Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Serious health events and their impact on changes in subjective health and life satisfaction: the role of age and a positive view on ageing

European Journal of Ageing volume 5, pages 117–127 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Various studies have pointed to the great importance of subjective health as an indicator for mortality in older age, while less is known about factors that contribute to changes of subjective (self-rated) health over time. Based on a nationwide longitudinal survey (German Ageing Survey, N = 1,286; initial age 40–85), two major findings emerged: first, the incidence of a serious health event caused greater changes in subjective health and life satisfaction in middle compared to older age. This was as expected because serious health events are less common in middle age and are correspondingly experienced more often as an “off-time event”. Secondly, the study extended previous findings on the impact of a positive view of ageing on health by showing that this optimistic view positively affects subjective health and life satisfaction even in the face of a serious health event. Overall, the study indicates that a positive view on ageing is an important psychological resource in the case of a serious health event, both when it occurs on-time or off-time from a developmental perspective.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1

Notes

  1. We additionally computed the regression analyses including serious health events in 1996 (N = 34 or 2.64% of the sample reported on a serious health event in 1996), although we cannot distinguish events in 1996 that occurred before the interview from those after the interview. The results of the analyses were similar to those reported above; however, the interaction effect of serious health event × age was no more significant in the prediction of life satisfaction (β = 0.19, P =0.254). This might be due to the fact that serious health events that occurred before the first interview were also included.

  2. Here too, we additionally computed the regression analyses including serious health events in 1996. The results of the analyses were similar to those reported above including only serious health events from 1997 to 2002.

References

  • Aspinwall LG, Richter L, Hoffman RRI (2001) Understanding how optimism works: an examination of optimists adaptive moderation of belief and behavior. In: Chang E (ed) Optimism and pessimism: implications for theory, research, and practice. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp 217–238

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Baltes PB, Schaie KW, Nardi AH (1971) Age and experimental mortality in a 7-year longitudinal study of cognitive behavior. Dev Psychol 5:18–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benyamini Y, Idler EL (1999) Community studies reporting association between self-rated health and mortality: additional studies, 1995–1998. Res Aging 21:392–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benyamini Y, Idler EL, Leventhal H, Leventhal EA (2000) Positive affect and function as influences on self-assessments of health: expanding our view beyond illness and disability. J Gerontol Psychol Sci 55B:P107–P116

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonnano GA (2004) Loss, trauma, and human resilience. Am Psychol 59:20–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borkan JM, Quirk M (1992) Expectations and outcomes. Int J Aging Hum Dev 34:339–350

    Google Scholar 

  • Bultena GL, Powers EA (1978) Denial of aging: age identification and reference group orientations. J Gerontol 33:748–754

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatfield MD, Brayne CE, Matthews FE (2005) A systematic literature review of attrition between waves in longitudinal studies in the elderly shows a consistent pattern of dropout between differing studies. J Clin Epidemiol 58:13–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chipperfield JG (1993) Incongruence between health perceptions and health problems. J Aging Health 5:475–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Shon RP, Ployhart RE, Sacco JM (1998) The estimation of reliability in longitudinal models. Int J Behav Dev 22:493–515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dempster AP, Laird NM, Rubin DB (1977) Maximum likelihood from incomplete data via the EM algorithm. J R Stat Soc [Ser B] 39:1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Diehr P, Williamson J, Patrick DL, Bild DE, Burke GL (2001) Patterns of self-rated health in older adults before and after sentinel health events. J Am Geriatr Soc 49:36–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener E (1994) Assessing subjective well-being: progress and opportunities. Soc Indic Res 31:103–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dittmann-Kohli F, Kohli M, Künemund H, Motel A, Steinleitner C, Gerben Westerhof in Zusammenarbeit mit infas-Sozialforschung (1997) Lebenszusammenhänge, Selbst- und Lebenskonzeptionen. Erhebungsdesign und Instrumente des Alters-Survey (Life contexts, conceptions of self and life. Design and instruments of the German Aging Survey). Freie Universität (Report 61), Berlin

  • Engstler H, Wurm S (2006) Datengrundlagen und Methodik (Data base and method). In: Tesch-Römer C, Engstler H, Wurm S (eds) Sozialer Wandel und individuelle Entwicklung in der zweiten Lebenshälfte (Social change and individual development in the second half of life). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden, pp 47–83

  • Eriksson I, Unden A-L, Elofsson S (2001) Self-rated health. comparisons between three different measures. Results from a population study. Int J Epidemiol 30:326–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fayers PM, Sprangers MAG (2002) Understanding self-rated health. Lancet 359:187–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Figini P (1998) Inequality Measures, Equivalence Scales and Adjustment for Household Size and Composition. Luxembourg Income Study (Working Paper 185), Luxembourg

  • Goldstein MS, Siegel JM, Boyer R (1984) Predicting changes in perceived health status. Am J Public Health 74:611–614

    Google Scholar 

  • Havighurst RJ (1981) Developmental tasks and education. Longman, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckhausen J (1997) Developmental regulation across adulthood: primary and secondary control of age-related challenges. Dev Psychol 33:176–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heckhausen J, Brim OG (1997) Perceived problems for self and others: self-protection by social downgrading throughout adulthood. Psychol Aging 12:610–619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heckhausen J, Krüger J (1993) Developmental expectations for the self and most other people: age grading in three functions of social comparison. Dev Psychol 29:539–548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horn JL, McArdle JJ (1992) A practical and theoretical guide to measurement invariance in aging research. Exp Aging Res 18:117–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Idler EL (1992) Self-assessed health and mortality: a review of studies. Int Rev Health Psychol 1:33–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Idler EL (1993) Age differences in self-assessments of health: age changes, cohort differences, or survivorship? J Gerontol Soc Sci 48:S289–S300

