TY - JOUR
T1 - Testing Bidirectionality in Associations of Awareness of Age-Related Gains and Losses With Physical, Mental, and Cognitive Functioning Across 1 Year
T2 - The Role of Age
AU - Sabatini, Serena
AU - Wahl, Hans Werner
AU - Diehl, Manfred
AU - Clare, Linda
AU - Ballard, Clive
AU - Brooker, Helen
AU - Corbett, Anne
AU - Hampshire, Adam
AU - Stephan, Blossom C.M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/12/1
Y1 - 2023/12/1
N2 - Objectives: The bidirectionality between self-perceptions of aging and health-related outcomes may depend on age group. Therefore, we tested such bidirectionality among individuals in late midlife (50–64 years), young-old age (65-74 years), and old-old age (75+ years), taking advantage of the construct of Awareness of Age-Related Change (AARC) and its 2-dimensionality in terms of AARC-gains and AARC-losses. Various conceptualizations of physical, mental, and cognitive functioning were used as outcomes. Methods: Data from 2 measurement occasions (2019 and 2020) from the UK PROTECT study for individuals in late midlife (N = 2,385), young-old age (N = 2,430), and old-old age (N = 539) were used. Data on self-reported functional difficulties, depression, anxiety, and performance on four computerized cognitive tasks (i.e., verbal reasoning, paired associate learning, self-ordered search, and digit span) providing a score for verbal reasoning and a score for working memory were analyzed using cross-lagged panel models. Results: Across all 3 age groups, the bidirectional associations of AARC-gains with indicators of functioning were not significant, whereas higher AARC-losses significantly predicted slightly greater functional difficulties and higher depression and anxiety levels. Higher AARC-losses predicted slightly poorer Verbal Reasoning only in old-old age and poorer Working Memory predicted slightly higher AARC-losses only in young-old age. The remaining associations of AARC-losses with cognitive tasks were not statistically significant. Discussion: In accordance with previous research targeting other indicators of self-perceptions of aging, this study supported a stronger impact of AARC-losses on indicators of physical functioning and mental health than vice versa from midlife to old-old age.
AB - Objectives: The bidirectionality between self-perceptions of aging and health-related outcomes may depend on age group. Therefore, we tested such bidirectionality among individuals in late midlife (50–64 years), young-old age (65-74 years), and old-old age (75+ years), taking advantage of the construct of Awareness of Age-Related Change (AARC) and its 2-dimensionality in terms of AARC-gains and AARC-losses. Various conceptualizations of physical, mental, and cognitive functioning were used as outcomes. Methods: Data from 2 measurement occasions (2019 and 2020) from the UK PROTECT study for individuals in late midlife (N = 2,385), young-old age (N = 2,430), and old-old age (N = 539) were used. Data on self-reported functional difficulties, depression, anxiety, and performance on four computerized cognitive tasks (i.e., verbal reasoning, paired associate learning, self-ordered search, and digit span) providing a score for verbal reasoning and a score for working memory were analyzed using cross-lagged panel models. Results: Across all 3 age groups, the bidirectional associations of AARC-gains with indicators of functioning were not significant, whereas higher AARC-losses significantly predicted slightly greater functional difficulties and higher depression and anxiety levels. Higher AARC-losses predicted slightly poorer Verbal Reasoning only in old-old age and poorer Working Memory predicted slightly higher AARC-losses only in young-old age. The remaining associations of AARC-losses with cognitive tasks were not statistically significant. Discussion: In accordance with previous research targeting other indicators of self-perceptions of aging, this study supported a stronger impact of AARC-losses on indicators of physical functioning and mental health than vice versa from midlife to old-old age.
KW - Causal pathway
KW - Health
KW - Mood
KW - Self-perceptions of aging
KW - Subjective aging
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85179136860&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/geronb/gbad150
DO - 10.1093/geronb/gbad150
M3 - Article
C2 - 37801677
AN - SCOPUS:85179136860
SN - 1079-5014
VL - 78
SP - 2026
EP - 2036
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
IS - 12
ER -