic framework was applied to assess the heterogeneity and generalizability of the results. ResultsTenfold cross-validation revealed high accuracy for all models. Compared with HC subjects, the model including all feature sets significantly overestimated the age of patients with SZ (Cohen’s d = −0.29) and patients with BD (Cohen’s d = 0.18), with similar effects for the other models. The meta-analysis converged on the same findings. Fractional anisotropy–based models showed larger group differences than the models based on other DTI-derived metrics. ConclusionsBrain age prediction based on DTI provides informative and robust proxies for brain white matter integrity. Our results further suggest that white matter aberrations in SZ and BD primarily consist of anatomically distributed deviations from expected lifespan trajectories that generalize across cohorts and scanners.

“No matter how old I am, I don’t like what my stomach looks like.” Lifespan perspective on the changes in self-assessment of attractiveness and life satisfaction in women

ABSTRACT The study aimed to examine the association between self-assessment of attractiveness and life satisfaction in women, where age was a potential moderator of this relationship. A cross-sectional study of 360 women aged 18 to 89 was performed. Participants assessed their overall attractiveness, the attractiveness of their individual body parts, and their life satisfaction. The relationship between the assessment of attractiveness of particular body parts and life satisfaction depended on age. The results indicate that not only overall self-attractiveness, but also the perceived attractiveness of particular body parts (different in each distinguished age group: 18–25, 30–45 and 60+) can be considered predictors of life satisfaction in women.

283-OR: Changes in HbA1c between 2011-2017 in Austria/Germany, Sweden, and the United States: A Lifespan Perspective

This study assessed HbA1c across the lifespan in people with T1D in Austria/Germany, Sweden, and the United States (U.S.) between 2011 and 2017. Data extracted from the DPV, Austria/Germany (n = 25651 in 2011, n = 29442 in 2017); SWEDIABKIDS/NDR, Sweden (n = 44474 in 2011, n = 53690 in 2017); and T1D Exchange, U.S. (n = 16198 in 2011, n= 17087 in 2017) registries were included in the analysis. Mean HbA1c across the lifespan in 2017 and changes in mean HbA1c between 2011 and 2017 overall and by age cohorts were analyzed. In 2017 mean HbA1c for adults ≥45 years converged across registries; HbA1c levels for subjects <25 years were highest in the U.S. (Figure). Controlling for age, sex, and T1D duration, overall HbA1c increased in the U.S. between 2011 and 2017 (2011=8.02%, 2017=8.26%, p<.01); decreased in Sweden (8.06%, 7.74%, p<.01); and did not change in Austria/Germany (7.84%, 7.84%, p=.49). Controlling for sex and T1D duration, mean HbA1c decreased between 2011 and 2017 in all age cohorts in Sweden (all p<.01). In the U.S., HbA1c increased in subjects <45 years and ≥65 years (all p<.05) and did not change in subjects 45-<65 years (p=.06). In Austria/Germany, HbA1c decreased in subjects 13-<19 years (p<.01), did not change in subjects <13 years (p=.26) and 19-<25 years (p=.88), and increased in subjects ≥25 years (all p<.05). Further research is warranted to better understand causes of geographic disparities in glycemic control. Disclosure A. Albanese-O’Neill: Consultant; Self; American Diabetes Association. J. Hermann: None. A. Svensson: None. K. Miller: None. K. Raile: None. K. Akesson: None. P. Calhoun: Stock/Shareholder; Self; Dexcom, Inc. K. Eeg-Olofsson: None. D.M. Maahs: Advisory Panel; Self; Eli Lilly and Company, Insulet Corporation, Medtronic, Novo Nordisk A/S. Consultant; Self; Abbott, Sanofi. Research Support; Self; Bigfoot Biomedical, Dexcom, Inc., Roche Diabetes Care, Tandem Diabetes Care. R.W. Holl: None. R. Hanas: Advisory Panel; Self; Abbott, Novo Nordisk A/S. Speaker’s Bureau; Self; Sanofi. Other Relationship; Self; AstraZeneca. Funding German Center for Diabetes Research; The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust (G-2016PG-T1D053)

Physical Literacy as A Framework of Assessment and Intervention for Children and Youth with Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Narrative Critical Review of Conventional Practice and Proposal for Future Directions.

A framework of literacy may have roles to play in the assessment and treatment of children and youth with developmental disorders. This review aims to evaluate the conventional practice of assessment and treatment for children and youth with a developmental disorder in the physical domain, called developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and explore how the framework of physical literacy could contribute to the advancement of the current practice. This study adopts a method of narrative critical review based on a non-systematic search for its broad coverage to provide insights into the trend and future alternative directions. Over recent decades, children and youth with DCD have been typically assessed with standardized norm-referenced tests, before and after task-oriented intervention, for aiding diagnosis and evaluating the treatment effect. However, a recent high-quality systematic review showed limited evidence for the treatment effect assessed by the tests. Here, a framework of physical literacy is proposed to be used as an alternative to the conventional practice by recalibrating treatment goals and modifying the assessment and intervention approaches; criterion-referenced real-life authentic assessment and activities are encouraged with an emphasis on the enjoyment of movement and value of physical activity towards the attainment of physically active and healthy lifestyle goals from a lifespan perspective. The application of the physical literacy framework to the assessment and treatment of DCD needs to be further examined conceptually and empirically, while exploring a potential contribution of the literacy framework to transform the conventional assessment and treatment of children and youth with other developmental disorders.