Catrinel Craciun

Freie Universität Berlin | FUB · Institute of Psychology

The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on emerging adults’ life and development. The present study explores the socio-emotional development during the corona pandemic from the perspective of German students themselves. Episodic semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 students and analysed with thematic coding. The main developmental challeng...

Although there is growing awareness of evaluated, school-based interventions among school staff, there are some obstacles translating programs into practice. Following three focus group discussions (N = 21, 29% male, 71% female), the present paper examines barriers, facilitators, and attitudes that influence school staff engagement in (cyber-)bully...

Sexuality often represents a taboo topic in midlife and especially older age. However, a fulfilled sexuality represents a component of positive ageing and is important for development in all life domains (i.e. cognitive, emotional, social, physical, personality). In this chapter, I will discuss the characteristics of sexuality in midlife and older...

Death represents one of the taboo topics connected to old age. However, preparing for a good death can help individuals cope with the idea of their own death and still develop on a personal level in the process. Likewise, bereavement represents unfortunately a frequently occurring event in older age. Positive psychology interventions are useful for...

When setting out to reach our developmental goals in various life domains (e.g. physical, cognitive, emotional, social, personality), we need theory and evidence-based interventions to guide us on our journey of personal growth. This chapter aims to explore what type of interventions can be effective in fostering development in middle and older age...

Anxiety is unfortunately highly prevalent among older adults and can affect their development in all life domains (i.e. social, emotional, cognitive, physical, and personality). In this chapter, I will use a positive psychology viewpoint to explore meanings of anxiety among older individuals and what strategies can be applied to prevent anxiety or...

Physical ageing is present in our daily lives when we look in the mirror, when we worry about age-related diseases or loss of physical strength, or when we are exposed to advertisements for anti-ageing products. These thoughts and settings have a focus on decline and loss in common but leave us wondering what physical development can mean in midlif...

Loneliness is usually connected to negative emotions in midlife and older age such as feeling rejected and experiencing anxiety or depression. However, loneliness experienced for a short-time period can have positive consequences for self-development in terms of self-reflection and effort invested in personal growth. Exploring loneliness in midlife...

Positive psychology interventions have gained in popularity over the last decades and are nowadays increasingly applied to boost development in midlife and older age. The present chapter summarizes the aims of the handbook as well as how different chapters contain answers to the main developmental questions that guided the present handbook. Next, I...

When considering personal development at later stages in life, this is difficult to separate from thoughts concerning ageing. Positive ageing implies successful development across different life stages and life domains (e.g. cognitive, social, emotional) and positive outcomes in later life (e.g. well-being, health). In this sense, this chapter sets...

Becoming a grandparent represents one of the new social roles that may be embraced during late midlife and older adulthood. The social role of grandparent is associated with a series of beliefs, emotions, and behaviours and impacts the individual development as well as that of the next generations. Regarding the personal development of grandparents...

Depression has negative consequences for development across the lifespan, however little is known about what role it can play for personal growth in older age. Also, depression usually constitutes part of an ageing stereotype that it is normal to experience depression in older age when there is not much to expect from life. Positive psychology focu...

Development in any life domain (e.g. physical, cognitive, social, emotional, personality) starts with an evaluation of what we want to change, how to achieve change, and how to measure the accomplishment of our change goals. In this sense, defining and operationalizing development in midlife and older age are relevant for formulating criteria for p...

Making new friends or having large social networks is usually associated with young people. But how do our friendships evolve in middle and older age and how easily are we able to make new friends in midlife or older age? The present chapter aims to provide some answers to these questions by focusing on social development among middle-aged and olde...

Happiness represents an important driving force for individuals at any life stage and continues to be so in midlife and older age. While ageing is usually associated with experiencing less happiness, research findings show that people tend to be happier as they grow older (i.e. the positivity effect). In this chapter, I will examine happiness in mi...

Pain can unfortunately be part of everyday life in case of middle-aged and older individuals. Addressing pain experience from a positive psychology perspective can help older people cope effectively and stimulates their personal growth in the process. In this chapter, I will first examine what pain is and how it can be measured from a positive psyc...

Suicide is unfortunately highly prevalent among older individuals. Addressing the issue from a positive psychology perspective can help understand what strengths one can foster to prevent older people from committing suicide. In the present chapter, I will first examine what suicide means to older people as well as summarize theoretical models that...

