A motivational framework of personality development in late adulthood

Meta-analytic evidence shows that most personality traits tend to increase through early adulthood and middle age but decrease in late adulthood, whereas Emotional Stability continues to increase throughout late adulthood. We propose that these normative patterns of personality development can be explained by motivational theories of aging. Specifically, decreases in Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience may reflect a reduced capacity to control one's environment, whereas continued increases in Emotional Stability reflect increases in individual's ability to compensate and cope with age-graded losses. Pairing motivational theories of aging with longitudinal evidence in personality science provides an explanation for empirical patterns of personality trait development and raises interesting possibilities to promote healthy aging.

Levels of goal adjustment in late adulthood

In this review, we argue that in late adulthood adults adjust their goals at three levels to cope with age-related challenges: At the highest level, they narrow their goal systems by selectively pursuing fewer goals from important life domains that are mutually supportive, by abandoning goals, and by focusing on agency protection. At the mid-level of individual goals, older adults show changes in goal content, goal importance, goal orientation, and goal focus, indicating, for example, a relative increase in intrinsic goals. Finally, but worthy of future investigation, older adults may show adjustments on the level of means and strategies for goal pursuit. Individual differences in such adaptations also contribute to differences in goal commitment, well-being, and psychopathology in late adulthood.

Gerotranscendence and wisdom in Polish older adults. The longitudinal mediation analysis of forgiveness

Objectives: The goal of the present study was to investigate whether forgiveness played a mediating role in the relationships between gerotranscendence and wisdom among people in late adulthood. Method: The study included 416 participants aged 60 to 75 years. The following measures were used: the Gerotranscendence Scale Type 2 (GST2), the Heartland Forgiveness Scale and the Self-Assessed Wisdom Scale (SAWS). To verify the hypothesis, a longitudinal three-wave field study was conducted. Results: The results suggest that an increase in gerotranscendence is associated with an increase in forgiveness and wisdom. In addition, greater willingness to forgive co-occurs with higher levels of wisdom. Moreover, dispositional forgiveness mediates the relationship between gerotranscendence and wisdom - a higher gerotranscendence leads to a higher wisdom through an increase in forgiveness. Conclusion: The results of our research add to the knowledge of the mechanism of the relationship between gerotranscendence and wisdom and support the thesis that late adulthood presents individuals with new challenges and opportunities for creative personal development.

The Potential for Prevention Science in Middle and Late Adulthood: a Commentary on the Special Issue of Prevention Science

This commentary on the special issue of Prevention Science, "Toward a Lifespan Prevention Science: A Focus on Middle and Late Adulthood" reviews the studies included in the issue, compares findings, and makes recommendations for future directions in this emerging field. Articles in this issue addressed a number of the key elements of prevention science, including identifying proximal and distal risk and protective factors that play a role in middle and late adult health and well-being, providing preliminary evidence for a preventive intervention to moderate stress reactivity, and proposing a theoretical approach to preventing substance misuse across the lifespan. Our commentary centers around three critical areas for mid and later life prevention science: the importance of theory building, a focus on alcohol and its role in midlife health, and health disparities. Each of the articles in this issue touched on at least one of these areas. We conclude that a focus on prevention in mid and later life has strong potential, and further research is needed.

Maternal separation in childhood and hair cortisol concentrations in late adulthood

BACKGROUND

Parent-child separation has been shown to increase the risk of a range of mental and physical health conditions later in life. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation may help to explain this association. However, few studies have examined the effect of maternal separation on cortisol in late adulthood.

METHODS

We examined the relationship between maternal separation in childhood and hair cortisol concentrations in late adulthood, using data from the Whitehall II study (n = 3969, mean age: 70 y, range: 60-83 y). Additionally, the role of childhood (adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), material disadvantage, and parenting), adult (marital status and social position), and health (health behaviors, cardiovascular health and medication, and depression) measures in this association were examined. Finally, we examined age of separation and reason for separation. Analysis was carried out using linear regression.

RESULTS

Hair cortisol concentrations (pg/mg) among participants who reported maternal separation during childhood were higher (B=0.179, 95% CI 0.041-0.317, p = 0.01) compared to their non-separated counterparts. This effect was robust to adjustment by childhood, adult, and health measures. Among participants who reported separation, age at onset and reason for separation were not significantly associated with hair cortisol concentrations.

CONCLUSION

In older age individuals, hair cortisol concentrations were higher in those who reported maternal separation during childhood. This effect was independent of a wide variety of factors suggesting that there are lifelong pathways between early life separation and HPA functioning in old age.

