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Previous research showed the importance of control beliefs for many life outcomes. The present study examines associations between subjectively perceived work environment and objectively measured work activities at the beginning of midlife as a central developmental phase in the context of work, with control beliefs across the subsequent 20 years. We analyzed four-wave longitudinal data from N = 374 participants (born 1950-1952; M age baseline = 44 years, SD = 1; 44% women) from the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Adult Development and Aging within a structural equation modeling framework. Over 20 years and overall, internal control beliefs were stable, while external control beliefs decreased. Individuals who reported higher task variety and better social integration at work at baseline also reported higher levels of control beliefs for positive life outcomes. In addition, higher social integration at work at baseline was related to lower levels of external control beliefs. Work characteristics at baseline were not associated with individual differences in change in control beliefs across the 20-year observational interval. In summary, our findings suggest that work experiences at the prime of job-related development around the midst of the fifth decade of life do not play a major role in subsequent control beliefs development across 20 years. However, investigations measuring control beliefs as well as work characteristics continuously over a long period of time are necessary to shed light on reciprocal influences between work and personality. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: This study examined the role of caregivers' perception of cognitive impairment in burden of family caregivers in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We hypothesized that the evaluation of cognitive impairment by family caregivers plays a pivotal role in burden., Methods: The study included 110 dyads (person with AD and their caregiver) recruited from a Memory Unit in France. The cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms of person with AD were evaluated by a geriatrician using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). Caregivers provided self-reports on the perception of cognitive impairment (IQCODE) of the care recipient, the caregiving burden (ZBI), depressive symptoms (GDS-15), and self-esteem (RSE). Descriptive analyses, comparison of different caregiver burden groups, and multinomial logistic regression analyses to understand correlates of caregiver burden were conducted with SPSS ® , version 20., Results: The findings show that the caregivers are on average 60 years old and the majority are women. They care for persons with AD, who are on average 82 years old and most of whom are women. Our results show that the duration of caregiving, depression of the caregiver, and caregivers' perception of cognitive impairment contribute significantly to burden of caregiver., Discussion: This study shows that it is necessary to adopt the caregiver-centered approach to support the dyad. The role of the caregivers' perception of cognitive impairment in AD should be developed when supporting caregivers in suffering.

It is well-established that more frequent social interaction is associated with higher well-being across the lifespan. The present study examines the role of frequency of interactions via different modalities on older adults' weekly well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic, where people had to adapt their communication behavior and reduce in-person contact due to precautionary measures. We use data from 98 participants (age: M = 71, SD = 5), who documented their weekly frequency of communication via four interaction modalities as well as their loneliness, positive affect, and negative affect over up to 64 weeks. Results show that participants with overall higher frequency of face-to-face, telephone, and text-based interaction than others report higher levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect and loneliness than others. Participants report higher levels of well-being during weeks when they report more frequent face-to-face, telephone, and text-based interaction than their individual average. Unexpectedly, participants report higher levels of negative affect during weeks with more video call interaction. Some effects of social interaction frequency on affect and loneliness are higher for face-to-face interactions versus other modalities. In addition, interaction effects at within-person level indicate that the effects of weekly telephone and text-based interaction frequency on loneliness are stronger in weeks with relatively few face-to-face interactions. Taken together, our findings suggest that social interactions via different modalities contribute to well-being, but that face-to-face interactions have the biggest effect. In addition, there is some evidence that telephone and text-based interaction may play a compensatory role. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: Some research conceptualizes routineness of daily life as an indicator of cognitive vulnerability that would lead to lower well-being in older age, whereas other research expects routineness to give rise to more meaning and stability in life and thus to higher well-being. Further research is needed to understand routineness in older adults in relation to cognitive abilities and well-being. This study examined routineness of social interactions., Methods: We examined data from an event-contingent experience sampling study with 103 Swiss community-dwelling older adults (aged 65 to 84 years). Participants completed in-lab cognitive assessments (reasoning, episodic memory, speed, and vocabulary) and reported their well-being (positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction). For more than 21 days, participants reported the time and context of their social interactions (including modality, partner type, and location). Routineness of social interactions was defined as social interactions that occurred at the same time of day over the study period. It was calculated using recurrence quantification analysis., Results: Linear regressions showed that higher routineness of social interaction in general, of social interaction through the same modality, and of social interaction with the same partner type were associated with higher positive affect. Higher routineness of social interaction in general was associated with lower negative affect. Routineness of social interactions was not associated with life satisfaction or cognitive abilities., Discussion: A routine social life may increase older adults' affective well-being. Results are discussed in the context of activity engagement and time use in older age., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.)

Objectives: Work is an important developmental context in adulthood, yet little is known about how it contributes to personality trajectories in midlife. The present study examines how subjectively perceived work environment (autonomy, innovation, social integration, stress) and objectively measured work activities (activities related to information and people, physical/manual activities) are related to levels of Big Five personality traits at age 44 and to change over 20 years., Methods: We analyzed four-wave longitudinal data from N = 374 participants (born 1950-1952; M age T1 = 44 years, SD = 1; 44% women) from the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Adult Development and Aging (ILSE) within the structural equation modeling framework., Results: At baseline, subjective perceptions of work environments showed a higher number of significant associations with personality than objective work activities. Over time, small declines in neuroticism and extraversion and small increases in agreeableness and conscientiousness were observed, which were largely independent of work characteristics., Conclusions: Our findings show slight changes in most Big Five traits from age 44 to 64, which were mostly unrelated to work characteristics. More research is needed to uncover the sources and dynamics of personality trait change in midlife and the role of work for personality trajectories., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Personality published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: Project VITAL At Home aimed to combat social isolation and loneliness in family caregivers of people with dementia through purposeful engagement and connection. This project examined the effects of technology on caregiver loneliness and well-being, as well as their technology experiences, during the COVID-19 pandemic., Methods: Family caregivers were provided iN2L tablets and access to Alzheimer's Association supportive programs. Caregivers ( n = 124) completed online surveys at pre and post evaluation points (average 7 months apart) to assess loneliness, subjective well-being (affect), supportive program usage, and tablet experiences., Results: Family caregivers had positive perceptions of the tablets for both themselves and their family members. Tablets had positive effects on caregiver well-being, including giving them an additional caregiver tool, alleviating stress, increasing satisfaction with quiet time, and improving access to supportive programs. Caregiver positive affect decreased, but no changes were observed for negative affect or loneliness., Conclusions: Family caregivers found value in the tablets and showed improvements in some aspects of well-being. Randomized trials are needed to more fully assess the benefits of the intervention., Clinical Implications: Pairing tablets with caregiving supports is a promising intervention to improve caregivers' access to vital resources and services and to improve their well-being.

