Identifying predictors of self-perceptions of aging based on a range of cognitive, physical, and mental health indicators: Twenty-year longitudinal findings from the ILSE study
Sabatini, S; Siebert, JS; Diehl, M; et al.Brothers, A; Wahl, H-W
Date: 23 December 2021
Article
Journal
Psychology and Aging
Publisher
American Psychological Association
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Abstract
Research exploring whether health predicts self-perceptions of aging has mostly focused on single predictors and has been hampered by short observational intervals. We examined whether 20-year changes in cognitive functioning, physical and mental health predict self-perceptions of aging.
We used data of 103 German participants who ...
Research exploring whether health predicts self-perceptions of aging has mostly focused on single predictors and has been hampered by short observational intervals. We examined whether 20-year changes in cognitive functioning, physical and mental health predict self-perceptions of aging.
We used data of 103 German participants who remained of a sample of 500 participants born in 1930-32 enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Adult Development (ILSE) in 1993/1996 (mean age at fourth measurement wave= 82.5 years). Health indicators included six cognitive tests, objective and subjective physical health, and self-reported depression. We used a new and multidimensional (awareness of age-related gains and losses) and a well-established (attitudes toward own aging) measure of self-perceptions of aging. Linear regression analyses showed that, among the cognitive tests, decline in information processing speed (Digit Symbol) predicted less awareness of age-related gains and more awareness of age-related losses but not attitudes toward own aging. Decline in subjective but not objective physical health, predicted more awareness of age-related losses and negative attitudes toward own aging, but not awareness of age-related gains. Increase in depressive symptoms predicted more awareness of age-related losses and negative attitudes toward own aging, but not awareness of age-related gains. The size of associations suggests that objective cognitive decline has limited influence on older adults’ self-perceptions of aging and, if so, only when the decline is related to mental slowing. Similarly, perceived physical and mental health, but not objective health, have a small-to-moderate influence on awareness of age-related losses and attitudes toward own aging.
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