Our love relationships define us as individuals and shape our personal growth across the lifespan in all developmental domains (i.e. cognitive, emotional, physical, social, personality). Love relations evolve across the later stages of life as the individuals within a couple change. In this chapter, I will focus on romantic relationships and their...

Whether personality changes or not over the lifespan has been the subject of a long debate in developmental research. Contrary to assumptions that personality development stops around the age of 30, individuals continue to evolve, and certain traits may get accentuated or diminished while ageing. The present chapter will explore questions such as “...

Emotions play an important role in our daily lives, helping us communicate with others and increase our self-knowledge. Older age is often associated with negative feelings (e.g. sadness, regret, anxiety, etc.). However, research points out that older people can experience increased positive emotions compared to young individuals. The present chapt...

People are growing old in social contexts and their ageing is shaped by existing stereotypes about ageing and older people. Ageism involves a series of stereotypes, prejudice, and discriminatory actions towards older people based on their chronological age. Since the consequences of ageism are mainly negative (e.g. discriminatory actions towards ol...

Similar to physical ageing, cognitive ageing is mostly associated with decline and loss (e.g. in terms of memory, executive functions, visual and linguistic abilities) making it hard to envision positive changes. Both negative stereotypes (e.g. older people suffering from dementia) and positive stereotypes of ageing (e.g. wise older individuals) in...

Leading a happy, healthy life represents a goal for most individuals. Reaching such goals across the lifespan requires self-improvement and social contexts that facilitate it. While children and young people have often been the focus of research and interventions in the developmental realm, midlife and older age groups have been mostly neglected. H...

Background and Objectives Previous studies have linked COVID-19 to a rise in ageism. While a growing body of research examined hostile ageism during the pandemic, benevolent ageism received less attention. Drawing on the stereotype content theory and the classic tripartite model of attitudes, the current study explored how benevolent and hostile ag...

Background: Kidney transplantation is considered an optimal treatment option for patients with end-stage kidney disease in terms of survival rate, quality of life and cost-effectiveness. However, posttransplant life involves many medical, psychological and social challenges for transplant recipients. Understanding individuals' challenges and needs...

Purpose: Concerning psychosocial aproaches to disability, Romania is characterized by significant discrepancies between the Disability Rights legislation and reality, while the input of people with disabilities regarding the matter is largely overlooked. This study aims to explore perceptions regarding Romania's built and sociocultural environment,...

The article analyses children’s views on aging in the context of social changes in Romania. Data from drawings and interviews conducted with 120 middle school children (75 girls and 45 boys) aged from 11 to 14 years, illustrate how views on aging and old people reflect cultural notions of aging and older individuals. Findings point out a mixture of...

Background: Understanding lay perceptions concerning vaccination and identifying the most important psychological determinants of vaccine acceptability are relevant for health promotion campaigns. Methods: This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the psychological determinants of HPV vaccine and seasonal flu vaccine acceptability in a nation...

Despite active aging discourses and labor force integration goals, unemployment and dependency on welfare institutions among older workers still prevails, especially among vulnerable groups like immigrants or women. However, little is known about how older immigrants understand or cope with unemployment. The present study investigates the interplay...

This chapter explores how positive aging theories shape views on aging. The chapter starts off with defining positive aging and goes on to provide an overview of the successful aging theory and its main critiques. The key critical points are organized around the question of whether we should think differently about aging ? Since theory inspires dif...

This chapter explores how precarious middle-aged workers perceive the reality of precarity and their own aging . The chapter starts off with the definition of the precariat provided by Standing (2011) and goes on to analyze the characteristics and importance of the rising aging precariat . In the following, the German aging precariat is described t...

This chapter argues that precarity shapes views on aging by generating and encouraging specific negative images concerning old age, by stimulating the reinvention of positive aging images and by increasing the discrepancy between positive aging ideals and the social reality of precarity . First, the chapter examines the negative images forged by pr...

This chapter considers the issue of preparation for old age in precarious times. It is argued that precarity shapes old age preparations by constructing the aging context, by affecting mental preparations and by creating distinctive resources for old age. First, the chapter analyses how precarity shapes the health and work settings leading to the a...

