%0 Journal Article %J Aging and Mental Health %D 2019 %T A life-span approach to examining older vulnerable population's subjective well-being: The role of adversity and trauma. %A Mai See Yang %A Hedeker, Donald %K Childhood adversity %K Trauma %K Well-being %X Using the life course guidance, the goal of this study was to examine the degree to which previously experienced adversity and trauma was associated with subjective well-being among older adults. Data from the Health and Retirement Study (1992-2012) was used to examine these trends over time. We used multilevel models to test for specific individual change across time. The study sample included older community dwellers aged 55 and over ( = 5,649). In terms of early childhood adversities, 77% experienced at least one trauma and 72% experienced at least one trauma in adulthood. Adverse childhood experiences and adulthood trauma were predictors of depressive symptoms, poorer self-rated health, and worse life satisfaction. Older black, other race, and Hispanic groups have poorer subjective well-being overtime compared to whites. Findings suggested exposure to childhood adversities and adulthood trauma increases depressive symptoms, poor self-rated health, and low satisfaction of life over time. Findings from this study provide insight into how life course exposure of adversity and trauma among older adults showed a negative trend over time. %B Aging and Mental Health %G eng %U https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13607863.2019.1652245?scroll=top&needAccess=true %9 Journal %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31402675?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1080/13607863.2019.1652245 %0 Journal Article %J Soc Sci Med %D 2010 %T Functional declines, social support, and mental health in the elderly: does living in a state supportive of home and community-based services make a difference? %A Muramatsu, Naoko %A yin, Hongjun %A Hedeker, Donald %K Activities of Daily Living %K Aged %K Cognition %K Community Health Services %K depression %K Disabled Persons %K Female %K Home Care Services %K Humans %K Logistic Models %K Male %K Mental Health %K Multilevel Analysis %K Risk Factors %K Social Support %K Spouses %K State Government %K Stress, Psychological %K United States %X

This study examines how acute and chronic stresses associated with functional declines in seniors and their spouses are moderated by their informal and formal support contexts. In the United States, states vary greatly in their support for home and community-based services (HCBS) for seniors with disabilities. This state-to-state variation allowed us to examine mental health effects of living in a society supportive of HCBS for the oldest old, who are at high risk for low or declining functions in daily activities and cognitive abilities. Using a ten-year panel study of a nationally representative sample of the oldest old (>or=70 years old) covering the period 1993-2002, we conducted mixed-effects logistic regression analysis to incorporate time-varying characteristics of persons and states. As expected, low and declining functions in daily living and cognition constituted significant stressors among seniors and their spouse. Results demonstrated the important role of informal support available from non-spouse family/friends in lowering depression. Living in a state supportive of HCBS was associated with lower depression among seniors experiencing consistently low levels of function or recent functional declines, especially among those without informal support. Our findings were consistent with moderating or buffering models of formal support, suggesting that state HCBS support is effective mainly under conditions of high levels of stressors. Political will is needed to prepare US society to collectively support community-based long-term needs, given the difficulty of preparing ourselves fully for common, but often unexpected, functional declines in later life.

%B Soc Sci Med %I 70 %V 70 %P 1050-8 %8 2010 Apr %G eng %N 7 %L newpubs20100729_Muramatsu.pdf %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20117865?dopt=Abstract %2 PMC3360961 %4 Stress/Home Care Services/community-based services/mental Health/depression %$ 22990 %R 10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.12.005