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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to assess age, gender, ethnicity, and education differences in specific ("molecular") coping behaviors for three older adult age groups.
Thirty-five specific coping reactions were assessed on the item level for 74 sexagenarians, 70 octogenarians, and 116 centenarians of the Georgia Centenarian Study.
A multivariate analysis of covariance revealed significant age group, gender, and education differences for 14 coping reactions. Four items were affected exclusively by age; five were affected only by gender; and three were affected only by education. One item showed age group and education differences; another showed gender and education differences. No ethnicity differences were obtained. The largest effect for an age group difference was found for accepting health problems.
The findings suggest that a molecular view of specific coping behaviors in reaction to health problems, in addition to global measures of coping, is essential.
Journal of Aging and Health 03/2001; 13(1):72-91. · 1.56 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Loneliness and physical health status in older adults have been correlated strongly but the predictive direction is unclear. This study examined the relationship between personality, cognition, social network, and age modeled as predictors of loneliness in older Americans. Self-assessed health mediated the relationship. The sample consisted of 208 independently living individuals 60 to 106 years of age from the southern region of the United States. Model comparison revealed health did not mediate the relationship significantly but that self-reported loneliness itself mediated between personal characteristics and perceived health. Results indicate anxiety, frequency of telephone contact, and age, but not frequency of face-to-face contact with others or cognitive functioning, affect perceived loneliness. Perceived loneliness mediates the effects of anxiety, frequency of telephone contact, and age on self-assessed health. Feelings of loneliness decrease one's evaluation of physical well-being.
The Journals of Gerontology Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 08/1999; 54(4):P231-9. · 2.62 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to evaluate predictors of loneliness in centenarians for two countries: The USA and Sweden. It was hypothesized that cognition, personality, social support and physical health would predict loneliness. Results indicated that personality, social support and physical health were good predictors of loneliness in the US sample, while cognition and social support were the strongest predictors in the Swedish sample. Social support predicted loneliness negatively in the US sample, but was positively associated with loneliness in Sweden.
Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 10/1997; 12(3):203-24.
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ABSTRACT: Health-seeking behaviors are described by Harris and Guten (1979) as any behavior of an individual that promotes, protects, or maintains one's health, regardless of actual or perceived health status. The purpose of this study was to determine if nutritional health-seeking behavior (Bausell, 1986) comprised one or more factors for older adults (N = 256). Participants were in their 60s (n = 90), 80s (n = 91), and 100+ (n = 75). Exploratory factor analysis indicated that nutritional health-seeking behavior items formed two factors: avoid (i.e., avoiding unhealthy nutritional behavior) and seek (i.e., attempting or seeking healthy nutritional behavior). Multiple regression analysis revealed that risk factors for poor nutritional health-seeking behaviors in older adults include advanced age, low economic resources, and male gender. Protective factors included in the personality factors of self-discipline, enthusiasm, sensitivity, and warmth.
Journal of Aging and Health 03/1997; 9(1):90-104. · 1.56 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The predictability of personality for psychological well-being in centenarians when compared to sexagenarians and octogenarians was investigated. Multiple regressions were computed to examine the separate and joint effects of personality traits and states upon morale. Results indicated that low tension and high extraversion predicted high morale for centenarians. Guilt was the most important personality state predicting morale for the 60s age group, and control variables gender and health were significant for the 80s age group. The assessment of personality traits and states has important implications for working with centenarians and other older adults to maintain or improve their subjective well-being.
Psychology and Aging 10/1996; 11(3):408-16. · 2.73 Impact Factor
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The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 02/1996; 42(3):249-50. · 0.62 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the factor structure of health orientation. A secondary purpose was to determine differences in the stability and lability of health orientation. The sample consisted of four women in their sixties and four women in their eighties. A replicated, single-subject design was used to assess short-term intraindividual change in health orientation. Participants completed the Health Orientation Scale questionnaire for 100 days, and P-technique factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure of health orientation. These health orientation factors were graphed over time to assess stability and change. Results indicate that health orientation is more complex for participants in their eighties than for those in their sixties; this may represent age-appropriate development. Health orientation factors were found to be more labile or statelike for women in their eighties. These findings may help health care providers understand differences in interest or adherence to health-seeking behavior in the elderly and improve age-appropriate health care for this population.