This chapter focuses on the decisions and actions that precarious and financially secure middle-aged Germans take in preparation for old age. The first part of the chapter discusses the dilemma of preparing for old age in precarious times. Next, the chapter examines the strategies applied by precarious workers when preparing for old age. These stra...

The introduction sets out to describe the issue of aging being perceived either as a challenge or problem for contemporary society. The links between positive aging theory , active aging policy and views on aging are outlined, and the main research questions and book aims are formulated. A further section of the introduction is dedicated to the met...

This chapter explores views on aging that emerge within a precarious social reality. Since the social reality is shared by individuals with precarious jobs and those who still enjoy financial security, the views on aging of the two groups are contrasted and compared. Views on aging are discussed by pointing out that the aging process provides new c...

This chapter discusses the social reality of aging, emphasizing the discrepancy between positive aging discourse and the social reality of aging in precarious times. The chapter starts out by describing what it means to be living in precarious times, referring to Baumann’s (2007) “living in liquid times” and Grenier’s “new culture of risk” (Grenier...

This chapter comprises the research conclusions and implications for practice and policy . The chapter argues that positive aging can exist in precarious contexts, because precarity models how middle-aged individuals imagine old age and how they enact preparations for old age . The research conclusions are framed by the discussion of how individual...

This chapter examines the politics of positive aging. It starts off by defining active aging and exploring how positive aging theories contributed to shaping aging policy . The chapter continues with an analysis of how active aging policy and images of aging are interlinked and how they evolved historically. It is argued that images of aging are no...

This book explores positive aging through the lens of precarity, aiming to ground positive aging theories in current social contexts. In recent years, research on aging has been branded by growing disagreements between supporters of the successful aging model and critical gerontologists who highlight the widening inequalities, disadvantages and pre...

The study used mixed-methods to illustrate the complexity of the interplay between the contexts in Bulgaria and Romania and women’s attitudes and behaviors related to screening. A secondary analysis of quantitative data from Romanian (n = 1053) and Bulgarian (n = 1099) women and qualitative interviews (n = 30 Romanian, n = 35 Bulgarian) was perform...

The paper explores the role of gender and precariousness in shaping views on aging and preparations for old age in middle-aged women and men. Based on study results from a larger research project on resources for positive aging conducted by the author, it argues that gender plays a less important part than precariousness in shaping views on aging a...

Resumen. Propósito: Los cambios demográficos hacen necesario mejorar la comunicación con pacientes mayores y diseñar promoción de la salud sensible al género. El presente artículo explora cómo médicos generales perciben la adultez mayor y qué rol puede jugar el género en sus representaciones sobre el envejecimiento. También examina si el género de...

The present study explores views on aging and how these differ according to gender and precariousness status. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 men and 10 women with secure and insecure pensions. Themes like fear of illness and health decline were more present in men, while fear of losing their attractiveness in old age more present...

Implementing positive aging ideas developed in Western Europe may be difficult to achieve in Eastern European contexts such as the Romanian health system. This might result in inequalities between EU countries in what positive aging is concerned. How health professionals construct old age reflects in the health communication with their aging patien...

Studies investigating the role of gender and different self-regulation (SR) strategies in relationship to eating habits are surprisingly scarce. The present research investigates the role of food worry, gender and self-regulation on unhealthy snacking habits of adolescents using a moderated mediation model. A total of 1500 participants with ages ra...

Preparing for positive aging is shaped by the social context a person lives in. The present qualitative study explores and compares representations about preparatory actions in precarious workers (i.e., with temporary job contracts and insecure pension plans) and individuals with secure pension plans living in Germany. It also examines, the discrep...

Purpose of the study: Precariousness, defined as low income combined with lack of security for retirement, can influence the way people grow old and result in health inequalities in old age. Design and methods: A sequential mixed methods approach was used to identify differences in behavioral (physical activity), social (social network), and psy...

Precariousness, defined as job insecurity and uncertain financial perspectives for retirement, might shape the kind of views that individuals imagine to represent a positive old age. The present study explored and compared positive views on aging in two different categories of middle-aged Germans. Interviews were conducted with middle-aged individu...

How the social and institutional context is structured and represented by its actors has an impact on positive aging representations. This qualitative study explores professionals' views on positive aging, how they promote positive aging in their practice and what disparities occur between their discourses and the actual practice of promoting posit...