Background: Intimate partner relationships foster individuals' well-being throughout the lifespan. However, dissatisfying or conflict-laden relationships can have a detrimental impact on well-being and relationship quality. The majority of older adults live together with a spouse/partner, and intimate relationships are one of the most important social contexts in their daily lives. Purpose: Expanding on previous research, we examined the role of previous conflict on experiences of loneliness and affect in the daily lives of older partners from a dyadic perspective. Relationship duration and quality, personality traits (neuroticism and extraversion), conflict frequency during the measurement period, physical health as well as age were considered as moderators. Study Sample and Data Analysis: We used data from an experience sampling study with 151 older heterosexual couples (302 participants; 65+ years old) reporting on their positive and negative affect, loneliness, and previous experience of relationship conflict 6 times a day for 14 days. Data were analyzed using dyadic multilevel models. Results: For both men and women within couples, previous conflict was associated with an increased experience of negative affect and loneliness and a decreased experience of positive affect. Higher neuroticism predicted less positive and more negative affect following conflict for women and more loneliness for men. Higher relationship satisfaction predicted less increase in negative affect after conflict for female partners. Age, relationship duration, physical health, extraversion, and the number of conflict episodes showed no moderating effects. Conclusions: Our results support the notion that relationship conflict deteriorates emotional well-being in old age and renders older adults lonelier even in the context of intimate partner relationships., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Time spent on being with others (social interactions) and being alone (solitude) in day to day life might reflect older adults' agentic regulatory strategies to balance the needs to belong and to conserve energy. Motivated from a joint lifespan psychological and social relationship theoretical perspective, this study examined how time spent on social interactions and solitude alternatively unfolds within individuals in daily life, relating to individual differences in trait-level well-being and fatigue. Over 21 days, a total of 11,172 valid records of social interactions were collected from 118 older adults (aged 65-94 years) in a smartphone-based event-contingent ambulatory assessment study in Switzerland. On average, a social interaction episode lasted 39 min and a solitude episode lasted 5.03 hr. Multilevel models showed that, at the within-person level, a longer-than-usual social interaction preceded and was followed by a longer-than-usual solitude episode. Moderator analyses showed that older adults with higher trait life satisfaction and lower trait fatigue spent even more time in social interactions after longer solitude episodes, amplifying the solitude-then-interaction association. Our findings suggest that whereas social interaction is a means to improve well-being, solitude is also an integral part in older adults' daily life supporting energy recovery., (© 2022 The Authors. British Journal of Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The British Psychological Society.)

Objectives: While being socially active is beneficial for well-being in older age, it is unclear whether effects of social interactions on well-being indicate "the more the merrier" or if they have limits as individuals socialize more or less across different days. This study addressed diminishing returns to social interaction frequency for well-being., Method: We examined data from an event-contingent experience sampling study from 116 Swiss older adults (65 to 94 years old) over 21 days. Participants reported face-to-face social interactions once they occurred and daily well-being (i.e., positive and negative affect, loneliness) in the evenings., Results: On average, participants had 2.09 face-to-face social interactions per day. Linear and quadratic effects from multilevel models conjointly indicated that a higher number of daily social interactions was associated with higher daily positive affect and lower daily negative affect and loneliness, but that well-being reached its peak at 2-3 times above participants' typical daily interaction frequency. Once these numbers were surpassed, the benefit of additional social interactions diminished. Additionally, participants who typically had fewer social interactions, were unmarried, lived alone, and had more health conditions showed stronger associations between daily social interaction frequency and well-being., Discussion: Our findings suggest the benefits of social interactions on well-being exhibit diminishing returns. Social interactions may play a bigger role in older adults with less satiation for desire to belong and a limited future time perspective. We discuss these findings in terms of the belongingness hypothesis and the socioemotional selectivity theory., (© The Author(s) 2022. 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.)

Working memory (WM) training has been proposed as a promising intervention to enhance cognitive abilities, but convincing evidence for transfer to untrained abilities is lacking. Prevalent limitations of WM training studies include the narrow assessment of both WM and cognitive abilities, the analysis of manifest variables subject to measurement error, and training dosages too low to likely cause changes in the cognitive system. To address these limitations, we conducted a 2-year longitudinal study to investigate the effects of working memory training on latent factors of working memory capacity, fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. One hundred twelve students initially attending 9th grade practiced a heterogenous set of validated WM tasks on a biweekly basis. A control group of 113 students initially attending 9th grade participated in the pretest and posttest. Broad and prototypical measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence served as measures of nearer and farer transfer. We found substantial and reliable training effects on the practiced WM tasks, as well as on a latent WM factor constituted by them. However, no transfer of training effects to fluid or crystallized intelligence were observed. These results add to the literature questioning the utility and validity of WM training as means of improving cognitive abilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: The spousal relationship is one of the most important social contexts in old age, and the loss of a spouse/partner is associated with stress and cognitive decline. In the present study, we examined whether social relationships can buffer potential negative effects of spousal loss on cognition. We examined the role of social network, social activities, and perceived deficiencies in social relationships (loneliness)., Method: We used longitudinal data between 1998 and 2012 from 2,074 participants of the Health and Retirement Study, who had experienced spousal loss during the study period. Multilevel modeling was used to examine how time-varying indicators of social network, social activities, and loneliness were related to age-related trajectories of episodic memory prior to and after spousal loss. Analyses controlled for gender, race/ethnicity, education, time-varying functional health, and being repartnered/remarried., Results: Having children living within 10 miles and providing help to others buffered negative effects of widowhood on episodic memory. In addition, within-person increase in providing help to others buffered against decline in episodic memory after spousal loss. Having friends in the neighborhood, more frequent social visits, providing help to others, volunteering, and lack of loneliness were related to higher episodic memory, while having relatives in the neighborhood was related to lower episodic memory., Discussion: Our findings suggest that social networks, social activities, and loneliness are related to levels of cognitive function at the time of spousal loss and that social relationships can buffer negative effects of spousal loss on cognitive function. Implications for future research are discussed., (© 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.)

