TY - JOUR T1 - POSITIVE SELF-PERCEPTIONS OF AGING AS PREDICTORS OF COVID-RELATED PREVENTIVE BEHAVIOR AND RESILIENCE JF - Innovation in Aging Y1 - 2022 A1 - Hannah L. Giasson A1 - Chopik, William A1 - Carrillo, Alejandro KW - COVID-19 KW - positive self-perceptions of aging AB - Individuals have faced extraordinary challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychosocial strengths may promote individuals’ resilience during this time. Positive self-perceptions of aging (SPA) have been found to predict a variety of health and well-being indicators. We examined SPA as a predictor of COVID-19-related behavior, adaptation, and resilience in a sample of 3,620 adults (Mage=65.88; 61.1% women; 65.4% white) from the 2016 and 2020 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Linear regression results revealed that more positive SPA in 2016 was associated with more preventative health behavior (β=.03, p=.04), a higher likelihood of staying at home (β=.07, p<.001), less worry (β=-.27, p<.001), less stress (β=-.24, p<.001), less loneliness (β=-.27, p<.001), and greater resilience (β=.20, p<.001) during the first year of the pandemic (2020). Associations held after controlling for demographic covariates. Findings support SPA theories, suggesting linkages between SPA and adaptive behaviors and outcomes in the face of external challenges. VL - 6 IS - Suppl 1 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Concurrent and enduring associations between married partners' shared beliefs and markers of aging JF - Psychology and Aging Y1 - 2020 A1 - Shannon T. Mejia A1 - Hannah L. Giasson A1 - Jacqui Smith A1 - Gonzalez, Richard KW - Couples KW - markers of aging AB - Beliefs about aging are grounded in social experience. This study considered the extent to which married older adults' shared beliefs about aging and markers of aging maintain a concurrent and enduring association with their partners' beliefs about and markers of aging. Data from the 2010/2012 and 2014/2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study provided measures of husbands' and wives' (3,779 couples) positive and negative beliefs about aging and internal (Cystatin C) and external (grip strength) markers of aging at 2 time points. Latent dyadic models parsed beliefs and markers into partners' individual and shared variances, which were connected both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Longitudinal analysis showed that the cross-sectional associations between shared beliefs and markers of aging were stable over 4 years. Partners' shared beliefs and markers of aging were found to have enduring associations with each other over time. The enduring association between grip strength and future negative beliefs remained significant after accounting for partner selection and similarity in health. Model comparisons across marriage duration and emotional closeness showed partners' beliefs to be more similar in marriages that were either long established or emotionally close. In all groups, shared beliefs and markers of aging were associated with each other over time. The association between positive beliefs and future grip strength was stronger in long-established than in recent marriages. In summary, this study provides evidence that, within older couples, beliefs about aging are shaped in part through experiences of aging together. VL - 35 SN - 0882-7974 UR - https://europepmc.org/article/med/32525338 IS - 7 JO - Psychology and agingPsychol Aging ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Age group differences in perceived age discrimination: Associations with self-perceptions of aging JF - The Gerontologist Y1 - 2017 A1 - Hannah L. Giasson A1 - Tara L Queen A1 - Larkina, Marina A1 - Jacqui Smith KW - Ageism KW - Discrimination KW - Self-reported health AB - Background and Objectives: From midlife onwards, age stereotypes increasingly underlie social judgments and contribute to age-based discrimination. Whereas many studies compare differences between young and older adults in reports of age discrimination or sensitivity to age stereotypes, few consider age group differences among adults over 50. We form subgroups corresponding to social age group membership (early midlife, late midlife, young old, oldest old) and examine differences in reported experiences of everyday age discrimination and associations with self-perceptions of aging. Research Design and Method: Using cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS: N = 15,071; M Age = 68, range 50–101), multivariate logistic regression was used to examine experiences of everyday discrimination attributed to age, and associations between age discrimination and self-perceptions of aging, in four age groups: early midlife, late midlife, young old, oldest old. Results: People in the early midlife group (aged 50–59) reported more experiences of unfair treatment than the older age groups but were less likely to attribute their experiences to age discrimination. After controlling for covariates, individuals in all age groups who perceived their own aging positively were less likely to report experiences of age discrimination. The magnitude of this effect, however, was greatest in the early midlife group. Discussion and Implications: Findings support proposals that midlife is a pivotal life period when individuals adjust to life events and social role transitions. Future longitudinal studies will provide further insight into whether positive self-perceptions of aging are especially important in this phase of the life course. VL - 57 UR - https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/geront/gnx070 IS - suppl_2 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Satisfaction with aging and use of preventive health services. JF - Prev Med Y1 - 2014 A1 - Eric S Kim A1 - Kyle D Moored A1 - Hannah L. Giasson A1 - Jacqui Smith KW - Aged KW - Aged, 80 and over KW - Aging KW - Chronic disease KW - Female KW - Health Behavior KW - Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice KW - Humans KW - Influenza Vaccines KW - Logistic Models KW - Male KW - Mammography KW - Middle Aged KW - Patient Acceptance of Health Care KW - Patient Satisfaction KW - Personal Satisfaction KW - Preventive Health Services KW - Prostatic Neoplasms KW - Surveys and Questionnaires KW - United States KW - Vaginal Smears AB -

OBJECTIVE: Preventive health service use is relatively low among older age groups. We hypothesized that aging satisfaction would be associated with increased use of preventive health services four years later.

METHOD: We conducted multiple logistic regression analyses on a sample of 6177 people from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative study of U.S. adults over the age of 50 (M age=70.6; women n=3648; men n=2529).

RESULTS: Aging satisfaction was not associated with obtaining flu shots. However, in fully-adjusted models, each standard deviation increase in aging satisfaction was associated with higher odds of reporting service use for cholesterol tests (OR=1.10, 95% CI=1.00-1.20). Further, women with higher aging satisfaction were more likely to obtain a mammogram/x-ray (OR=1.17, 95% CI=1.06-1.29) or Pap smear (OR=1.10, 95% CI=1.00-1.21). Among men, the odds of obtaining a prostate exam increased with higher aging satisfaction (OR=1.20 95% CI=1.09-1.34).

CONCLUSION: These results suggest that aging satisfaction potentially influences preventive health service use after age 50.

PB - 69 VL - 69 N1 - Times Cited: 0 0 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25240763?dopt=Abstract ER -