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As people live longer, the population of older adults in need of support continues to expand relative to the available workforce of caregivers, necessitating new solutions to supplement caregiver availability for the physical, cognitive, and social needs of older adults. Robotics and automation present strong possible solutions. Past solutions have typically supported short-term rehabilitation and aging in place, yet many older adults live in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), a setting reached by relatively little research to date. In this paper, we examine the unique needs of staff and residents at SNFs, after which we begin an iterative design process of robot-mediated wellness activities for the SNF space. We worked closely with domain experts in exercise science and physical therapy for older adults and a local SNF to design and test a series of robot-mediated activity prototypes with residents, visitors, and staff. We found that while both residents and staff highly value physical activity, there are nuanced challenges associated with supporting resident activity (one important element of overall wellbeing). As a result, we considered and tested a wide range of intervention options from usual approaches (e.g., mirroring movements) to creative approaches (e.g., social engagement via lewd humor). Our final design insights can inform practitioners who wish to use robots to support resident wellbeing in SNFs., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Preston, Shippy, Aldwin and Fitter.)

Objectives: Despite higher physical vulnerability to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), older adults reported less psychological stress than younger and midlife adults during the pandemic. However, little is known about age differences in stress within later life, and most COVID-19 studies have been cross-sectional. We examined weekly hassles exposure and severity trajectories and whether these trajectories differed by age, resilience factors (higher trait resilience and education), and vulnerability factors (identifying as a woman, being a person of color, and having chronic health conditions)., Methods: Community-dwelling adults aged 50+ in Oregon (Mage = 71.1, standard deviation = 7.3; 74% women, 89% non-Hispanic White) completed weekly online surveys across 8 weeks (April 28-June 22, 2020) during the COVID-19 stay-at-home mandate. A 2-part model estimated how age, resilience, and vulnerability factors predicted weekly odds of any hassle exposure and level of severity., Results: Across time, hassles exposure decreased and the rate of severity declined, but these patterns differed by age and other demographics. The old-old (estimated at age 78) remained stable in odds of any exposure, whereas the young-old (estimated at age 64) evidenced a J-shaped curve; age did not moderate the severity slopes. Furthermore, both resilience factors were associated with exposure trajectories, whereas vulnerability factors (race/ethnicity and chronic illness) were associated with levels of hassles severity., Discussion: There were age differences in patterns of hassles during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, resilience and vulnerability factors also showed complex patterns, underscoring the need for future studies to focus on age differences in well-being in later life., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: Prospective associations between coping and all-cause mortality risk are understudied, particularly among nonmedical samples. We assessed independent and joint associations of multiple components of the transactional stress and coping model with all-cause mortality in a cohort of community-dwelling men. We were particularly interested in how coping effort related to mortality., Methods: Participants included 743 men from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study who completed 1+ stress and coping assessment in 1993-2002 (baseline age: M = 68.4, standard deviation [SD] = 7.1) and had mortality follow-up through 2020. The Brief California Coping Inventory assessed coping with a past-month stressor. Cox regression evaluated associations of problem stressfulness, coping strategies, total coping effort, and coping efficiency with all-cause mortality risk., Results: Over a mean follow-up of 16.7 years (SD = 7.1), 473 (64%) men died. Problem stressfulness was not associated with mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.07, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.98-1.17), adjusted for demographics and health conditions. When examining coping via specific strategies, only social coping was associated with higher mortality risk (HR: 1.15, 95% CI: 1.05-1.26) after Bonferroni correction. Total coping effort was associated with 14% greater risk of all-cause mortality (95% CI: 1.04-1.26), independent of problem stressfulness, demographics, and health conditions. Coping efficiency, a benefit-cost ratio of coping efficacy to total coping effort, was not associated with mortality risk in adjusted models., Discussion: Total coping effort may be an important indicator for longevity among aging men, above and beyond problem stressfulness and specific coping strategies, which have been the foci in prior research., (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America 2024.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has been observed to negatively affect older adults' psychological health compared with prepandemic levels. However, older adults' coping efficacy may differ depending on their age, and little is known about effects of fluctuations in pandemic severity. Two longitudinal studies tested the hypothesis that pandemic severity would affect psychological health and be moderated by age. In Study 1 ( N = 111), older adults (aged 62-96) were assessed semiannually before and after the first United States COVID-19 case over up to 10 years. Depressive symptoms and stress, but not cognitive difficulties, were higher during COVID-19; pandemic severity had little effect. Estimated increases were smaller for a 65-year-old than for an 85-year-old. In Study 2 ( N = 221), older adults (aged 51-95) were assessed weekly over up to 8 weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher national pandemic severity was associated with more cognitive difficulties, more depressive symptoms, and more stress. In an opposite pattern from Study 1, estimated increases were larger for a 65-year-old than for an 