The social and institutional context has an impact on positive aging. An increasing demand of care services to promote positive aging creates a need to clearly define what the role of health professionals is and howthey should go about promoting healthy aging. The chapter aims to explore the positive views on aging of health professionals (e.g., do...

Nowadays people are growing old in a context where youth culture is the norm and where self-initiative is required in order to prepare for a good old age. However, planning old age may be more difficult for certain social groups with insecure work and living conditions. Precariousness, defined as bad financial conditions but also as having an insec...

Self-medication with antibiotics, irrational prescribing and use of over-the-counter medicines and antibiotics represent a global concern, with implications for antibiotic resistance, clinical outcomes and costs of health care. This paper set out to make an in-depth exploration of the factors that influence self-medication in Romania. Specifically,...

Age related symptoms appear earlier than retirement. Considering the beginning of ageing earlier than the age of 65, our research seeks to explore ageing representations of middle-aged adults (age 50-60) facing the transition to the third age, successful ageing representations and strategies they employ in order to reduce the discrepancy between re...

Because Romania has the highest incidence of cervical cancer in Europe, in 2008 a HPV vaccination campaign was introduced targeting 10-11 year old girls. However, only 2.5% of the eligible girls were given parental for vaccination. Campaign failure makes it important to look for possible reasons and investigate mothers' attitudes and perceptions of...

To promote sun safety by implementing different plans for sunscreen use, different psychological interventions are compared. Self-regulatory strategies such as action planning and coping planning are seen as proximal predictors of actual behavior. The study compares a pure planning intervention with a broader resource communication and examines dif...

Romanian pensioners are among the poorest in the European Union, making them a vulnerable group in terms of health and well-being. Social capital could act as a buffer and protect old people from health inequalities. Although the percentage of old persons has increased in Romania, little is known about their social capital, namely their social netw...

The present study uses the concept mapping methodology to investigate the ideas children and adolescents have about their own self-regulation (defined as strategies for controlling behaviour, thoughts or emotions in order to achieve relevant goals) in relation to resisting unhealthy food temptations. Also, it aimed to compare self-regulatory strate...

The study examines whether self-efficacy mediates between intention and behavior, and whether appearance norms and self-efficacy are additive or synergistic predictors of sunscreen use. At two measurement points in time, 14 weeks apart, 154 individuals responded to an online questionnaire. Moderated mediation was tested by hierarchical regression a...

Latest statistics show that the number of elderly individuals has increased in Romania but little is known about their perceptions of ageing and their strategies in coping with this issue. The present study set out to explore representations, experiences and perceptions of aging in Romanian elders. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11...

This study compares a motivational skin cancer prevention approach with a volitional planning and self-efficacy intervention to enhance regular sunscreen use. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted with 205 women (mean age 25 years) in three groups: motivational; volitional; and control. Sunscreen use, action planning, coping planning an...

Sun safety behaviors to prevent skin cancer, such as sunscreen use, are difficult to adopt and maintain. Most social-cognitive theories assume that the intention to change a behavior is the best predictor of actual change. But unforeseen barriers emerge, or people give in to temptations, such as getting a tan despite their initial good intentions....

Planning is supposed to mediate between intention and behavior. The study examines whether such a mediation also exists in the context of sunscreen use. Moreover, the question is raised whether health risk perception might moderate such a mechanism. A longitudinal online study was conducted with three measurement points in time. Sunscreen use, inte...

This chapter looks at how internal and external assets relate to the mental health and health behaviour of Romanian adolescents. Data from the Health Behaviour of School-Aged children survey is used to measure mental health status against indices of school social capital. Results demonstrate that changes in family structure, parenting patterns and...

The aim of the present study was to find possible links between factors influencing the level of distress experienced by children with cancer. The first objective was to explore the relationship between children’s distress and their parents’ maladaptive behaviors. Using the Common Sense Model of Illness as a theoretical background we measured the c...

Changing health-risk behavior has been shown to decrease morbidity and mortality and enhance quality of life. The present review aims to describe the models and theories that underpin effective interventions and the empirical studies that warrant their successful use with specific health risk-behaviors. Motivational, behavioral enactment and multi-...

Adopting healthy eating habits in childhood is important because these contribute to an optimal physical and intellectual development. However, children are eating more junk food than healthy snacks (e.g., chips, chocolate croissants) during school brakes signaling a need to intervene and help change these unhealthy habits. The goal of this study i...