When individuals reach very old age, accumulating negative conditions represent a serious challenge to their capacity to adapt and are likely to reduce the quality of life. By examining happiness and its determinants in centenarians, this study investigated the proposal that psychological resilience may come to an end in extremely old age. Data from the population-based Heidelberg Centenarian Study indicated high levels of happiness. Basic resources (i.e., job training, cognition, health, social network, extraversion) explained a substantial proportion of variance in happiness, but some resource effects were mediated through self-referent beliefs (e.g., self-efficacy) and attitudes toward life (e.g., optimistic outlook). Results challenge the view that psychological resilience reaches a critical limit or that the self-regulatory adaptation system loses its efficiency in very advanced age.

Environmental characteristics at home and in the neighborhood need to be considered to better understand differential processes of aging in place with respect to well-being.

Age-differential predictive values of the resources seem to indicate positive adaptation to aging. Taking into account such prediction patterns may help to design specific interventions for young-old and old-old individuals.

Regarding the purpose of this study, the researchers analyzed the roles that both life events (life-time positive events and life-time negative events) and personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Trust, Competence, and Ideas) played in participants of the Georgia Centenarian Study. The researchers analyzed these variables to determine whether they predicted loneliness. Analyses indicated that life-time negative events significantly predicted loneliness. In essence, the higher was the number of life-time negative life events, the higher was the loneliness score. Moreover, Neuroticism, Competence, and Ideas were all significant predictors of loneliness. The higher was the level of Neuroticism and intellectual curiosity, the higher was the level of loneliness, whereas the lower was the level of Competence, the higher was the level of loneliness. In addition, both life-time positive and life-time negative life events were significant predictors of Neuroticism. The higher was the number of life-time positive events, the lower was the level of Neuroticism, and the higher was the number of life-time negative events, the greater was the level of Neuroticism. These results indicated that life-time negative events indirectly affect loneliness via Neuroticism. Last, our results indicated that the Competence facet mediated the relationship between lifetime negative life events and loneliness. Life-time negative life events significantly affected centenarians' perceived competence, and Competence in turn significantly affected the centenarians' loneliness. These results as a whole not only add to our understanding of the link between personality and loneliness, but also provide new insight into how life events predict loneliness.

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The findings suggest that a molecular view of specific coping behaviors in reaction to health problems, in addition to global measures of coping, is essential.

The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis of whether early education and/or maintaining intellectual activities over the life-course have the power to protect against cognitive impairment even in extremely old adults. Ninety centenarians from the population-based Heidelberg Centenarian Study were assessed with a modified version of the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE). Data about education, occupational status, and life-long intellectual activities in four selected domains were obtained. Results demonstrated that 52% of the sample showed mild-to-severe cognitive impairment. Analyzing the influence of early education, occupational status, and intellectual activities on cognitive status we applied several (logistic) regression analyses. Results revealed independent, significant and strong influence of both formal school education and intellectual activities on the cognitive status in very late life, even after controlling for occupational status. However, about one fourth of the effect of early education on cognitive status was exerted indirectly via the assessed intellectual activities. In summary, the present study provides first evidence for the conclusion that even with regard to cognitive performance in very old age, both early education and life-long intellectual activities seem to be of importance.

With increasing age, older adults are more likely to be challenged by an increasing number of physical, functional and social losses. As a result, coping with losses becomes a central theme in very late life. This study investigated age differences and age changes in active behavioral, active cognitive and avoidance coping and related coping to adaptational outcomes, such as physical and mental health. Sixty-one sexagenarians, 46 octogenarians, and 47 centenarians from the Georgia Centenarian Study participated in this longitudinal study to assess coping with health and family events. The results indicated age group differences in active behavioral coping, suggesting that centenarians were less likely to use this mode of coping. Centenarians and octogenarians were also more likely to experience decreases in active behavioral coping over time, while sexagenarians were more likely to experience increases in this coping mode. No significant differences in coping with health versus family events were obtained suggesting that coping is consistent across life domains. Moderate levels of stability were obtained for coping in all age groups. Active behavioral and active cognitive coping predicted functional health, active behavioral coping predicted social relations, and avoidance coping predicted negative affect.