85-year-old. Old-old adults might be most susceptible to long-term psychological effects of the pandemic era, as in Study 1, but more resilient to short-term effects, as in Study 2. Coping strategies associated with increasing age may be less efficacious for more chronic and severe problems. Conversely, the same coping strategies may be more efficacious for shorter, less severe problems. Differentiating between reactivity to longer term and shorter term pandemic stressors can identify the most resilient or vulnerable ages within older adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Objective: South Korea had the second largest contingent of soldiers in the Vietnam War, but little is known about their adaptation, especially in later life. Previous work in a different sample found very high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; 41%) among Korean Vietnam veterans (KVVs; Kang, Kim, & Lee, 2014), compared to 19-31% for American Vietnam veterans. We explored possible reasons for this high rate of PTSD, as well as anxiety and depressive symptoms, utilizing both vulnerability factors (e.g., war stressors) and protective factors (optimism, unit cohesion, and homecoming experiences)., Method: The sample included 367 male KVVs surveyed by mail ( M age = 72, SD = 2.66). Using hierarchical regressions controlling for demographics, we examined the relative contributions of different types of war stressors and then the protective factors., Results: Combat exposure was significantly associated with the three types of negative psychological symptoms, but their associations became nonsignificant when "subjective" war stressors (malevolent environments, perceived threat, and moral injury) were added. In the final models, malevolent environments were the strongest predictor for all three outcomes. In addition, moral injury was independently associated with PTSD symptoms, while perceived threat was marginally associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms. Among psychosocial factors, only optimism was negatively associated with the mental health outcomes., Conclusion: KVVs had very high rates of combat exposure, but malevolent environments played a more important role in their mental health in later life. These findings suggest the importance of considering adverse environmental factors in understanding PTSD in future studies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: We examined sources of vulnerability and resilience among older adults early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic., Methods: We surveyed 235 respondents, 51-95 years old (M = 71.35; SD = 7.39; 74% female), including 2 open-ended questions concerning COVID-19-related difficulties and positive experiences during the past week. Using inductive coding, we found 9 final codes for difficulties and 12 for positives and grouped them into socioecological levels: personal, interpersonal, and societal., Results: Difficulties were reported by 94% of the sample, while 63% described positives. Difficulties and positive responses were made at all socioecological levels and illustrated a dialectic between personal-level constraints and opportunities, interpersonal-level social isolation and integration, and societal-level outrage, sorrow, and social optimism., Discussion: Respondents described sources of vulnerabilities and resilience that supported a socioecological approach to understand resilience during this pandemic. A notable example was resilience derived from witnessing and contributing to the community and social solidarity, highlighting the potential of older adults as resources to their communities during the global pandemic., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The current study examined correlates of life satisfaction among Korean Vietnam War Veterans. The sample included 450 male Veterans from the Korean Vietnam War Veterans Study, surveyed by mail in 2013 ( Mean age  = 67.4 years old, SD  = 3.0). A hierarchical analysis was conducted by entering four blocks of variables: first demographic factors, and then pre-military service, military service, and post-military service variables. Each successive regression analysis showed a significant additional contribution to the variance in life satisfaction. In the final model, Korean Veterans had higher life satisfaction when they were married, had higher monthly income and poorer childhood family environment, appraised their military service in a positive light, and had less stressors after homecoming and better perceived physical health. However, combat exposure and social support after homecoming were not independently associated with life satisfaction in the final model. These results imply that both pre- and post-military service factors, as well as cognitive appraisals of military service, should be considered in understanding the subjective well-being of Korean Vietnam War Veterans in later life., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.)

Relatively little is known about South Korean Vietnam War veterans, despite their being the second largest contingent of troops during the Vietnam War. Earlier research found elevated levels (39%) of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in this older population, due to high exposure to combat and malevolent environments (Lee et al., 2020). The present study investigated classes of vulnerability and resilience among older South Korean Vietnam War veterans, using a latent profile analysis (LPA) on PTSD symptoms, late onset stress symptomology (LOSS), and mental well-being (MWB). The sample consisted of 367 older male veterans from South Korea ( M age = 72, SD = 2.66) who completed surveys. The LPA yielded five classes. The largest (38%) was Average (average PTSD, LOSS, and MWB levels), and the second largest (31%) was characterized by Moderate Distress (moderately high PTSD and LOSS, average MWB). A small group (13%) reported Low Affect (low PTSD, LOSS, and MWB levels), and 7% expressed Severe Distress (high LOSS and PTSD levels, average MWB). Only a small percentage (12%) were characterized by Resilience (low PTSD, average LOSS, high MWB). Optimism, positive appraisals of military service, and social support from family, significant others, friends, and military peers were highest among veterans in the Resilience class. To our knowledge, this is the first study of resilience among East Asian military veterans, and more research is needed on how resilience can be improved. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).