NursingConnections 02/1996; 9(1):63-70.
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Journal of the American Dietetic Association 09/1995; 95(8):918-21. · 3.59 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Research investigating how the recall of one's past functions in maintaining psychological well-being and/or adaptation to the aging process is widely scattered and generally inconclusive with regard to significant findings. One way to address the lack of a systematic research thrust is to replicate previous work. The purpose of the study reported herein was to replicate Costa and Kastenbaum's 1967 study of the relationship between past memories and future ambitions of centenarians using data from the Georgia Centenarian Study. Ninety-seven centenarians and 189 eighty- and sixty-year-olds were asked the same four questions as found in the Costa and Kastenbaum study. Contrary to Costa and Kastenbaum's results, no significant relationship was found between the ability to recall three types of past events and being able to conceive of the future in the Georgia study. Other similarities and differences in findings between the two studies are discussed.
The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 02/1995; 41(2):117-32. · 0.62 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) scores for 247 community-dwelling, well-functioning individuals in their 60s (n = 88), in their 80s (n = 92), and 100 or older (n = 67) were compared to examine overall and component MMSE differences. The concomitant influences of visual or literacy deficits, gender, education, race, income, and activities of daily living on MMSE performance were analyzed. Mean MMSE scores of 27.8, 27.1, and 24.8, respectively, for the three cohorts were significantly different, even when all concomitant variables were controlled. After the concomitant variables were controlled, results indicated that there were no age group differences on five MMSE items: naming, repeating, listening and obeying, reading and obeying, and writing sentences. Participants with visual or literacy deficits scored 1.5 points lower than other participants, and displayed performance deficits in four items from the Read & Write MMSE division:naming, reading and obeying, writing sentences, and praxis. Education and gender were significant covariates for total and divisional MMSE scores.
International Psychogeriatrics 02/1995; 7(3):417-27. · 2.24 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Differences between rural (n = 18) and urban (n = 66) centenarians are examined across the following variables: physical health, activities of daily living, mental health, and life satisfaction. Results demonstrate higher levels of morale in rural residents and higher levels of functional health as exhibited by urban elders. Qualitative data support trends of increased degrees of independence among the rural participants. The absence of robust differences in rural and urban centenarians is discussed in terms of a leveling-off effect.
The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 02/1994; 38(1):65-89. · 0.62 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Stereotypical views of the elderly hold that very old persons are less adaptable to change and less comfortable handling crisis situations. Over the last five years, we have had the privilege of meeting 96 people aged 100 years or older as part of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funded, Georgia Centenarian Study (R01 MH 43435-05). We have encountered optimistic, wise individuals very engaged in living. Our research team continues to be amazed at the quality of life and the individual differences amongst centenarians.
Nursing & health care: official publication of the National League for Nursing 06/1993; 14(5):256-60.
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The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 02/1992; 34(1):1-17. · 0.62 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This paper compares older adults in their sixties, eighties, and 100s on personality, experience of life events, and coping. A secondary goal was to test a structural model of adaptation. Participants (165) filled out a personality inventory, life-event lists, and coping and mental health measures. Results revealed differences in personality: centenarians scored higher on dominance, suspiciousness, and imagination. While centenarians scored lower on active behavioral coping than other age groups, they used cognitive strategies when coping with health and family events. Results from the structural equation model indicated that extraversion and anxiety predicted morale and mental health.
The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 02/1992; 34(1):19-30. · 0.62 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: In the Georgia Centenarian Study, cognitive resources were estimated by fluid and crystallized intelligence, acquisition and retrieval of new information, retrieval of familiar information, and problem-solving ability in community-dwelling and nondemented adults ranging from sixty to one hundred plus years of age. Five clusters of results were found: 1) cognitive performances were lower for the older cohorts; 2) when cognitive activities were dependent on everyday experiences, no age-related problem-solving decline was found; 3) physical health and mental health can significantly influence cognitive performances; 4) cognitive and personality factors can combine to account for a larger amount of adaptation variance than can be accounted for by either of the factors alone; and 5) individuals with a high level of intelligence and affect sustain their instrumental activities of daily living. Cognitive resources were an important contributor to successful adaptation for the oldest-old.
