Stress, coping, and aging

Aldwin, Carolyn M.; Yancura, Loriena A.; Lee, Hyunyup

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-816094-7.00016-7

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…Our findings might have important practical implications. Interventions to reduce stress or to promote the use of adaptive coping strategies when facing and dealing with stressors might help to reduce the various health risks that stress conveys ( Aldwin et al, 2021 ; Almeida et al, 2002 ; Thoits, 2010 ), including the risk of impaired vision or hearing. Different coping strategies, such as flexible goal adjustment, have already been found to be associated with higher well-being among sensory impaired older adults ( Boerner & Wang, 2012 ; Brennan-Ing et al, 2013 ; Heyl et al, 2007 ; Wettstein et al, 2019 ), and these strategies might also contribute to preventing the onset or progression of sensory deficits by avoiding or reducing stress and by buffering the detrimental effect of stress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the established transactional stress model ( Lazarus & Folkman, 1984 ), stress occurs when environmental demands exceed an individual’s resources (see also Aldwin et al, 2021 ). Stress is thus a subjective phenomenon, dependent on individual appraisals of a situation and of one’s personal resources.…”

Section: The Role Of Stress For Sensory Impairmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Generally, “experiencing high levels of stress over an extended period of time is one of the biggest risk for mental and physical health” ( Klaperski, 2018 , p. 244). The detrimental impact of stress on health status and morbidity and the role of stress as a risk factor for various diseases and health symptoms ( Aldwin et al, 2021 ; Almeida et al, 2002 ; Thoits, 2010 ), mental disorders ( Charles et al, 2013 ), impaired cognitive functioning ( McEwen, 2013 ; Neupert et al, 2006 ), and mortality ( Aldwin et al, 2011 ; Jeong et al, 2016 ) is well established. Various pathways, including psychological as well as biological and physiological ones, seem to account for these health-detrimental effects of stress ( Aldwin & Yancura, 2010 ; Kiecolt-Glaser et al, 2015 ; Stawski et al, 2013 ; Surachman & Almeida, 2018 ).…”

Section: The Role Of Stress For Sensory Impairmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perceived Stress Predicts Subsequent Self-Reported Problems With Vision and Hearing: Longitudinal Findings From the German Ageing Survey

2021

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Although stress is a risk factor for various diseases in later life, its role for sensory abilities in the second half of life has rarely been empirically addressed. We examined if perceived stress at baseline predicts self-reported difficulties with vision and hearing 3 years later. We also explored whether chronological age is a moderator of associations between stress and sensory difficulties. Our sample was derived from the German Ageing Survey and consisted of n = 5,085 individuals aged 40–95 years ( M = 64.01 years, SD = 10.84 years). Controlling for baseline self-reported sensory functioning, socio-demographic indicators, self-rated health and chronic diseases, greater perceived stress at baseline predicted greater self-reported difficulties with vision and hearing 3 years later. The effect of stress did not vary by age. Our findings suggest that, from middle adulthood to advanced old age, stress is a risk factor for increases in self-perceived problems with vision and hearing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Role Of Stress For Sensory Impairmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Role Of Stress For Sensory Impairmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Perceived Stress Predicts Subsequent Self-Reported Problems With Vision and Hearing: Longitudinal Findings From the German Ageing Survey

2021

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“…One of these pathways is that more negative views on aging and age stereotypes are related to stress, affecting, for instance, physiological stress responses (Levy & Bavishi, 2018; Levy et al, 2000, 2008; Levy, Ferrucci, et al, 2016; Levy, Moffat, et al, 2016). This is especially harmful since stress is “one of the biggest risks for mental and physical health” (Klaperski, 2018, p. 244) and negatively affects various outcomes of health, cognitive abilities, and well-being (Aldwin et al, 2021; Almeida et al, 2002; Charles et al, 2013; Jeong et al, 2016; Neupert et al, 2006; Thoits, 2010).…”

Section: The Need For a Multi-indicator Perspective On Views On Agingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal associations between perceived stress and views on aging: Evidence for reciprocal relations.

