The Moderating Role of Views of Aging in the Longitudinal Relationship Between Physical Health and Mental Distress

Reclaiming hope: Subjective nearness to death as a moderator between posttraumatic stress symptoms and hope among older adults

Perceiving one's remaining time until death, can serve as a source of resilience when faced with adversity in the second half of life. The current work is based on a prospective study and examines whether subjective nearness-to-death (SNtD) moderates the association between posttraumatic-stress symptoms (PTSS) and hope among adults in the second half of life. The first wave was conducted after the end of a military conflict in the south of Israel, and included 170 participants (M = 66.61, SD = 9.16; age range 51-91), 115 of whom also participated in Wave 2. Participants filled out self-reported questionnaires regarding background information, PTSS, SNtD and hope. A moderation effect was found, revealing that high levels of PTSS predicted lower levels of hope among those who felt close to their death, but not among those who felt far from their death. We suggest that one's evaluation of little time remaining to live, especially in old age, may be a significant factor exacerbating the negative consequences of PTSS on hope. The importance of the results to the research field is discussed.

Subjective Age and Late-Life Functional Status: Mediating and Moderating Effects

OBJECTIVES

The present study examined the longitudinal relationships between subjective age (SA) and future functional status in later life, via depressive symptoms. Additionally, we assessed the role of subjective nearness to death (SNtD) as a potential moderator within these pathways.

METHODS

Older adults (average age 81.14 at T1) were interviewed once a year for three consecutive years (N=224 at T1, N=178 at T2, and N=164 at T3), Participants reported their SA, SNtD, depressive symptoms, and functional status. Additionally, grip strength was employed as an objective measure of functional status.

RESULTS

Data analysis revealed distinct pathways leading from T1 SA to T3 functional status through T2 depressive symptoms. Moreover, T1 SNtD was found to significantly moderate most of these indirect pathways, so that the mediation model of T1 SA-T2 depressive symptoms-T3 functional status was mostly significant among those who felt closer to death.

DISCUSSION

The findings contribute to our understanding of the underlying mechanism through which SA predicts long-term functioning sequelae by underscoring the indirect effect of depressive symptoms. They further indicate the importance of gauging the effects of SNtD on these longitudinal relationships. Present results may further contribute to establishing an integrative model for predicting long-term functional outcomes based on older adults' earlier subjective views of aging.

Perceived Ageism During the Covid-19-Crisis Is Longitudinally Related to Subjective Perceptions of Aging

Ageism in media and society has increased sharply during the Covid-19-crisis, with expected negative consequences for the health and well-being of older adults. The current study investigates whether perceived ageism during the crisis longitudinally affects how people perceive their own aging. In June 2020, N = 611 older adults from Luxembourg [aged 60–98 years, M_age(SD) = 69.92(6.97)] participated in a survey on their perception of the crisis. In October 2020, N = 523 participated in a second measurement occasion. Participants reported on perceived ageism during the crisis in different domains, their self-perceptions of aging and subjective age. In latent longitudinal regression models, we predicted views on aging at T2 with perceived ageism at T1, while controlling for baseline views on aging and covariates. Perceived ageism at T1 increased self-perceptions of aging as social loss and yielded a trend for physical decline, while there were no effects on subjective age and self-perceptions of aging as continued growth. Views on aging are powerful predictors of well-being and health outcomes in later life. Our data suggest that being the target of ageism during the crisis negatively affects older adults' self-perceptions of aging and this impact may be felt beyond the current crisis.