Does age affect the stress and coping process? Implications of age differences in perceived control
Article Abstract:
Having a sense of control over the issues that affect one's life is an important factor for psychological health and well-being. Studies have shown that the elderly often feel a decreased sense of control over their lives because of the physical and environmental limitations that aging can cause. The natural extension of these findings is that the elderly would be more passive in coping with stressful situations and would try to avoid such situations. However, most studies have not supported this view. They have found the elderly use fewer avoidant strategies when faced with stressful situations than do younger people and are just as aggressive in facing problems as are younger people. This study examined the effects that aging has on the coping process. A questionnaire was sent to a random sampling of adults of various ages in the Los Angeles area. A total of 228 questionnaires were returned. The questionnaire was designed to measure coping strategies and sense of control over stressful events in the previous month. Results showed that a health problem being reported as the most stressful event during the previous month and increasing age were significantly related. There was also a relationship between increased age and a decreased perception of control over the stressful health situation. Despite this finding, the elderly respondents were less depressed by the situation and less likely to use avoidance strategies to cope with the situation. They were equally as likely as younger respondents to use instrumental action or face the problem directly. Avoidance strategies or escapism were more likely to be used for more stressful situations. People that felt less responsible for their problems were more likely to use avoidance strategies than those that felt more responsible. These results indicate that although a decreased sense of control and responsibility toward stressful situations is associated with aging, other factors such as experience tend to balance these out and explain why the elderly do not use more passive and avoidant coping strategies than younger adults. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Age differences and changes in the use of coping mechanisms
Article Abstract:
While the effects of psychological stress have been studied extensively, there has been little research done to elucidate the coping mechanisms people use to handle stressful events. It appears that stress often has only a short-term adverse effect on the individual, which suggests that most people are using effective coping mechanisms, whatever they may be. It is not known whether older persons utilize different coping processes than younger individuals. While the elderly might be more effective at coping because they have greater experience and wisdom to draw upon, they might also find the stresses of old age overwhelming. The current study was done to characterize the coping mechanisms used by individuals of different ages. In 1980, 405 men and women aged 21 to 91 filled out questionnaires. In 1987, 191 of the original group were evaluated again, and an additional 207 men and women were tested. Each subject reported which coping mechanisms he or she had used during a single life event; this event was categorized as a loss, a challenge, or a threat. The 28 coping mechanisms on the list that they selected from included hostile reaction, rational action, seeking help, escapist fantasy, withdrawal, passivity, and humor. Age appeared to affect the utilization of a few of the coping mechanisms, but had little overall influence on the coping methods used by these subjects. The re-testing of some subjects after seven years showed a moderate amount of stability in coping mechanisms, indicating that particular ways of coping may be a lasting part of the individual's personality. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1989
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Social density, stressors, and depression: gender differences among the black elderly
Article Abstract:
The effects of social density and other stressors on depressive symptoms were assessed in 600 elderly black men and women. The significance of these effects is not clear. Subjects were aged 55 to 85 years old and the group was 70 percent female. Only 25 percent of the sample was married. For each participant, a medical history was completed, stressful life events were measured, social support networks were evaluated, and psychological factors, such as ego strength and depressive symptoms, were assessed. Poor ego strength and the presence of medical problems were predictors of depression for both men and women, but for women, lack of social support was implicated in depression as well. For men, life events, social support, and social contacts were all unrelated to depression. These results are inconsistent with earlier reports of that the two sexes are similar in these areas. It is possible that socialization differences for men and women, which emphasize social contact for women and emphasize competition and autonomy for men, play a role in the difference found here. More of a dilemma is the absence of a relationship between acute life events and depression in both men and women in this sample. While documentation of such a relationship exists for younger populations, other studies have also failed to find this relationship in the elderly. It is recommended that therapeutic programs focus on expansion of social support networks in the elderly. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Cognitive mediation of adult age differences in language performance. Perceptions of an old female eyewitness: is the older eyewitness believable?
- Abstracts: The effect of zinc and vitamin A supplementation on immune response in an older population. Immunologic response to a single dose of tetanus toxoid in older people
- Abstracts: The class effect: is it relevant to geriatrics? Medication adherence in rheumatoid arthritis patients: older is wiser
- Abstracts: Endurance training for elderly women: moderate vs low intensity. Gait assessment in the elderly: a gait abnormality rating scale and its relation to falls
- Abstracts: Effects of age on cutaneous circulatory response to direct heat on the forearm. Attenuation of the cutaneous vasoconstrictor response to cold to elderly men