Objectives: A growing body of research has documented associations between social relationships and cognitive function, while findings are less clear regarding specific aspects of social relationships that are relevant to change in cognitive function. Furthermore, it is unclear whether associations differ at the between-person and within-person levels., Method: The present study used 8-year longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the role of structural (partnered/married, number of social network partners, and contact frequency) as well as functional (support, strain, and loneliness) aspects of social relationships for episodic memory at the between-person and within-person levels. Analyses are based on up to 3 waves of data from 19,297 participants (mean age at baseline = 66 years, SD = 10, range = 50-104; 58% women). Control variables include age at baseline, gender, education, functional health, and depressive symptoms., Results: Findings showed that at the between-person level, most structural and functional aspects were related to levels of memory performance, with participants with higher numbers of social network members, more frequent contact, and more positive experiences outperforming others. An exception was a higher number of family (child or relative) relationships. At the within-person level, on occasions where participants had a higher number of close family relationships than usual, had more social contact than usual, and felt less lonely than usual, they also showed higher than usual episodic memory performance. Finally, negative effects of social strain and loneliness on episodic memory performance at the between-person level were moderated by social network size, indicating that effects were more negative among individuals with larger social networks., Discussion: Both structural and functional aspects of social relationships contribute to between-person differences in levels and fluctuations of episodic memory performance. Ups and downs of relationships to relatives, social contact, and feelings of loneliness contribute to ups and downs of episodic memory. Potential mechanisms underlying these associations are discussed., (© 2021 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Intimate relationship partners dynamically covary in their affective states. One mechanism through which intimate relationship partners experience and shape each other's affective states is affect contagion, that is, the spread of affective states from one person to another. Most studies on affect contagion in daily life focused on younger couples. Also, the degree to which social-cognitive processes are involved in everyday affect contagion remains unclear. Intimate relationships are one of the most important social contexts in older adults' daily lives. Expanding on previous research, we focused on affect contagion in older couples, and examined whether processes of affect contagion were mediated by perceptions of partner affect, that is, how individuals thought their partners felt at previous moments. We used data from an experience sampling study with 152 older heterosexual couples (304 participants; 65 + years old) who reported on their positive and negative affect, perceptions of their partner's positive and negative affect, and presence or absence of partners 6 times a day for 14 days. Dyadic multilevel mediation models were used to evaluate our hypotheses. We observed consistent evidence that processes of positive affect contagion between partners were mediated by perceptions of partner's affective states. Negative affect contagion was directed from men to women, but not vice versa, and mediated by perceptions of partner's affective states. Partner presence was unrelated to processes of affect contagion. Our findings support the notion that (perceptions of) close others' emotions shape our own feelings and identify partner perceptions as a mechanism of affect contagion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: Retirement is one of the major life course transitions in old age. Evidence suggests that exiting work life is associated with notable changes in life satisfaction, which are heterogeneous across individuals. Effects of retirement transitions on life satisfaction have been understudied in couples. We examined change in life satisfaction with retirement for retirees and their spouses/partners, the extent to which change in life satisfaction was heterogeneous and correlated within couples, and associations with health status and social participation., Method: We used data from the German Socioeconomic Panel obtained in the years 1984 to 2016 (n = 2,117 couples; 74% male retirees; age at retirement: M = 61 years, SD = 3 years, range = 55 to 70 years; 98% married or in a registered relationship). We examined health and social participation of retirees and their partners as predictor variables and controlled for age, gender, education, partner employment, household income, and region in Germany (former East vs West). Data were analyzed with dyadic multilevel two-phase growth curve models., Results: On average, both retirees and partners reported increasing life satisfaction at retirement. Change in life satisfaction was heterogeneous across individuals and highly correlated within couples. Health and social participation were associated with levels of, but not with change in life satisfaction with retirement in retirees and partners., Discussion: Retirement is not a uniform period of transition, but is shaped by the multidimensional context in which life unfolds. Moreover, life satisfaction can be shaped in response to life transitions experienced by close others., (© The Author(s) 2020. 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.)

Background and Objectives: The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and social distancing measures are an extreme stressor that might result in negative emotional experiences and feelings of loneliness. However, it is possible that social relationships might have a protective effect. In the present study, we examine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected older adults' well-being and loneliness, and the role of structural and functional characteristics of social relationships., Research Design and Methods: We use data from 99 older adults in Switzerland who participated (a) in a 3-week microlongitudinal study on social relationships and well-being in 2019 and (b) in a weekly online survey during 4 weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown., Results: Our findings show that the global pandemic had substantial adverse effects on older adults' emotional well-being and loneliness. In addition, aspects of social relationships were related to loneliness both before and during the pandemic. Only one functional feature of social relationships (satisfaction with communication during the pandemic) buffered adverse effects of the major stressful event., Discussion and Implications: Although the social distancing measures during COVID-19 presented a major stressor for older adults' well-being and loneliness, being able to maintain social communication to a satisfactory level during that time reduced this effect. Therefore, enabling older adults to stay in touch with their social circle based on their personal preferences might reduce the impact that any future lockdown might have on their well-being., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.)

Being able to use the Internet is becoming increasingly important in today's digitized society. Evidence suggests that older adults are at risk of being left behind by technological developments. We examined Internet adoption in older adults in relation to sociodemographic, health, cognitive, social, and personality factors. We used data from the Health and Retirement Study ( n  = 5,949; 61 percent women; age: M  = 72 years, standard deviation [ SD ] = 7; range = 50-105). Internet use was examined over an 8-year period. Predictors were assessed at baseline. We used a Cox proportional hazards model to examine how predictors were related to Internet adoption during the study period. Overall, 1,296 out of 5,949 participants (22 percent) reported starting to use the Internet during the study period. Our findings revealed that younger age, higher education, higher income, living with a partner, and better cognitive performance were associated with a higher likelihood of Internet adoption, whereas being Black was associated with a lower likelihood. Openness was associated with a higher likelihood of Internet adoption over the study period. Our findings add to the literature on the role of sociodemographic, cognitive, and health factors in older adults' Internet use. In addition, we show that personality also predicts older adults' Internet use.