Wettstein¹,

Wahl²,

Kornadt³

2021

Psychology and Aging

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Views on aging (VoA) are meaningful predictors of well-being, health, cognitive impairment, and mortality. One underlying pathway could be that negative VoA promote perceived stress. However, little is known about the role of stress perceptions as an antecedent of personal VoA. In this study, we therefore investigated the longitudinal reciprocal association between perceived stress and three established constructs representing personal VoA: (a) subjective age; (b) attitude toward own aging (ATOA); and (c) aging-related cognitions comprising social loss, physical decline, and continuous growth. We also examined whether these associations are moderated by chronological age. Two adjacent measurement occasions (2014 and 2017) of the German Ageing Survey with 4,588 individuals aged between 40 and 95 years were analyzed. Cross-lagged models controlling for VoA and perceived stress at baseline, chronological age, subjective health, depressive symptoms, education, gender, region of residence, and year of individual study entry revealed significant reciprocal longitudinal relations between VoA and perceived stress. For three of the five VoA indicators, the pathway from perceived stress to subsequent VoA was of the same magnitude as the reversed pathway. With increasing chronological age, ATOA was less strongly associated with subsequent stress perceptions. Moreover, the impact of higher perceived stress on an older subjective age was weaker with advancing age. In conclusion, the trend in prior subjective aging research to conceptualize stress in midlife and old age exclusively as a consequence of VoA needs reconsideration, as higher perceived stress levels also seem to be a risk factor for less favorable personal VoA.

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“…However, another potential pathway leading from subjective age to health outcomes that has so far rarely been conceptually and empirically addressed is that subjective age might indirectly affect health by operating as a psychosocial compensatory resource that counteracts and buffers the detrimental effects of various health risk factors. In this study, we will address this assumption by focusing on stress, which is a crucial health risk factor (Aldwin et al, 2011; Aldwin et al, in press; Schneiderman et al, 2005; Thoits, 2010). Specifically, we will investigate if subjective age moderates the association between perceived stress and functional health after 3 years in a sample of middle-aged and older adults.…”

Section: Subjective Age and Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeling younger as a stress buffer: Subjective age moderates the effect of perceived stress on change in functional health.

Wettstein

Spuling

Cengia

et al. 2021

Psychology and Aging

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Feeling younger than one's chronological age is associated with various beneficial health outcomes. However, apart from these direct health effects, little is known about the role of subjective age as a potential "buffer" and compensatory resource that might counteract the detrimental effect of health risk factors. We investigated whether the effect of perceived stress as a major health risk factor on change in functional health is smaller among individuals who feel younger. Additionally, we analyzed whether this "stress buffer effect" of subjective age varies by chronological age. Longitudinal data from the German Ageing Survey comprising 3 years (2014-2017) were used (N = 5,039; mean age at baseline: M = 63.91 years, SD = 10.80 years, range 40-95 years). Latent change score models revealed that, controlling for baseline functional health as well as for sociodemographic variables, greater perceived stress was associated with a steeper decline in functional health. This effect increased in size with advancing chronological age. Moreover, a younger subjective age was associated with a less steep decline in functional health. Subjective age additionally exhibited a stress buffer effect: Among individuals who felt younger, the association of greater perceived stress with steeper functional health decline was weaker. This stress buffer effect of subjective age became larger with increasing age. Our findings thus suggest that, particularly among older adults, a younger subjective age might help to buffer functional health decline, not only by directly affecting functional health, but also by compensating and counteracting the detrimental effect of stress on functional health.

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Stress, coping, and aging

Cited by 21 publications

References 93 publications

Perceived Stress Predicts Subsequent Self-Reported Problems With Vision and Hearing: Longitudinal Findings From the German Ageing Survey

Perceived Stress Predicts Subsequent Self-Reported Problems With Vision and Hearing: Longitudinal Findings From the German Ageing Survey

Longitudinal associations between perceived stress and views on aging: Evidence for reciprocal relations.

Feeling younger as a stress buffer: Subjective age moderates the effect of perceived stress on change in functional health.

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