    Google Scholar 

  • Idler EL, Benyamini Y (1997) Self-rated health and mortality: a review of twenty-seven community studies. J Health Soc Behav 38:21–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isaacowitz DM, Seligman MEP (2001) Is pessimism a risk factor for depressive mood among community-dwelling older adults? Behav Res Ther 39:255–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jang Y, Poon LW, Martin P (2004) Individual differences in the effects of disease and disability on depressive symptoms: The role of age and subjective health. Int J Aging Hum Dev 59:125–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jöreskog K, Sörbom D (1996) Lisrel 8: User’s reference guide. SSI Scientific Software, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz JN, Chang LC, Sangha O, Fossel AH, Bates DW (1996) Can comorbidity be measured by questionnaire rather than medical record review? Med Care 34:73–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kempen GIJM, van Sonderen E (2002) Psychological attributes and changes in disability among low-functioning older persons. Does attrition affect the outcomes? J Clin Epidemiol 55: 224–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krause NM, Jay GM (1994) What do global self-rated health items measure? Med Care 32:930–942

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal EA, Prohaska TR (1986) Age, symptom interpretation and health behavior. J Am Geriatr Soc 34:185–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy BR, Myers LM (2004) Preventive health behavior influenced by self-perceptions of aging. Prev Med 39:625–629

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy BR, Slade MD, Kasl SV (2002) Longitudinal benefit of positive self-perceptions of aging on functional health. J Gerontol 57B:P409–P417

    Google Scholar 

  • Linn BS, Linn MW (1980) Objective and self-assessed health in the old and very old. Soc Sci Med 14A:311–315

    Google Scholar 

  • Maier H, Smith J (1999) Psychological predictors of mortality in old age. J Gerontol Psychol Sci 54B:P44–P54

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin P, Rott C, Poon LW, Courtenay B, Lehr U (2001) A molecular view of coping behavior in older adults. J Aging Health 13:72–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meinow B, Parker MG, Kareholt I, Thorslund M (2006) Complex health problems in the oldest old in Sweden 1992–2002. Eur J Ageing 3:98–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mossey JM, Shapiro E (1982) Self-rated health: a predictor of mortality among the elderly. Am J Public Health 72:800–808

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neller K (2005) Kooperation und Verweigerung: Eine Non-Response-Studie (Cooperation and refusal: a non-response study). ZUMA-Nachr 57:9–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Neugarten BL (1996) The meanings of age. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris FH (1985) Characteristics of older nonrespondents over 5 years of a panel study. J Gerontol 40:627–636

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinquart M (2001) Correlates of subjective health in older adults: a meta-analysis. Psychol Aging 16:414–426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn ME, Johnson MA, Poon LW, Martin P (1999) Psychosocial correlates of subjective health in sexagenarians, octogenarians, and centenarians. Issues Ment Health Nurs 20:151–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rakowski W, Cryan CD (1990) Associations among health perceptions and health status within three age groups. J Aging Health 2:58–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rakowski W, Hickey T (1992) Mortality and the attribution of health problems to aging among older adults. Am J Public Health 82:1139–1142

    Google Scholar 

  • Raykov T (2004) Estimation of maximal reliability: a note on a covariance structure modelling approach. Br J Math Stat Psychol 57:21–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff CD (1989) Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. J Pers Soc Psychol 57:1069–1081

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarkisian CA, Hays RD, Mangione CM (2002) Do older adults expect to age successfully? The association between expectations regarding aging and beliefs regarding healthcare seeking among older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 50:1837–1843

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheier MF, Matthews KA, Owens JF, Magovern GJ, Lefebvre RC, Abbott AR, et al (1989) Dispositional optimism and recovery from coronary artery bypass surgery: the beneficial effects on physical and psychological well-being. J Pers Soc Psychol 57:1024–1040

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sprangers MAG, Schwartz CE (1999) Integrating response shift into health-related quality of life research: a theoretical model. Soc Sci Med 48: 1507–1515

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnik BG, Fidell LS (2007) Using multivariate statistics. 5th edn. Allyn and Bacon, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor SE, Kemeny ME, Reed GM, Bower JE, Gruenewald TL (2000) Psychological resources, positive illusions, and health. Am Psychol 55:99–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treiman DJ (1977) Occupational prestige in comparative perspective. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilcox VL, Kasl SV, Idler EL (1996) Self-rated health and physical disability in elderly survivors of a major medical event. J Gerontol Soc Sci 51B:S96–S104

    Google Scholar 

  • Wurm S, Tesch-Roemer C, Tomasik MJ (2007) Longitudinal findings on aging-related cognitions, control beliefs and health in later life. J Gerontol Psychol Sci 62B:P156–P164

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. German Centre of Gerontology, Manfred-von-Richthofen Str. 2, 12101, Berlin, Germany

    Susanne Wurm & Clemens Tesch-Römer

  2. Friedrich-Schiller University, Am Steiger 3/1, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Martin J. Tomasik

Authors
  1. Susanne Wurm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Martin J. Tomasik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Clemens Tesch-Römer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susanne Wurm.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wurm, S., Tomasik, M.J. & Tesch-Römer, C. Serious health events and their impact on changes in subjective health and life satisfaction: the role of age and a positive view on ageing. Eur J Ageing 5, 117–127 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-008-0077-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-008-0077-5

Keywords

search

Navigation