The Role of General and Daily Control Beliefs for Affective Stressor-Reactivity Across Adulthood and Old Age

Abstract

Mixed evidence of age differences across general and daily control beliefs highlights how within-person processes may differentially contribute to well-being as individuals accommodate age-related strengths and vulnerabilities.

Untangling the effects of partner responsiveness on health and well-being: The role of perceived control

“…As a consequence, they may experience higher levels of anxiety and a lower sense of self-efficacy when facing challenges, which is typically manifested in difficulties with downregulating emotional reactivity to stressors (Galinsky, Gruenfeld, & Magee, 2003; Keltner et al, 2003). To illustrate this point, a few empirical studies have begun to document the relevance of perceived control for affective reactivity (Koffer et al, 2019; Tighe et al, 2015). Although there may be a link between perceived control and broad affective reactivity, the associations between control and NA reactivity are particularly strong.…”

Family caregivers' distress responses to daily behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: The moderating role of relationship quality

“…While it was unexpected that more disruptive behaviors did not predict greater distress reactivity, previous work aligns with this null finding 6 . It may be that some caregivers are using positive coping strategies such as mastery to mitigate distress when faced with disruptive behaviors 32 …”

Design and Validation of the Adaptation to Change Questionnaire: New Realities in Times of COVID-19

“…Concerning the locus of control, even though items related to internal and external control which could diminish the capacity for adaptation were included, they did not form part of the final model. This may have been due to the perception of control and cause of events, although generating a stronger feeling of capacity for managing situations [ 22 , 26 ] may not be directly related to one’s possibility to adapt. That is, the capacity for adjusting to daily situations may be independent of the control that one feels one has over them.…”

“…Thus, counting on strong perceived social support provides material sustenance and emotional comfort to people, in addition to helping them to reduce the negative evaluation of events, enabling them to alleviate distress and improve adaptation [ 45 ]. Along this line, the study by Koffer et al [ 26 ] found that beliefs about control in stressful situations increase with age, postulating that this result could be due to the decrease in availability and efficacy of psychosocial resources.…”

“…The sense of control may be internal or external. Beliefs about stronger internal control buffer the effects of stressors, so people who feel more able to control stressful events adapt better, as they are more able to face them, even though they may be more strongly exposed to this type of event [ 22 , 26 ]. However, other authors note that although at first sight it might be thought that the internal locus of control is related directly with wellbeing, it is not always that way.…”