TY - JOUR T1 - Activity Engagement and Activity-Related Experiences: The Role of Personality. JF - J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci Y1 - 2018 A1 - Nicky J Newton A1 - Pladevall-Guyer, Jana A1 - Gonzalez, Richard A1 - Jacqui Smith KW - Age Factors KW - Aged KW - Aged, 80 and over KW - Educational Status KW - Female KW - Humans KW - Interviews as Topic KW - Male KW - Marital Status KW - Middle Aged KW - Personality KW - Personality Inventory KW - Sex Factors KW - Social participation KW - Surveys and Questionnaires AB -

Objectives: The associations of personality with activity participation and well-being have been well studied. However, less is known concerning the relationship between personality and specific aspects of activity engagement in older adults. We conducted a fine-grained examination of the effects of extraversion and conscientiousness on reported activity engagement-which we define as participation, time allocated, and affective experience-during 8 everyday activities.

Method: Data were obtained using a day reconstruction measure from a subgroup of participants in the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (HRS: N = 5,484; mean age = 67.98 years).

Results: We found mixed support for hypotheses suggesting that specific personality traits would be associated with activity participation, time allocated, and activity-affective experience. For example, extraverts were more likely to socialize and experienced higher socializing-related positive affect, but did not spend more time socializing.

Discussion: Results are discussed in light of the value of including personality in, and its contribution to, studies of activity engagement in later life. In addition, the need to acknowledge the complexity of the concept of activity engagement in future research is highlighted.

VL - 73 UR - http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/08/12/geronb.gbw098.long IS - 8 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27520061?dopt=Abstract ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Cohort differences in the marriage-health relationship for midlife women. JF - Soc Sci Med Y1 - 2014 A1 - Nicky J Newton A1 - Lindsay H Ryan A1 - Rachel T King A1 - Jacqui Smith KW - Age Factors KW - Aged KW - Chronic disease KW - Cohort Studies KW - Female KW - Health Status KW - Health Surveys KW - Humans KW - Marital Status KW - Marriage KW - Middle Aged KW - Mobility Limitation KW - Risk Factors KW - Socioeconomic factors KW - United States AB -

The present study aimed to identify potential cohort differences in midlife women's self-reported functional limitations and chronic diseases. Additionally, we examined the relationship between marital status and health, comparing the health of divorced, widowed, and never married women with married women, and how this relationship differs by cohort. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we examined potential differences in the level of functional limitations and six chronic diseases in two age-matched cohorts of midlife women in the United States: Pre-Baby Boomers, born 1933-1942, N = 4574; and Early Baby Boomers, born 1947-1956, N = 2098. Linear and logistic regressions tested the marital status/health relationship, as well as cohort differences in this relationship, controlling for age, education, race, number of marriages, length of time in marital status, physical activity, and smoking status. We found that Early Baby Boom women had fewer functional limitations but higher risk of chronic disease diagnosis compared to Pre-Baby Boom women. In both cohorts, marriage was associated with lower disease risk and fewer functional limitations; however, never-married Early Baby Boom women had more functional limitations, as well as greater likelihood of lung disease than their Pre-Baby Boom counterparts (OR = 0.28). Results are discussed in terms of the stress model of marriage, and the association between historical context and cohort health (e.g., the influence of economic hardship vs. economic prosperity). Additionally, we discuss cohort differences in selection into marital status, particularly as they pertain to never-married women, and the relative impact of marital dissolution on physical health for the two cohorts of women.

PB - 116 VL - 116 N1 - Times Cited: 0 0 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24983699?dopt=Abstract U2 - PMC4625785 U4 - Midlife women/Health/Cohort/Marital status/LIFE EXPECTANCY/MENOPAUSE/divorce/functional limitations/regression Analysis/cohort differences ER -