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Successful Aging Across Adulthood: Hassles, Uplifts, and Self-Assessed Health in Daily Context

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Abstract

To examine the ways in which age, sex, daily uplifts, and daily hassles influence fluctuations in self-assessed health (SAH). A 14-day experience sampling study was conducted among community-dwelling adults (N = 87). The distribution-free method of generalized estimating equations was used to examine whether changes in the intensity of daily hassles and changes in intensities of daily uplifts predicted subsequent changes in SAH. Both hassles and uplifts influenced SAH, although neither age nor sex influenced these associations. Findings are discussed in terms of the benefits of examining the daily context as an influence on successful aging.

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Acknowledgements

Support for data collection by grants from the Department of Psychology, WVU and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, WVU, awarded to the first author. Support for the analytical collaboration was supported by a grant from the WVCTSI, awarded to Patrick, Graf and Long, co-investigators.

Funding

Funding was provided by National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U54GM104942).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA

    Allyson Stella Graf & Julie Hicks Patrick

  2. Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Elmira College, Elmira, USA

    Allyson Stella Graf

  3. Clinical Research Design, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics Program, West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute (WVCTSI), School of Public Health, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA

    Dustin M. Long

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  1. Allyson Stella Graf
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Correspondence to Julie Hicks Patrick.

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Graf, A., Long, D.M. & Patrick, J.H. Successful Aging Across Adulthood: Hassles, Uplifts, and Self-Assessed Health in Daily Context. J Adult Dev 24, 216–225 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-017-9260-2

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