Analyses examine change in the age people "feel" ("felt age") and "would like to be" ("ideal age") (relative to current age) in middle and later life. Data are from 1,815 respondents in two waves (1995-96, 2004-06) of the Midlife in the United States Survey (MIDUS) who were age 40+ at Wave 1. In aggregate, people feel about the same amount younger…

Little is known about how different lifestyle factors mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health among middle-aged and older adults in Korea. Using data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, this study examined the direct effects of SES on self-rated health and how lifestyle factors mediate the relationships…

Drawing on the model of Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) (Baltes & Baltes, 1990), the purpose of this article is to examine leisure-related goals of older adults with chronic conditions and the strategies they use to not only successfully manage their chronic health conditions but live well with them. Semi-structured in-person…

After an oral free recall task, participants were interviewed about their memory. Despite reporting similar levels of perceived personal control over memory, older and young adults differed in the means in which they believed memory could be controlled. Older adults cited health and wellness practices and exercising memory, consistent with a "use…

With many Western societies structured for adults to live longer and take responsibility for their health, it is valuable to investigate how older persons reason about this demand. Using mixed methods, this pilot studied how older persons reason about responsibility for health and their responsibility as a patient. Interviews with a small Swedish…

This study examined the mediating and moderating role of social resources on the association between age and change in functional health for three age groups of older adults. Data were provided by those in their 60s, 80s, and 100s who participated in the first two phases of the Georgia Centenarian study. Analyses confirmed the study's hypothesis…

The present study examines the leisure style and leisure satisfaction of a sample of older people at baseline and after a period of 5 years. Three groups were identified by factorial and cluster analyses and labelled under the headings of: Organised Style, Surrounding Style and Indoor Style. Each group represented a different typology of leisure,…

The purpose of this study was to address factors related to caregiver burnout as a result of caring for an older adult with a chronic disease. Characteristics of care recipients and caregivers as well as social support were included to identify the relationships with caregiver burnout. The analysis was based on a sample of 334 older adults and…

We used hypothetical vignettes to examine whether older adults' endorsement of interpersonal strategies for dealing with health-related (arthritis) everyday problems varied as a function of marital status, gender, and the severity of the problem. Adults 60 years and older (N= 127, M= 71.40 years, SD = 7.21) rated interpersonal (i.e., discuss with…

This study examines the hypothesis that the outcome of the Eriksonian crisis of integrity vs. despair is dependent on successful coping with four developmental tasks: maintenance of active involvement, reevaluation of life satisfaction, developing a sense of health maintenance, and reevaluation of the sense of coherence (SOC). A selective sample…

As aging is occurring at a rate never before seen in South Korea, the present study examines the predictors of mental health in a nationally representative sample of older adults (n = 4,155), drawn from Wave I of the Korean Longitudinal Study on Aging. Findings show that sociodemographic factors, chronic health conditions, level of cognition, and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of background, psychological, and social variables on older adults' well-being, and how this may differ for men and women. Participants included 800 adults from the 2002 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), aged 60 to 101 years old (M = 71.22, SD = 8.46), who completed the optional positive…

The capacity to measure change is essential in examining successful adaptation to ageing. Few studies measuring change have compared findings using pre-post approaches (employing difference scores) with those from retrospective approaches (employing self-ratings). Where this has occurred, differences have been attributed either to ceiling and…

Classic and contemporary sociological theories suggest that social interaction differs in rural and urban areas. Intimate, informal interactions (strong ties) are theorized to characterize rural areas while urban areas may possess more formal and rationalized interactions (weak ties). Aging and social support literature stresses social interaction…

Examined effects of age on distribution of life events experienced during past year by adults (N=3,798). Percentage of respondents reporting each of 19 events ranged from 0.5 percent for death of spouse to 19.1 percent for death of loved one. Age was important predictor in controlled analysis for 13 life events examined. (Author/NB)