Introduction: The loss of a spouse is among the most stressful life events. Whilst grief and mourning vary across cultures, most longitudinal studies have been conducted in Western societies. Adding to prior research, this study examines the role of resources available prior to spousal bereavement and changes therein for trajectories of well-being in an Eastern society, namely, Japan., Methods: Data were derived from a nationally representative panel survey of Japanese older adults aged 60 years and above. We used data from married participants at baseline who experienced spousal loss during the 19-year follow-up period (N = 481). Well-being was indexed as life satisfaction., Results: The multiphase growth model revealed that life satisfaction typically deteriorated surrounding spousal loss and remained stable 1 year after the event. Compared with individuals coresiding with a child before and after loss, those who did not continuously coreside with a child showed lower levels of postloss life satisfaction, but better recovery. Perceiving better financial status prior to loss was related to higher levels of preloss life satisfaction and, conversely, lower levels after loss. Changes in resources were not associated with life satisfaction following widowhood., Discussion: Our results show that spousal bereavement has, on average, an initial negative impact on well-being with substantial individual differences in recovery 1 year later. When designing interventions to promote adaptation after spousal loss, it is important to consider the bereaved individual's cultural background and preloss resources., (© 2021 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Previous research documented positive associations between cognitively stimulating work and levels of cognitive performance, while longitudinal associations are less clear. We used 20-year longitudinal data from the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Adult Development and Aging (ILSE) to examine the role of perceived work environment (autonomy, innovation, social integration, and stress) and work activities derived from an occupational database (related to information, to people, and manual activities) for trajectories of cognitive abilities (processing speed, fluid and crystallized intelligence). We used data from 374 participants in the ILSE midlife cohort (born 1950-52) who were working at baseline and had valid observations on work characteristics and control variables including education, gender, region (former East vs. West Germany), and personal income (mean age at baseline = 44 years, SD = 1, 44% women). Cognitively stimulating perceived work environments (higher levels of autonomy and innovation), higher levels of work activities related to information and people, and lower levels of manual activity at baseline were related to higher initial levels of cognitive ability. Higher work stress was related to higher baseline fluid ability. These associations were largely not independent of control variables. Higher social integration at work was related to less steep increase in crystallized intelligence and higher work stress was related to less decline in processing speed. In sum, our findings were more in line with selection rather than with enrichment effects, with the caveat that our findings rely on work variables taken at baseline. We discuss potential mechanisms underlying these findings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: Well-being typically exhibits pronounced deteriorations with approaching death, with sizeable interindividual variations in levels and changes. It is less well understood how psychosocial factors contribute to these individual differences. We examined whether and how social integration is associated with terminal trajectories of well-being, indexed as life satisfaction., Method: Data were drawn from 1,119 deceased Japanese participants of a 15-year longitudinal study (age at death: M = 79.2 years; SD = 7.7 years; 43.1% women). Life satisfaction, structural and functional features of social integration (e.g., frequency of contact with family and nonfamily, and perceived overall support, respectively), sociodemographic characteristics, and physical function were assessed., Results: Social integration predicted individual differences in terminal decline in life satisfaction, after controlling for age at death, gender, education, and physical function: More diverse social relationships were associated with higher levels of life satisfaction at 1 year before death. In addition, individuals who exhibited more decline in social participation and perceived less support showed more pronounced decline with increasing proximity of death., Discussion: This study suggests that social integration plays a protective role in late-life well-being and that sustaining an active social life and supportive social interactions may help mitigate terminal decline in well-being., (© The Author(s) 2019. 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.)

Background: Digital technologies are increasingly pervading our daily lives. Although older adults started using digital technologies later than other age groups, they are increasingly adopting these technologies, especially with the goal of communicating with others. However, less is known about how online social activities are embedded in older adults' daily lives, how they complement other (offline) social activities, and how they contribute to social connectedness and well-being., Objective: Data generated by this project will allow us to understand how older adults use digital communication in their daily lives to communicate with others, how this relates to well-being and social connectedness, and how communication using digital technologies differs from other types of communication depending on situational and individual characteristics., Methods: Microlongitudinal data were collected from 120 older adults from German-speaking regions of Switzerland to examine these questions. Data collection took place from April 2019 to October 2019. Data collection took place over different time scales, including event-based (reporting all social interactions for 21 days), daily (well-being, loneliness, and technology use every evening for 21 days), hourly (cortisol assessments 6 times per day for 3 days), and baseline (relevant interindividual characteristics, including sociodemographics, health, technology use, personality, and cognitive performance) assessments., Results: Data collection for this study was completed in November 2019. Participants reported an average of 96.35 interactions across the 21 days. Among the total 11,453 interactions, 5494 (47.97%) were face-to-face, and around 16% each were interactions by phone (1858, 16.16%), email (1858, 16.22%), and text message (1853, 16.18%). Otherwise, 246 (2.15%) of the interactions took place on social media, 96 (0.84)% were letters, and 54 (0.47%) of the interactions took place on videochat., Conclusions: Participants used a variety of modalities in their daily communication, including digital means such as text messages, email, and video calls. Further analysis will provide more detail as to the role that communication via digital media plays in older adults' daily lives., International Registered Report Identifier (irrid): RR1-10.2196/20306., (©Birthe Macdonald, Gizem Hülür. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 01.10.2020.)

Human functioning and development are shaped by sociocultural contexts and by the historical changes that occur in these contexts. Over the last century, sociocultural changes such as increases in early life education have profoundly reshaped normative developmental sequences. In this article, we first briefly review how history-graded changes have influenced levels of objective performance and subjective evaluations among older adults and conclude that old age in countries such as the United States and Germany is getting younger, both on behavioral measures and in people's own perception. Second, we put these findings in a larger perspective and note some of the "presumed" causes driving historical change. Third, we identify key aspects of change that need to be further described, including history-graded change in (a) the formative role of experiences made across adulthood; (b) within-person trajectories of adult development and aging, including rates of change, patterns of variation, and causal influence; (c) the structure of very old age and the end of life; and (d) what may be expected in the forthcoming decades. We suggest a number of reasons why the rosy picture of historical change obtained for older adults over the last century may not necessarily continue in the future. In a final step, we outline promising methods that might be used to discover and test mechanisms driving history-graded changes, and to inform projection and optimization of functioning and development in future generations of older adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Interactions with technology have been shaping human society since its beginning. Recently, digitalization has pervaded all aspects of our lives and provided us with new ways to communicate with our social contacts and develop new social ties. We address how these changes shape the social lives of older adults today. Several factors may give rise to concerns that older adults today are at risk for social isolation, including demographic trends toward smaller families, or reduction of previous activities due to health limitations. At the same time, older adults today have access to new technologies that may enable them to overcome geographical distance and mobility barriers. First, based on models of technology adoption, we review research on digital technology use by older adults. Although older adults use technology at lower rates than other age groups, rates of (social) Internet use are increasing. However, sociodemographic disparities exist in access to technology. Second, we focus on 3 key questions and methodological directions for future research: (a) Does (social) Internet use contribute to more positive social experiences and well-being in old age? (b) What are future methodological directions in the study of social technology use in older adults? (c) Do digital technologies reshape the social experience in old age or do they reinforce existing preferences and behaviors? Addressing these questions will allow us to understand the effects of technology on older adults' daily lives and how this in turn affects multiple domains of functioning (e.g., well-being, cognitive function, physical health) in future generations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: It is well established that daily perceived control is closely associated with lower negative affect (NA) among older adults. However, it is an open question whether control perceptions of one's partner are also uniquely associated with one's own NA., Method: To examine such associations in dyads of older long-term partners, we make use of data obtained 6 times a day over 7 consecutive days as participants went about their everyday lives (N = 87 couples; mean age = 75 years; mean relationship length = 46 years). Our multilevel actor-partner models for dyadic data analyses covary for relevant individual and couple differences in sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported physical health, and cognitive functioning., Results: Corroborating and extending earlier reports, results reveal that higher momentary perceived control was associated with lower NA. Most importantly, we found that higher momentary perceived control of the partner is additionally and uniquely associated with lower NA of the actor., Discussion: We discuss possible mechanisms and underlying pathways of how perceived control may help both partners downregulate their negative emotions in daily life. We close by considering conceptual and practical implications., (© The Author(s) 2018. 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.)

