Self-perceptions of aging: A systematic review of longitudinal studies.

Abstract

As the population of older adults increases, it is important to understand what may assist every older person to live well and longer. Using a systematic review, this study examined the longitudinal consequences of self-perceptions of aging (SPA), a measure of internalized stereotypes of aging, in participants 50 years or older. The sample comprised 21 studies published in English that used the Attitudes Toward Own Aging (ATOA) scale to measure SPA. Studies were conducted in the United States (10), Germany (7), Australia (2), and one each from Israel and Switzerland. Risk of bias was low, study design and assessment showed good to high quality, and the ATOA scale was reliable in all studies. Primary outcomes were physiological (N = 15; longevity and better health, health behaviors, and diseases) and psychological (N = 6; depression, cognitive function, and other psychological outcomes) rather than social. More positive SPA was consistently associated with healthier longitudinal outcomes, including better self-rated health and less obesity, greater longevity, better performance of the activities of daily living, less depression, and better cognitive functioning (including reductions in cognitive decline and incidence of dementia). These were both direct and indirect pathways and provide support for the consequences of aging stereotypes, providing support for Levy's Stereotype Embodiment theory. The results have public health implications, broadly as community messaging about the benefits of positive SPA and usual and healthy aging, and more narrowly in using ATOA to screen for middle-aged adults with negative SPA to prevent future physical and psychological decline.

No Pain, No Gain? Personality Associations With Awareness of Aging Depend on Arthritis

“…Although the behaviors associated with personality are considered somewhat stable, symptoms of arthritis may fluctuate over time, which could then lead to varying changes in AARC and ATOA. As this study was cross-sectional, we are unable to make causal statements and acknowledge that AARC and ATOA may be antecedents of health-related outcomes and personality, reflecting the bidirectional nature of these relationships ( Kotter-Grühn, 2015 ; Zhang and Neupert, 2020 ; Tully-Wilson et al, 2021 ). Future research could examine within-person variability in AARC and ATOA as they relate to personality and health.…”

“…Physical health and awareness of aging concepts like AARC and ATOA are related bidirectionally, with some research looking at how awareness of aging can impact health ( Kotter-Grühn, 2015 ; Tully-Wilson et al, 2021 ), and some looking at how health can impact awareness of aging ( Zhang and Neupert, 2020 ). Regardless of the direction though, the evidence supports strong connections between health and awareness of aging concepts.…”

“…The current study focused exclusively on arthritis because of its age-graded nature, and the daily symptoms accompanying arthritis may be associated with vulnerability to age-related losses. A systematic review done by Tully-Wilson et al (2021) showed that positive attitudes were related to better health-related longitudinal outcomes, such as better subjective health.…”

Gain- but not loss-related self-perceptions of aging predict mortality over a period of 23 years: A multidimensional approach.

“…Despite this comprehensive research, however, only a small share of these studies considered mortality as an ultimate health outcome. Existing studies either examined the role of SPA or SA but did not compare their respective impact on mortality (Chang et al, 2020; Tully-Wilson et al, 2021). In addition, current research increasingly uses a multidimensional approach to measure SPA in order to understand which gain- or loss-related perceptions of aging particularly contribute to health in later life.…”

Aging attitudes and changes in the costs of cognitive engagement in older adults over 5 years.

“…On a daily level, within-person deviations from one’s typical awareness of aging are associated with fluctuations in daily control beliefs (Zhang & Neupert, 2020), and on days when older adults report higher control beliefs than usual, they report feeling subjectively younger (Bellingtier & Neupert, 2020). Negative aging attitudes are also associated with greater health risks (e.g., Tully-Wilson et al, 2021; Wettstein et al, 2020) and poorer cognitive functioning (e.g., Levy et al, 2012; Siebert et al, 2018) over time. An interesting question relates to the impact of aging attitudes on costs, and the degree to which such effects may be tied to the detrimental effects of negative attitudes.…”