The effects of the Columbia shuttle disaster on the daily lives of older adults: Findings from the VA Normative Aging Study

Abstract

During 2002-2003 the VA Normative Aging Study conducted an eight-day diary survey of stressors and well-being. A sub-sample of 19 men and 13 women (mean age = 71.78) completed daily questionnaires before and after the Columbia shuttle exploded on 1st February 2003, presenting a unique look into peoples' daily lives before and after a tragic event. Results indicated no significant changes in negative affect or physical symptoms, but people reported significant decreases in both positive affect and memory failures on days following the shuttle explosion. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Neuroticism moderates the daily relation between stressors and memory failures.

“…For each person, for each day, we first computed the sum of all stressors reported (M = 0.85, SD = 1.10, range: 0-7); we also computed five dichotomous dummy variables that indicated whether the different types of stressors (i.e., interpersonal stressors, demands, network stressors, health stressors, and other) occurred. We chose to use the frequency of stressors as an index of stressor exposure, which is (a) consistent with previous work (e.g., Neupert et al, 2006aNeupert et al, , 2006b), (b) maintains the maximum range of the exposure scale, and (c) allows for the examination of cumulative effects of multiple stressors. If participants reported that a stressor had occurred, they were also asked how stressful the event was for them (1 = not at all, 2 = a little, 3 = somewhat, 4 = very), which is a subjective appraisal of stressor severity (e.g., Lazarus, 1999).…”

“…Additionally, a subsample of participants (n = 32) were completing the diaries when the Columbia Shuttle exploded on February 1, 2003. As reported elsewhere (Neupert et al, 2006b), this event was recorded by some of the participants as a stressor which fell into the "other" category. Although speculative, these events appear to generally capture truly external circumstances which are beyond one's control.…”

“…In 2001, 1,125 participants (882 men and 243 of their wives or female partners) completed a questionnaire that was used to assess personality, health behaviors, and life event stressors. Starting in August 2002, recruitment began for the 8-day daily diary study regarding stressors and memory failures (see Neupert, Almeida, Mroczek, & Spiro, 2006b, for more information). Between August 2002 and April 2003, we contacted 529 NAS respondents and their wives or female partners and invited them to participate.…”

“…Sunderland et al have shown that this self-report measure of everyday memory failures has good psychometric properties. To reduce participant burden, we selected 1 item from each of the 5 aspects, specifically choosing the ones that were most likely to be endorsed (see Neupert et al, 2006b, for a description of the pilot study and validation of the scale). The questions presented were…”

“…Multilevel modeling is frequently used by researchers to model intraindividual variability (e.g., Grzywacz, Almeida, Neupert, & Ettner, 2004;Neupert et al, 2006aNeupert et al, , 2006b, that is, people's variability around their own average. This technique was especially useful because we sought to examine intraindividual variability in stressors and memory failures and whether the covariation within individuals would depend on between-person differences in neuroticism.…”