Background and Objectives As the population becomes increasingly diverse, it is important to understand the prevalence of depression across a racially and ethnically diverse older population. The purpose of this study was to compare rates of depression by age and disaggregated racial and ethnic groups to inform practitioners and target resource allocation to high risk groups. Research Design and Methods Data were from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Health Outcomes Survey, Cohorts 15 and 16, a national and annual survey of a racially diverse group of adults aged 65 and older who participate in Medicare Advantage plans (N = 175,956). Depression was operationalized by the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2); we estimated a logistic regression model and adjusted standard errors to account for 403 Medicare Advantage Organizations. Results Overall, 10.2% of the sample (n = 17,957) reported a PHQ-2 score of 3 or higher, indicative of a positive screen for depression. After adjusting for covariates, odds of screening positively for depression were higher among participants self-reporting as Mexican (odds ratio [OR] = 1.19), Puerto Rican (OR = 1.46), Cuban (OR = 1.57), another Hispanic/Latino (OR = 1.29), and multiple Hispanic/Latino (OR = 1.84) ethnicities, compared with non-Hispanic whites. Odds were also higher among participants reporting that their race was black/African American (OR = 1.20), Asian Indian (OR = 1.67), Filipino (OR = 1.30), Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (OR = 1.82), or two or more races (OR = 1.50), compared with non-Hispanic whites. Discussion and Implications Prevalence varied greatly across segments of the population, suggesting that certain racial/ethnic groups are at higher risk than others. These disparities should inform distribution of health care resources; efforts to educate and ameliorate depression should be culturally targeted.

Background and Objectives Self-perceptions of aging (SPA)—the appraisals people place on their own aging processes—predict well-being in later life. Researchers are increasingly hypothesizing that the overarching construct of SPA is comprised of two factors—positive SPA and negative SPA—and that SPA are gendered. The purpose of this study was to empirically test the hypothesized two-factor structure of SPA and to analyze how the two-factor structure varies between men and women. Research Design and Methods Data come from the 2012 wave of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 7,029; Mage = 68.08), which includes an 8-item SPA scale. We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to assess (i) the positive SPA and negative SPA two-factor solution for the 8-item scale and (ii) whether the two-factor solution had configural, strong, or weak invariance across men and women. Results CFAs indicated a two-factor latent structure of the 8-item scale, with SPA being comprised of both a positive SPA factor and a negative SPA factor. The latent structure was the same for both men and women. Discussion and Implications Results suggest that SPA is a broader construct made up of positive and negative latent factors. Researchers should consider separating the SPA by positive and negative factors to analyze how each factor uniquely shapes health. Moreover, the two-factor solution was equivalent across men and women, possibly because of the generalized nature of the 8-item scale. Researchers can use the 8-item scale similarly for men and women and should continue to elucidate possible gender differences in SPA.

Intergenerational practitioners responding to a 2018 national survey identified a need for evidence-informed evaluation tools to measure program impact. The Best Practices (BP) Checklist, a 14-item (yes/no) measure assessing the extent to which an intergenerational program session maintained effective intergenerational strategies, may help meet this need. Yet, researchers have not validated the measure. In this study, we begin the empirical validation process by completing an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the BP Checklist to offer insight into possible item reduction and an underlying latent factor structure. Using BP Checklist data from 132 intergenerational activities, we found a 13-item, 3-factor structure, reflecting dimensions of: (a) pairing intergenerational participants, (b) person-centered strategies (e.g., selecting activities reflecting participants’ interests), and (c) staff knowledge of participants. Our study represents a foundational step toward optimizing intergenerational program evaluation, thereby enhancing programming quality.

Objectives We analyzed whether marital status and experiences of marital loss or gain were associated with self-perceptions of aging (SPA), a major psychosocial mechanism of healthy aging. Method We used data from 7028 participants of the Health and Retirement Study. Participants reported their marital status and their positive and negative SPA on two occasions 4 years apart. We ran general linear models to analyze differences in SPA between men and women who remained married, became divorced or widowed, or remarried following divorce or widowhood. Results Participants who experienced marital loss had lower positive SPA than participants who remained marred. Participants who experienced marital gain had lower negative SPA than participants who remained married. None of the associations differed between men and women. Discussion Results suggest that it may not be marital status itself, but rather the transition into or out of marriage, that impacts how people appraise their own aging.

Despite much literature pointing to the saliency of self-perceptions of aging (SPA) to aging processes, limited research offers empirical analysis on what shapes SPA. In order to identify possible antecedents to SPA, we conducted an exploratory analysis to analyze whether two future-oriented constructs—optimism and self-efficacy associated with possible selves—were associated with SPA. We ran hierarchical linear regressions, with optimism and self-efficacy of possible selves predicting SPA among 244 middle-aged and older adults. Higher optimism, higher self-efficacy to achieve hoped-for selves, and higher self-efficacy to avoid feared selves were associated with higher overall SPA. Results from our study suggest that how someone appraises their future older self impacts how they perceive their current older self.