Aim: To investigate the impact of an interdisciplinary low vision service on the vision related quality of life of service users. Methods: 71 patients were interviewed 2 weeks before their appointment with the service and again 6 months later to assess any changes in their vision related quality of life. The majority of these patients had age related macular degeneration. Results: After contact with the service the majority of patients indicated a reduction in concern about most quality of life issues. They were significantly less anxious about deterioration of their vision, safety within the home, and coping with everyday life. Conclusion: Improvements in many areas of their vision related quality of life indicate that this interdisciplinary low vision service has a positive impact on the lives of service users. However many patients were still unable to carry out their preferred everyday activities, and feelings of loneliness and isolation were unchanged. The identification of issues unrelieved by input from the service will be important in planning future service delivery.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of personal and family background, academic ability, and childhood consumer experiences on the financial literacy of college students in Malaysia. The sample comprised 2,519 students in 11 public and private colleges in Malaysia. Financial literacy was measured with a 25‐item test of financial knowledge. On average, students answered less than half of the questions correctly. Methods of analysis included bivariate t tests, analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis. The childhood consumer experience of discussing family finances with parents has a substantial positive relationship with financial literacy. Students of Chinese ethnicity, who live on campus, and who attend private colleges are less likely to be financially literate.

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.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between physical health and psychological well-being among oldest-old adults. Structural equation modeling was performed to examine health influences on psychological well-being among 306 octogenarians and centenarians from the Georgia Centenarian Study. Latent variables were created to reflect subjective health, as measured by self-ratings of health and objective health, as measured by physical health impairment (i.e., health problems, past and present diseases, hospitalization) and biomarkers (i.e., hemoglobin and albumin). Psychological well-being was measured by positive and negative affect. There were significant direct effects of subjective health on affect and significant indirect effects of objective health through subjective health on positive affect and negative affect. Subjective health took the role of a mediator between objective health and psychological well-being. These results highlight the status and perceptions of health as a critical indicator for well-being in extreme old age.

While it is understood that longevity and health are influenced by complex interactions among biological, psychological, and sociological factors, there is a general lack of understanding on how psychosocial factors impact longevity, health, and quality of life among the oldest old. One of the reasons for this paradox is that the amount of funded research on aging in the US is significantly larger in the biomedical compared to psychosocial domains. The goals of this paper are to highlight recent data to demonstrate the impact of four pertinent psychosocial domains on health and quality of life of the oldest old and supplement recommendations of the 2001 NIA Panel on Longevity for future research. The four domains highlighted in this paper are (1) demographics, life events, and personal history, (2) personality, (3) cognition, and (4) socioeconomic resources and support systems.

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Centenarians are thought of as unique and exceptional survivors. This study evaluated specific personality traits and configurations of traits among participants of the Georgia Centenarian Study. Two hundred and eighty five centenarians and their nominated proxies participated in this study. Self ratings and proxy informant ratings were obtained for different traits and facets of the Big-5 personality typology. Results suggested that centenarians overall had low levels of Neuroticism, but high levels of Extraversion, Competence, and Trust. When compared to centenarian self ratings, proxies provided significantly higher ratings for Neuroticism, Hostility, and Vulnerability, but lower ratings for Competence and Trust. Among Centenarians, the personality configuration of low Neuroticism, high Competence, and high Extraversion traits is over-represented relative to chance. The results confirm that centenarians show several unique single traits, but that a special combination of traits (i.e., low levels of Neuroticism, high Competence, and high Extraversion) are also notable in this group of exceptional survivors.

This study investigates how psychological characteristics influence saving behavior within a sample of 1,380 U.S. preretirees aged 50–70 from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Using the 3M Model of Motivation and Personality as a theoretical basis, structural equation model results revealed that financial self‐efficacy (FSE) directly explains saving behavior and is central to understanding the link between other psychological characteristics and the saving behavior of older adults. Through higher FSE, increased positive affect and reduced negative affect indirectly supported saving behavior. Moreover, the results revealed personality traits indirectly explained saving behavior. Conscientiousness and extroversion indirectly supported saving behavior; whereas openness to experience and neuroticism indirectly undermined saving behavior. This study connects broad personality traits with saving behavior, which provides information about how older adults' psychological composition is related to their saving practices.