Individual development and relationships are embedded in a sociohistorical context. In the present study, we examined how relationship functioning of heterosexual couples differs across historical time in 3 population-based samples. We used data from the Swiss Social Stratification, Cohesion and Conflict in Contemporary Families Study (COUPLES: waves 1998 vs. 2011), the Swiss Household Panel (SHP: waves 2000 vs. 2016), and the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS: 1996-1997 vs. 2008-2009), each including a different measure of relationship functioning (COUPLES: conflict, SHP: practical and emotional support, and, BHPS: relationship satisfaction). We also examined the role of age and other correlates. Using propensity score matching methods, we selected couples in both waves matched by age, relationship duration, and region within each study (COUPLES: 174 couples per wave, mean age = 30 in men and 27 in women; SHP: 1,071 couples per wave, mean age = 47 in men and 44 in women; and, BHPS: 316 couples per wave, mean age = 36 in men and 33 in women). Our results revealed that while women and men in the later wave reported more frequent conflict, women in the later wave reported more emotional and practical support from their partner, resulting in a smaller gender gap over historical time, and men in the later wave reported higher relationship satisfaction. Taken together, this pattern of historical differences is largely consistent with what would be expected based on increased egalitarianism. We discuss the role of societal change in shaping romantic relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Studies of historical and societal influences on cognitive aging generally document that later-born cohorts outperform earlier-born cohorts on tests of fluid cognitive performance. It is often noted how advances in educational attainment in childhood and adolescence may contribute to these historical improvements in cognitive aging. Less is known about the role of work environment in adulthood. Over the last century, work demands and characteristics have been changing profoundly, particularly with shifts from a manufacturing to a service and technical economy. In this article, we used data from the Seattle Longitudinal Study to compare age-related trajectories of cognitive change in five primary mental abilities between earlier-born (1901-1938) and later-born cohorts (1939-1966). Cohorts were matched on an observation-by-observation basis using age and retest, and analyses controlled for participants' gender and number of data points provided. We found that (a) later-born cohorts had higher levels of performance on most cognitive tasks and exhibited less age-related declines in word fluency; (b) later-born cohorts had more enriched perceived work environments, as indicated by higher levels of worker control and innovation, with no cohort differences in work autonomy; (c) these experiences were associated with higher levels of cognitive performance at age 55 years; (d) the effects of perceived work environment were independent of education; and (e) the effects of perceived work environment were consistent across cohorts. The findings suggest that perceived work environment is associated with cognitive functioning independently of education and invariably across historical time. We discuss potential mechanisms underlying these associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: Research on terminal decline has widely documented that cognitive performance steeply declines with nearing death. To date, it is unclear whether these changes are normative, based on pathologies associated with (preclinical) dementia, or both., Objectives: We analyzed heterogeneity in trajectories of terminal cognitive change in Swiss nursing home residents with the objective of examining whether terminal change is normative or whether one or multiple subgroup(s) with relative stability exist., Methods: We performed a longitudinal analysis based on routine assessments with the Resident Assessment Instrument - Minimal Data Set in 341 nursing homes between 1998 and 2014. In sum, we used 143,052 observations from 30,054 residents (69% women, average age at death 87 years) in the last 3 years of life. We analyzed trajectories of the Cognitive Performance Scale (CPS) score with latent class growth curve models and examined sociodemographic factors (age at death, sex, marital status, prior living situation) as well as functional and mental health (Activities of Daily Living Index and Depression Rating Scale) and dementia diagnosis as correlates of group membership., Results: We identified three distinct classes based on longitudinal trajectories of the CPS score. In the first group (transition from no to mild impairment, 27%), cognitive impairment increased with time to death (linear and quadratic), but remained at relatively mild levels at all times. The trajectories of the second group (transition from moderate to severe impairment, 43%) were characterized by linear and quadratic changes across time to death. The trajectories of the third group (severe impairment, 30%) were characterized by the lowest amount of linear increase across all groups and no quadratic increase indicating no accelerated change. Better functional health and absence of a dementia diagnosis predicted less impairment. Fewer depressive symptoms were associated with low as opposed to moderate or severe, but also severe versus moderate impairment., Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the majority of residents experience terminal change, with the exception of those at already high levels of impairment. Furthermore, late-life cognitive change is related to functional and mental health., (© 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

General well-being is known to deteriorate sharply at the end of life. However, it is an open question how rates of terminal change differ across affective and evaluative facets of well-being and if individual difference correlates operate in facet-specific ways. We examined how discrete affective states (happy, angry, fearful, sad) and satisfaction with key life domains (health, leisure, family) change as people approach death and how differences in end-of-life trajectories are related to sociodemographic (age, gender, education), physical health (disability, body mass index, physician visits), and psychosocial characteristics (perceived control, social orientation, living with a partner). We applied growth models to 9-year annual longitudinal data of 864 participants (age at death: M = 75 years, 41% women) from the nationwide German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Findings revealed commonalities and specificities in terminal change: Six of seven facets became increasingly fragile late in life (6 to 35 times steeper terminal change than age change), but at vastly different rates of change (e.g., steep declines in happiness and satisfaction with health vs. stability in anger) and at different levels at which changes occurred. Commonalities and differences also emerged for the correlates: Those who perceived more control over their lives experienced generally more favorable late-life affect and satisfaction trajectories, whereas other correlates operated in more facet-specific ways. For example, participants living with a partner were happier and more satisfied with family life throughout their last years, but also reported more fear and steeper increases in sadness, a picture of bittersweet emotions at the end of life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Intellectual engagement (IE) refers to enjoyment of intellectual activities and is proposed as causal for knowledge acquisition. The role of IE for cognitive development was examined utilizing 2-year longitudinal data from 112 ninth graders (average baseline age: 14.7 years). Higher baseline IE predicted higher baseline crystallized ability but not changes therein, and was not associated with fluid ability. Furthermore, IE predicted change in school grades in language but not in mathematics grades or in standardized tests. These findings suggest that IE is not a major predictor of knowledge acquisition in adolescence, where degree of self-determination in intellectual behaviors may be relatively limited. Open questions for future research are addressed, including reciprocal longitudinal associations between IE and academic and cognitive development., (© 2017 The Authors. Child Development © 2017 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.)