The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 02/1992; 34(1):31-46. · 0.62 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Previous research has yielded mixed results with respect to the relationship between religiosity and adaptation in older adults. Most studies show that religiosity is stable over the life span, but that religiosity may or may not be related to such factors as physical and mental health, life satisfaction, and coping. This study adds to earlier investigations by including centenarians among the sample. The preliminary results of this research project support earlier findings that religiosity does not change significantly as one ages, although there is a trend in the results that suggests otherwise. The results also indicate a significant relationship between religiosity and physical health but no significant relationship between religiosity and mental health and life satisfaction. Religiosity and coping are strongly related, and there is the suggestion that religious coping mechanisms might be more important in the oldest-old.
The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 02/1992; 34(1):47-56. · 0.62 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This study compares the dietary patterns of centenarians (n = 24) with elderly adults in their sixties (n = 54) and eighties (n = 47). Compared to the younger cohorts, centenarians consumed breakfast more regularly, avoided weight loss diets and large fluctuations in body weight, consumed slightly more vegetables, and relied on their doctor and family more than on the news media for nutrition information. On the other hand, centenarians were less likely to consume diets low in fat and to comply with nutritional guidelines designed to reduce the risk of chronic disease. Elderly black men consumed diets higher in sweets and fat compared to black women and white men and women. Nearly three times as many blacks expressed the desire to eat more nutritiously. High nutrition risks, particularly in blacks, were associated with lower physical and mental health and impaired activities of daily living.
The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 02/1992; 34(1):57-76. · 0.62 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Although numerous studies have focused on age-related changes in the nervous system, few have systematically assessed global neurologic examination changes, and even fewer have included the most elderly population, ie, the centenarians. To perform such a study, we developed a quantitative assessment that includes the major components of a standard bedside neurologic evaluation, with special emphasis on cognitive function. First, we demonstrated that the quantitated examination could correctly classify healthy controls and patients with stroke or dementia based on discriminant analysis. This examination was then applied to healthy community-dwelling elderly ranging from 60 to 108 years of age. Significant age-related neurobehavioral changes were apparent across even these most "successfully" aged groups. Analysis of the full pattern of cognitive and neurologic findings provided the most accurate assessment. Pathologic reflexes, reportedly associated with normal aging, occurred infrequently in this healthy geriatric population, suggesting that age-related changes in the neurologic examination may be more accurately interpreted when assessed in conjunction with cognitive status. This quantitative examination may be useful in future population-based studies of neurologic function in the aged.
Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology 7(1):1-7. · 3.07 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to determine if a psychosocial model was a significant improvement over a demographic or a physical health model in predicting subjective health in older adults. Correlates of subjective health in sexagenarians, octogenarians, and centenarians were examined with hierarchical regression analysis. Data were obtained in the first wave of the Georgia Centenarian Study from 1988 to 1992. Psychosocial variables helped explain a significant component of subjective health variance above and beyond the effects of demographic or physical health variables. For centenarians an apprehensive personality and low levels of control over health were additional correlates of poor subjective health. Centenarians were the only cohort to have a unique set of correlates, indicating a uniqueness in the oldest-old, as compared to the young-old and old-old. These findings indicate that a multidimensional perspective of health in older adults is more appropriate than medical models.
Issues in Mental Health Nursing 20(2):151-71.
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ABSTRACT: Our primary purpose in conducting this study was to examine the factor structure of older women's health-seeking behavior, which we assessed over 100 occasions. This was accomplished with a daily self-report of nutritional, exercise, and adherence behaviors. A secondary purpose was to determine differences in the stability and lability of health-seeking behavior factors. The sample consisted of 4 women in their 60s and 4 women in their 80s. By using P-technique factor analysis, in which the sample size is determined by number of occasions rather than participants, we examined individual factors of health-seeking behavior for variability over time. Both activity and dietary items made up the health-seeking behavior factors of participants who were in their 60s, whereas for participants in their 80s factors comprised only activity items. The stability of most of these health-seeking behaviors indicated that these behaviors may be more trait-like than state-like in these older women.
Health Care For Women International 17(2):187-96. · 0.63 Impact Factor
