The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) is a prospective cohort study of older adults in the Netherlands, initially based on a nationally representative sample of people aged 55-84 years. The study has been ongoing since 1992, and focuses on the determinants, trajectories and consequences of physical, cognitive, emotional and social functioning. Strengths of the LASA study include its multidisciplinary character, the availability of over 25 years of follow-up, and the cohort-sequential design that allows investigations of longitudinal changes, cohort differences and time trends in functioning. The findings from LASA have been reported in over 600 publications so far (see www.lasa-vu.nl). This article provides an update of the design of the LASA study and its methods, on the basis of recent developments. We describe additional data collections, such as additional nine-monthly measurements in-between the regular three-yearly waves that have been conducted among the oldest old during 2016-2019, and the inclusion of a cohort of older Turkish and Moroccan migrants.
Given the multitude of risk factors for depression in modern society and given the negative consequences of depressive problems for successful ageing, investigating resilience in relation to depression may help identifying entry points for reducing the burden of morbidity. Research on resilience begins with the realisation that individuals may demonstrate good physical or psychological functioning despite being exposed to risk experiences that can have serious negative impact on functioning. Interest in investigating resilience within ageing research has been increasing. Among the approaches toward investigating resilience are so-called a priori approaches, where criteria for inferring resilience are established a priori. In this editorial, we highlight some of the advantages of taking a priori approaches to the study of resilience and we touch on the implications for a priori approaches for the topic of resilience and depression. We argue that depression should take a prominent role in resilience research, because depression is strongly associated with opportunities for successful ageing. First published online 10 July 2017Key words: Depression, elderly, epidemiology, models/theories of psychiatry.Successful ageing and resilience -these are concepts that occupy the minds of scholars, as societies are confronted with unprecedented population ageing. The application of these concepts in empirical research generates much interest and discussion. The implications of these concepts for depression research should be debated, because good mental health is instrumental to both of them.Successful ageing is among the core concepts of gerontology, but the operational definition of successful ageing has been heavily debated (Cosco et al. 2013). Articulated suggestions for modification of approaches to define successful ageing pointed toward the necessity to incorporate information on mental health. Most older adults value emotional functioning highly, in addition to physical functioning (Bowling & Dieppe, 2005). Following those suggestions, studies have incorporated indicators of mental health, such as depressive symptomatology, in operational definitions of successful ageing (Kok et al. 2017). Even if depression is not considered to be part of successful ageing, it is strongly associated with it (Jeste et al. 2013).From the perspective of public health, it has been clear that the burden of depressive problems has been a considerable challenge to healthy population ageing (Murray & Lopez, 1997). Given the multitude of risk factors for depression in modern society and given the consequences of depressive problems, investigating resilience in relation to depression seems an obvious route toward identifying entry points for reducing the burden of morbidity.Research on resilience is the science that explains why people thrive despite being exposed to specific risk experiences. In the remainder of this editorial we refer to resilience among human beings. However, research from other academic disciplines study resilience of othe...
Objectives Older immigrants are affected by an accumulation of adversities related to migration and aging. This study investigates resilience in older immigrants by examining the resources they use to deal with these adversities in the course of their lives. Methods Data from 23 life-story interviews with Turkish and Moroccan immigrants aged 60–69 years living in the Netherlands. Results The circumstances under which individuals foster resilience coincide with four postmigration life stages: settling into the host society, maintaining settlement, restructuring life postretirement, and increasing dependency. Resources that promote resilience include education in the country of origin, dealing with language barriers, having two incomes, making life meaningful, strong social and community networks, and the ability to sustain a transnational lifestyle traveling back and forth to the country of origin. More resilient individuals invest in actively improving their life conditions and are good at accepting conditions that cannot be changed. Discussion The study illustrates a link between conditions across life stages, migration, and resilience. Resilient immigrants are better able to accumulate financial and social and other resources across life stages, whereas less resilient immigrants lose access to resources in different life stages.
Private religious activities are positively related to wellbeing among Turkish and Moroccan immigrants. In situations where resources are lacking, however, the relation between private religious activities and wellbeing is negative. The study's results highlight the importance of context, disadvantage and type of religious activity for wellbeing.
Moroccans and Dutch appeared to be more resilient against impairments than Turks. As none of the resilience factors buffered in all three populations, we conclude that resilience mechanisms are not universal across populations.
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