A growing body of research has examined whether people's judgments of their own memory functioning accurately reflect their memory performance at cross-section and over time. Relatively less is known about whether these judgments are specifically based on memory performance, or reflect general cognitive change. The aim of the present study was to examine longitudinal associations of subjective memory with performance in tests of episodic memory and a wide range of other cognitive tests, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) Block Design, Comprehension, Digit Span, Digit Symbol, and Vocabulary subtests. We applied latent growth curve models to five occasions over up to 16 years of neuropsychological assessments from 956 participants of the Seattle Longitudinal Study (SLS; 57% women; age at baseline: M = 65.1, SD = 11.4, 38 - 96 years). Results revealed that lower self-reported Frequency of Forgetting was significantly associated with better performance in all cognitive domains at baseline. The baseline correlation of Frequency of Forgetting with memory performance was stronger than its correlations with performance in other cognitive tests. Furthermore, additional analyses with baseline data showed that a latent memory performance factor reliably predicted Frequency of Forgetting after controlling for a general cognitive factor. Over time, steeper increases in Frequency of Forgetting were associated with steeper declines in tests of memory performance and in the Block Design and Digit Symbol subtests. Taken together, these findings suggest that although self-reported Frequency of Forgetting reflects performance in a broad range of other cognitive domains, it also shows some specificity for memory performance. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).)

Subjective memory change (SMC) in adulthood involves the perception that one's memory has declined from earlier levels of function. SMC has been conjectured to be more accurate than concurrent subjective memory because people use themselves as a standard of comparison. We used data from two longitudinal studies to contrast the accurate-monitoring-of-change hypothesis-actual memory change predicts SMC-against a constructed-judgment hypothesis that rated SMC is a function of rescaling concurrent memory beliefs without accessing actual memory change. It states that actual memory change has no predictive validity for SMC independent of concurrent memory beliefs. Data from both the Berlin Aging Study and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) showed that older adults' current memory complaints strongly predicted current SMC, and that there was little relationship of longitudinally measured memory change to SMC, controlling on memory complaints. In the HRS there were reliable latent-growth-curve slope correlations of over .20 for change in episodic memory with both slopes of change in SMC and in memory complaints, yet little relationship of SMC slopes to episodic memory slopes, controlling on memory-complaint slopes. The results falsify the accurate-monitoring-of-change hypothesis regarding the origins of SMC in older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).)

Background: The last decades have seen great advances in the understanding, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although mortality rates due to CVD have declined significantly in the last decades, the burden of CVD is still high, particularly in older adults. This raises the question whether contemporary populations of older adults are experiencing better or worse objective as well as subjective health than earlier-born cohorts. The aim of this study was to examine differences in modifiable indicators of cardiovascular health (CVH), comparing data obtained 20 years apart in the Berlin Aging Study (BASE, 1990-93) and the Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II, 2009-2014)., Methods: Serial cross-sectional analysis of 242 propensity-score-matched participants of BASE (born 1907-1922) and BASE-II (born 1925-1942). Body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, total cholesterol, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), diet, smoking and physical activity were operationalized according to the "Life's simple 7"(LS7) criteria of the American Heart Association., Results: 121 matched pairs were identified based on age, sex, and education. In the later-born BASE-II sample, the mean LS7 score was significantly higher than in the earlier-born sample (7.8±1.8 vs. 6.4±2.1, p<0.001), indicating better CVH. In detail, diet, physical activity, smoking, cholesterol, and HbA1c were more favorable, whereas blood pressure was significantly higher in individuals from the later-born cohort. BMI did not differ significantly between the two matched samples. Notably, despite better CVH, later-born individuals (BASE-II) reported lower self-rated health, presumably because of higher health expectations., Conclusions: Overall, cardiovascular health was significantly better in the later-born cohort, but several notable exceptions exist.

Objectives: Spouses are proximal contexts for and influence each other's behaviors, particularly in old age. In this article, we forward an integrated approach that merges state space grid methods adapted from the dynamic systems literature with sequence analysis methods adapted from molecular biology into a "grid-sequence" method for studying interdyad differences in intradyad dynamics., Method: Using dyadic data from 108 older couples (MAge = 75.18 years) with six within-day emotion and activity reports over 7 days, we illustrate how grid-sequence analysis can be used to identify a taxonomy of dyads with different emotion dynamics., Results: Results provide a basis for measuring a set of dyad-level variables that capture dynamic equilibrium, daily routines, and interdyad differences. Specifically, we identified four groups of dyads who differed in how their moment-to-moment happiness was organized, with some evidence that these patterns were related to dyad-level differences in agreement on amount of time spent with partner and in subjective health., Discussion: Methodologically, grid-sequence analysis extends the toolbox of techniques for analysis of dyadic experience sampling data. Substantively, we identify patterns of dyad-level microdynamics that may serve as new markers of risk/protective factors and potential points for intervention in older adults' proximal context., (© The Author(s) 2016. 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.)

It is well documented that well-being typically evinces precipitous decrements at the end of life. However, research has primarily taken a postdictive approach by knowing the outcome (date of death) and aligning, in retrospect, how well-being has changed for people with documented death events. In the present study, we made use of a predictive approach by examining whether and how levels of and changes in life satisfaction prospectively predict mortality hazards and delineate the role of contributing factors, including health, perceived control, and social orientation. To do so, we applied shared parameter growth-survival models to 20-year longitudinal data from 10,597 participants (n = 1,560 [15%] deceased; age at baseline: M = 44 years, SD = 17, range = 18-98 years) from the national German Socio-Economic Panel Study. Our findings showed that lower levels and steeper declines of life satisfaction each uniquely predicted higher mortality risks. Results also revealed moderating effects of age and perceived control: Life satisfaction levels and changes had stronger predictive effects for mortality hazards among older adults. Perceived control was associated with lower mortality hazards; however, this effect was diminished for those who experienced accelerated life satisfaction decline. Variance decomposition suggests that predictive effects of life satisfaction trajectories were partially unique (3%-6%) and partially shared with physical health, perceived control, and social orientation (17%-19%). Our discussion focuses on the strengths and challenges of a predictive approach to link developmental changes (in life satisfaction) to mortality hazards, and considers implications of our findings for healthy aging. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).)

Correctly identifying other's emotional states is a central cognitive component of empathy. We examined the role of fluid cognitive performance for empathic accuracy for happiness in the daily lives of 86 older couples (mean relationship length = 45 years; mean age = 75 years) on up to 42 occasions over 7 consecutive days. Men performing better on the Digit Symbol test were more accurate in identifying ups and downs of their partner's happiness. A similar association was not found for women. We discuss the potential role of fluid cognitive performance and other individual, partner, and situation characteristics for empathic accuracy. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).)