Effects of Kibbutz communal upbringing in adulthood: trait emotional intelligence and attachment patterns

Past research regarding the emotional characteristics of kibbutz children raised with communal sleeping arrangements (CSA) showed inconsistent findings for emotional difficulties, such as insecure attachment and lowered ability for intimacy. Only little research has examined these children's emotional characteristics in their adulthood. Trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) is a new concept measuring a constellation of correlated emotional traits that capture a person's typical way of processing emotional information and reacting to it. The present study examined if difficulties in intimacy and trait EI characterize adults who had been raised in CSA kibbutzim (Hebrew plural of kibbutz). Participants comprised 1185 adults, aged 30-79, of whom 735 were raised in CSA kibbutzim, and the rest did not grow up in a Kibbutz at all. The participants completed three self-report questionnaires: Schutte's Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) to measure trait EI; the Revised Adult Attachment Scale to measure adult attachment; and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Questionnaire to measure self-esteem. Results showed that most of the kibbutz CSA participants revealed levels of intimacy and trait EI comparable to the non-kibbutz group. However, a significant difference was found among adults with low self-esteem and poor attachment quality: For these participants, trait EI and intimacy were significantly lower for the CSA kibbutz group than for the non-kibbutz group. Furthermore, the CSA kibbutz group reported poorer non-verbal communication skills than the non-kibbutz group. We suggest that a minority of the CSA kibbutz children were less resilient to the kibbutz ecology. These children might have been more vulnerable to the effects of limited social options, decreased parental support, and the kibbutz education's ideological demands. For these children, the effects of communal upbringing on intimacy and attachment appear to be long-lasting, extending throughout their adulthood.

Sex estimation of skeletons in middle and late adulthood: reliability of pelvic morphological traits and long bone metrics on an Italian skeletal collection

There are several metric and morphological methods available for sex estimation of skeletal remains, but their reliability and applicability depend on the sexual dimorphism of the remains as well as on the availability of preserved bones. Some studies showed that age-related changes on bones can cause misclassification of sex. The purpose of this study was to establish the reliability of pelvic morphological traits and metric methods of sex estimation on relatively old individuals from a modern Italian skeletal collection. The data for this study were obtained from 164 individuals of the Milano CAL skeletal collection and average age of the samples was 75 years. In the pelvic morphological method, the recalibrated regression formula of Klales and colleagues (2012), pre-auricular sulcus, and greater sciatic notch morphology were used for sex estimation. With regard to the metric method, 15 standard measurements from upper and lower limbs were analyzed for sexual dimorphism. The results showed that in pelvic morphological approach, the application of regression formula of the revised Klales and colleague formula (2017) resulted in 100% accuracy. Classification rates of metric methods vary from 75.19 to 90.73% with the maximum epiphyseal breadth of proximal tibia representing the most discriminant parameter. This study confirms that the effect of age on sex estimation methods is not substantial, and both metric and morphological methods of sex estimation can be reliably applied to individuals of Italian descent in middle and late adulthood.

Refractive surgery in the late adulthood and adolescent age groups

PURPOSE

Most refractive surgeries are performed in the young-adult age group, and less is known about the clinical outcomes of patients in late adulthood and of adolescents. The purpose of this study was to describe the outcomes of refractive surgery in patients over the age of 60 years and under the age of 18 years compared with a control group of patients aged 20-40 years.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort analysis consisted of 64,970 consecutive cases of 32,074 patients who underwent laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis and photorefractive keratectomy during a 10-year period in a single center. The populations were characterized, and a comparison of safety, efficacy, and retreatment rates was performed following propensity score matching, separately for hyperopic and myopic treatments.

RESULTS

Included in the analysis after matching were 143 patients above the age of 60, 608 patients aged < 18, and 2313 patients aged 20-40. Older patients undergoing hyperopic treatments had worse safety (0.95 ± 0.1 versus 0.99 ± 0.2, P = 0.023) and efficacy indices (0.89 ± 0.2 versus 0.97 ± 0.2, P = 0.004) compared with young adults. Lower efficacy was also seen in myopic treatments (0.88 ± 0.3 versus 0.97 ± 0.2, P = 0.001). Higher retreatment rates were also seen among older adults (6.2% versus 2.5%, P = 0.044 in hyperopic treatments, 11% versus 1.1%, P < 0.001 in myopic treatments). In adolescents, the safety and efficacy outcomes were slightly better compared with patients aged 20-40, with lower retreatment rates (1% versus 2.7%, P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Refractive surgery in the late adulthood population of our cohort was a relatively safe procedure, yet manifesting lower efficacy and requiring more retreatments. In adolescents, results were comparable to those achieved in young adults.