Navigating Life’s Twists and Turns: Characteristics of Life Events Across Adulthood

Abstract

This study examines life-event characteristics across adulthood. We hypothesized that older adults would report less anticipated, less normative, less positive, less controllable, and more strenuous life events than younger adults due to increasing developmental losses and decreasing gains. We also expected older adults to cope better with unfavorable events due to their life experience and emotion regulation skills. Using multilevel modelling on a sample of 6,688 participants aged 18–90, we found that older adults reported less favorable life events but coped better when experiencing the same events as younger adults. Furthermore, life-event characteristics were consistently linked to well-being across adulthood. Our findings highlight the importance of distinguishing between individuals across and within life events when studying age-related experiences.