Dissimilarities between partners in prominent domains of functioning are often thought to be a risk factor for compromised relationship quality and relationship dissolution. However, the nature, correlates, and consequences of developmental trajectories of within-couple dissimilarities in key quality-of-life indicators such as life satisfaction are not well understood. In the current study, we applied multilevel growth models to up to 31-wave annual longitudinal data from 13,714 romantic partners in the German Socio-Economic Panel (age at baseline: M = 43 years, SD = 15, range 17-92 years). Partner dissimilarity was calculated at the within-couple level and indicated considerable differences in life satisfaction between partners within a given couple (0.64 SD or 1.14 units on an 11-point scale). Over time, partner dissimilarity slightly increased among partners who remained together. Examining individual and relationship correlates indicated that dissimilarity was greatest for couples who were older, had children, or had a shorter relationship history. Also, dissimilarity was greater when individual life satisfaction or satisfaction with family life was low, particularly among wives, as well as among couples who later separated. Examining consequences, larger levels of and increases in partner dissimilarity were independently predictive of lower satisfaction with family life at the end of the study, over and above individual life satisfaction of either partner as well as key individual and relationship correlates. Our discussion focuses on the advantages of investigating (developmental trajectories of) within-couple dissimilarity and its implications for individual and partner development. (PsycINFO Database Record, ((c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).)

Background: Lifespan psychological and life course sociological perspectives indicate that individual development is shaped by social and historical circumstances. Increases in fluid cognitive performance over the last century are well documented and researchers have begun examining historical trends in personality and subjective well-being in old age. Relatively less is known about secular changes in other key components of psychosocial function among older adults., Objective: In the present study, we examined cohort differences in key components of psychosocial function, including subjective age, control beliefs, and perceived social integration, as indicated by loneliness and availability of very close others., Methods: We compared data obtained 20 years apart in the Berlin Aging Study (in 1990-1993) and the Berlin Aging Study II (in 2013-2014) and identified case-matched cohort groups based on age, gender, cohort-normed education, and marital or partner status (n = 153 in each cohort, mean age = 75 years). In follow-up analyses, we controlled for having lived in former East versus West Germany, physical diseases, cohort-normed household income, cognitive performance, and the presence of a religious affiliation., Results: Consistently across analyses, we found that, relative to the earlier-born BASE cohort (year of birth: mean = 1916; SD = 3.38 years; range = 1901-1922), participants in the BASE-II sample (year of birth: mean = 1939; SD = 3.22 years; range = 1925-1949) reported lower levels of external control beliefs (d = -1.01) and loneliness (d = -0.63). Cohorts did not differ in subjective age, availability of very close others, and internal control beliefs., Conclusion: Taken together, our findings suggest that some aspects of psychosocial function of older adults have improved across the two recent decades. We discuss the possible role of sociocultural factors that might have led to the observed set of cohort differences., (© 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Conceptual notions and empirical evidence suggest that the intraindividual correlation (iCorr) of positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) is a meaningful characteristic of affective functioning. PA and NA are typically negatively correlated within-person. Previous research has found that the iCorr of PA and NA is relatively stable over time within individuals, that it differs across individuals, and that a less negative iCorr is associated with better resilience and less vulnerability. However, little is known about how the iCorr of PA and NA relates to cognitive aging. This project examined how the association between PA and NA in everyday life is associated with long-term cognitive aging trajectories. To do so, we linked microlongitudinal data on PA and NA obtained on up to 33 occasions over 6 consecutive days with macrolongitudinal data on fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities obtained over 15 years from a subsample of Berlin Aging Study participants (N = 81, mean age at the microlongitudinal study = 81 years, range 73-98; 41% women). Over and above age, gender, education, overall levels of PA and NA, and number of health conditions, a less negative iCorr of PA and NA was associated with lower levels of cognitive ability and steeper cognitive declines, particularly for fluency and knowledge abilities. We discuss possible mechanisms for this finding and argue that a less negative iCorr of PA and NA may be indicative of deficits in emotional integration that are tied to changes in crystallized aspects of cognitive abilities., ((c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).)

One key objective of life span research is to examine how individual development is shaped by the historical time people live in. Secular trends favoring later-born cohorts on fluid cognitive abilities have been widely documented, but findings are mixed for well-being. It remains an open question whether secular increases in well-being seen in earlier phases of life also manifest in the last years of life. To examine this possibility, we made use of longitudinal data obtained from the mid-1980s until the late 2000s in 2 large national samples in the United States (Health and Retirement Study [HRS]) and Germany (German Socio-Economic Panel [SOEP]). We operationally defined historical time from 2 complementary perspectives: birth-year cohorts based on the years in which people were born (earlier: 1930s vs. later: 1940s) and death-year cohorts based on the years in which people died (earlier: 1990s vs. later: 2000s). To control for relevant covariates, we used case-matched groups based on age (at death) and education and covaried for gender, health, and number of observations. Results from both countries revealed that well-being in old age was indeed developing at higher levels among later-born cohorts. However, for later-deceased cohorts, no evidence for secular increases in well-being was found. To the contrary, later-dying SOEP participants reported lower levels of well-being at age 75 and 2 years prior to death and experienced steeper late-life declines. Our results suggest that secular increases in well-being observed in old age do not manifest in late life, where "manufactured" survival may be exacerbating age- and mortality-related declines., ((c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).)

How sociocultural contexts shape individual functioning is of prime interest for psychological inquiry. Secular increases favoring later-born cohorts in fluid intelligence measures are widely documented for young adults. In the current study, we quantified such trends in old age using data from highly comparable participants living in a narrowly defined geographical area and examined whether these trends would generalize to quality-of-life indicators. To do so, we compared data obtained 20 years apart in the Berlin Aging Study (in 1990-1993) and the Berlin Aging Study II (in 2013-2014), applied a case-matched control design (per cohort, n = 161, Mage = 75), quantified sample selection using a nationally representative sample as the reference, and controlled for number of physical diseases. The later cohort performed better on the fluid intelligence measure (d = .85) and reported higher morale, less negative affect, and more positive affect (ds > .39) than the earlier cohort. We concluded that secular advances have resulted in better cognitive performance and perceived quality of life among older adults and discuss when and how advantages of later cohorts reach their limits., ((c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.)

A central aim of life-span psychology is to understand ontogenetic changes in the structure of individuals' actions, thoughts, and behaviors. The dedifferentiation hypothesis of cognitive aging suggests that the structure of individuals' cognitive abilities becomes less differentiated in old age. Empirical tests have almost exclusively approached this hypothesis from a between-person difference perspective and produced a mixed set of findings. In the present study, we pursue a within-person test of the hypothesis using up to 8 repeated measures of cognitive abilities over up to 49 years, covering fluid (inductive reasoning), visualization (spatial orientation), and crystallized abilities (number, verbal meaning, and word fluency), obtained from 419 now-deceased individuals who participated in the Seattle Longitudinal Study (SLS) and have provided at least 4 observations for each cognitive test. Results revealed that with advancing age and proximity to death, within-person coupling increased (a) among the crystallized abilities, (b) between visualization and fluid abilities, (c) between visualization and crystallized abilities, and (d) between fluid abilities and crystallized abilities. We discuss the importance of within-person analyses for understanding changes in the structure of behavior and consider how our findings inform research on cognitive decline and dedifferentiation later in life., ((c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.)

Aging researchers have long been interested in understanding individuals' subjective perceptions of their own memory functioning. Previous research has shown that subjective memory ratings are partly based on memory performance but also reflect the influence of other factors, such as depressive symptoms. The aim of the present study was to examine (1) longitudinal associations between trajectories of subjective memory and memory performance, (2) variables that predict levels of and changes in subjective memory and memory performance, and (3) variables that moderate associations between these constructs. We applied a latent growth curve model to four occasions of data from 15,824 participants of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; mean age at baseline=64.27 years, SD=9.90; 58% women). Results revealed that latent changes in subjective memory were correlated with latent changes in memory performance (φ=0.49), indicating that participants who reported steeper declines of subjective memory indeed showed steeper declines of memory performance over time. Three major patterns of associations emerged with respect to predictors of subjective memory and subjective memory change. First, the level of memory performance showed stronger associations with age, gender, and education, whereas subjective memory was more strongly associated with subjective age and personality traits. For example, women performed better than men on the episodic memory test, but there were no gender differences in subjective memory. Also, older age was associated with steeper declines of memory performance but with less decline of subjective memory. Second, personality traits that predicted subjective memory intercepts did not predict subjective memory slopes. Third, the strength of associations between levels and slopes of subjective memory and memory performance varied as a function of gender, education, depressive symptoms, and personality traits. Conscientiousness moderated the relationship of the level of subjective memory to the level of memory performance, consistent with the hypothesis that persons high in conscientiousness more accurately monitor memory successes and failures. The results reinforce the importance of depressive symptoms as a predictor of subjective memory but also indicate that a broader perspective on the reasons why memory complaints have modest correlations with memory itself is needed., (© 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel)

Subjective memory complaints are often used as diagnostic criteria for several neurocognitive disorders. Although a number of studies have examined subjective memory and its associations with memory functioning in adulthood and old age, it is still an open question whether subjective perceptions of one's memory indicate actual memory functioning or whether they are rather derived from factors other than memory, such as depressive symptoms. The studies in this special section examine subjective perceptions of memory functioning and their associations with objectively measured memory performance in general and in clinical populations. The four articles adopt cross-sectional and longitudinal methodologies and offer key insights into the nature, correlates, and developmental trajectories of subjective memory. To begin with, the studies compiled in this special section demonstrate that changes in subjective memory perceptions are indeed associated with changes in memory performance [Zimprich and Kurtz, this issue, pp. 223-231], but the size of associations between levels of and changes in subjective memory and memory performance is in part modulated by personality characteristics and depressive symptoms [Hülür et al., this issue, pp. 232-240]. Second, the studies compiled here show that factors other than memory are also closely associated with memory perceptions, including functional health as well as domain-general and health-specific control beliefs [Luszcz et al., this issue, pp. 241-250]. Third, the study by Thompson et al. [this issue, pp. 251-257] shows that self- and informant-reports of retrospective and prospective memory difficulties are not associated with performance-based measures and does not sufficiently differentiate between healthy controls and patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. In our editorial, we put these findings in perspective and discuss implications for research and practice. To extend our knowledge, we conclude by outlining two key avenues for future research: (i) longitudinal multivariate studies of the construct space surrounding subjective memory and (ii) the viability of experience sampling studies with daily or hourly measurements to tackle some of the mechanisms underlying these associations., (© 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel)

Clinical diagnostic criteria for memory loss in adults typically assume that subjective memory ratings accurately reflect compromised memory functioning. Research has documented small positive between-person associations between subjective memory and memory performance in older adults. Less is known, however, about whether within-person fluctuations in subjective memory covary with within-person variance in memory performance and depressive symptoms. The present study applied multilevel models of change to 9 waves of data from 27,395 participants of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; mean age at baseline = 63.78; SD = 10.30; 58% women) to examine whether subjective memory is associated with both between-person differences and within-person variability in memory performance and depressive symptoms and explored the moderating role of known correlates (age, gender, education, and functional limitations). Results revealed that across persons, level of subjective memory indeed covaried with level of memory performance and depressive symptoms, with small-to-moderate between-person standardized effect sizes (0.19 for memory performance and -0.21 for depressive symptoms). Within individuals, occasions when participants scored higher than usual on a test of episodic memory or reported fewer-than-average depressive symptoms generated above-average subjective memory. At the within-person level, subjective memory ratings became more sensitive to within-person alterations in memory performance over time and those suffering from functional limitations were more sensitive to within-person alterations in memory performance and depressive symptoms. We take our results to suggest that within-person changes in subjective memory in part reflect monitoring flux in one's own memory functioning, but are also influenced by flux in depressive symptoms., ((PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).)

In the present paper we investigate weekly fluctuations in the working memory capacity (WMC) assessed over a period of 2 years. We use dynamical system analysis, specifically a second order linear differential equation, to model weekly variability in WMC in a sample of 112 9th graders. In our longitudinal data we use a B-spline imputation method to deal with missing data. The results show a significant negative frequency parameter in the data, indicating a cyclical pattern in weekly memory updating performance across time. We use a multilevel modeling approach to capture individual differences in model parameters and find that a higher initial performance level and a slower improvement at the MU task is associated with a slower frequency of oscillation. Additionally, we conduct a simulation study examining the analysis procedure's performance using different numbers of B-spline knots and values of time delay embedding dimensions. Results show that the number of knots in the B-spline imputation influence accuracy more than the number of embedding dimensions.

Studies of birth-year cohorts examined over the same age range often report secular trends favoring later-born cohorts, who are cognitively fitter and show less steep cognitive declines than earlier-born cohorts. However, there is initial evidence that those advantages of later-born cohorts do not carry into the last years of life, suggesting that pervasive mortality-related processes minimize differences that were apparent earlier in life. Elaborating this work from an alternative perspective on cohort differences, we compared rates of cognitive aging and terminal decline in episodic memory between cohorts based on the year participants had died, earlier (between 1993 and 1999) or later in historical time (between 2000 and 2010). Specifically, we compared trajectories of cognitive decline in 2 death-year cohorts of participants in the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old study that were matched on age at death and education and controlled for a variety of additional covariates. Results revealed little evidence of secular trends favoring later cohorts. To the contrary, the cohort that died in the 2000s showed a less favorable trajectory of age-related memory decline than the cohort that died in the 1990s. In examinations of change in relation to time to death, the cohort dying in the 2000s experienced even steeper terminal declines than the cohort dying in the 1990s. We suggest that secular increases in "manufacturing" survival may exacerbate age- and mortality-related cognitive declines among the oldest old.