Becca R. Levy

Longevity Increased by Positive Self-Perceptions of Aging

This research found that older individuals with more positive self-perceptions of aging, measured up to 23 years earlier, lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive self-perceptions of aging. This advantage remained after age, gender, socioeconomic status, loneliness, and functional health were included as covariates. It was also found that this effect is partially mediated by will to live. The sample consisted of 660 individuals aged 50 and older who participated in a community-based survey, the Ohio Longitudinal Study of Aging and Retirement (OLSAR). By matching the OLSAR to mortality data recently obtained from the National Death Index, the authors were able to conduct survival analyses. The findings suggest that the self-perceptions of stigmatized groups can influence longevity.

Stereotype Embodiment A Psychosocial Approach to Aging

Researchers have increasingly turned their attention from younger individuals who hold age stereotypes to older individuals who are targeted by these stereotypes. The refocused research has shown that positive and negative age stereotypes held by older individuals can have beneficial and detrimental effects, respectively, on a variety of cognitive and physical outcomes. Drawing on these experimental and longitudinal studies, a theory of stereotype embodiment is presented here. It proposes that stereotypes are embodied when their assimilation from the surrounding culture leads to self-definitions that, in turn, influence functioning and health. The theory has four components: The stereotypes (a) become internalized across the life span, (b) can operate unconsciously, (c) gain salience from self-relevance, and (d) utilize multiple pathways. The central message of the theory, and the research supporting it, is that the aging process is, in part, a social construct.

Aging free from negative stereotypes: Successful memory in China among the American deaf.

This study explores whether negative stereotypes about aging contribute to memory loss in old age. The research participants consisted of old and young Chinese hearing, American Deaf, and American hearing individuals. Members of the mainland Chinese and the American Deaf cultures were recruited on the basis of the belief that they would be less likely than hearing Americans to be exposed to and accept negative stereotypes about aging. The expected results were (a) an interaction in which the 3 groups of younger Ss would perform similarly on the memory tasks, whereas the older Deaf and older Chinese participants would outperform the older American hearing group and (b) a positive correlation between view toward aging and memory performance among the old Ss. The data supported both hypotheses. The results suggest that cultural beliefs about aging play a role in determining the degree of memory loss people experience in old age.

The Power of Ageism on Physical Function of Older Persons: Reversibility of Age-Related Gait Changes

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that age‐associated changes in physical function, particularly walking performance, are influenced by ageism and that the activation of positive stereotypes of aging can partially reverse these changes.

Age Stereotypes Held Earlier in Life Predict Cardiovascular Events in Later Life

When older individuals apply negative age stereotypes to themselves, they can adversely influence a wide range of outcomes (Levy, Slade, Kunkel, & Kasl, 2002). These outcomes include a greater cardiovascular response to stress and worse health behaviors, such as higher tobacco use (Levy, Hausdorff, Hencke, & Wei, 2000; Levy & Myers, 2004), both of which have been linked to the risk of cardiovascular events (Jiang et al., 1996).

To be or not to be: the effects of aging stereotypes on the will to live.

This Study Examined Whether Stereotypes Of Aging Might Contribute To Decisions The Elderly Make About When To Die. Old And Young Participants (N = 64) Were Subliminally Primed With Either Negative Or Positive Stereotypes Of Old Age And Then Responded To Hypothetical Medical Situations Involving Potentially Fatal Illnesses. Consistent With Our Prediction, the aged participants primed with negative stereotypes tended to refuse life-prolonged interventions, whereas the old participants primed with positive age stereotypes tended to accept the interventions. This priming effect did not emerge among the young participants for whom the stereotypes were less relevant. The results suggest that societally-transmitted negative stereotypes of aging can weaken elderly peoples will to live.

The Stereotype-Matching Effect : Greater Influence on Functioning When Age Stereotypes Correspond to Outcomes

Older individuals assimilate, and are targeted by, contradictory positive and negative age stereotypes. It was unknown whether the influence of stereotype valence is stronger when the stereotype content corresponds to the outcome domain. We randomly assigned older individuals to either positive-cognitive, negative-cognitive, positive-physical, or negative-physical subliminal-age-stereotype groups and assessed cognitive and physical outcomes. As predicted, when the age stereotypes corresponded to the outcome domains, their valence had a significantly greater impact on cognitive and physical performance. This suggests that if a match occurs, it is more likely to generate expectations that become self-fulfilling prophecies.

Memory Shaped by Age Stereotypes over Time

OBJECTIVES Previous studies showed that negative self-stereotypes detrimentally affect the cognitive performance of marginalized group members; however, these findings were confined to short-term experiments. In the present study, we considered whether stereotypes predicted memory over time, which had not been previously examined. We also considered whether self-relevance increased the influence of stereotypes on memory over time. METHOD Multiple waves of memory performance were analyzed using individual growth models. The sample consisted of 395 participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. RESULTS Those with more negative age stereotypes demonstrated significantly worse memory performance over 38 years than those with less negative age stereotypes, after adjusting for relevant covariates. The decline in memory performance for those aged 60 and above was 30.2% greater for the more negative age stereotype group than for the less negative age stereotype group. Also, the impact of age stereotypes on memory was significantly greater among those for whom the age stereotypes were self-relevant. DISCUSSION This study shows that the adverse influence of negative self-stereotypes on cognitive performance is not limited to a short-term laboratory effect. Rather, the findings demonstrate, for the first time, that stereotypes also predict memory performance over an extended period in the community.

The role of religion and ethnicity in the help seeking of family caregivers of elders with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

Stages of help seeking during illness have been identified as follows: disease experience, symptom attribution, decision to seek care, and contact with care providers. These stages have not been evaluated amongst family caregivers of elders affected with Alzheimers disease and related disorders (ADRD). Since minority families typically care for ADRD elders at home, it seems important to understand the help seeking of minority family caregivers in particular, and the role of religious/ethnic factors. Thematic analyses were conducted on in-depth interviews from 10 caregivers from 4 groups (total n = 40): African-American, Chinese-American, Puerto Rican, and Irish-American. Aside from the disease experience stage, where religious/ethnic themes were negligible, between-group differences existed in these themes at other stages. For example, themes of extended family support emerged around decision making, with much between-group variation. At the contact with providers stage themes of contacting religious or ethnic service organizations were present, again with between-group variation. Chinese-American and Puerto Rican narratives contained themes of language barriers to care, and a lack of culturally-competent services. Both Irish-American and African-American narratives showed themes of alienation from religious groups on the one hand, and using prayer to cope on the other. Narratives from all groups contained themes of religious and/or ethnic imperatives for providing care. Overall, findings reveal that religious/ethnic factors may both aid and impede the help seeking of caregivers.

Association Between Positive Age Stereotypes and Recovery From Disability in Older Persons

OBJECTIVES: To compare restraint-use practices and injuries among children in crashes with grandparent versus parent drivers. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of motor vehicle crashes that occurred from January 15, 2003, to November 30, 2007, involving children aged 15 years or younger, with cases identified via insurance claims and data collected via follow-up telephone surveys. We calculated the relative risk of significant child-passenger injury for grandparent-driven versusparent-driven vehicles.Logistic regression modeling estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95%confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for several child occupant, driver, vehicle, and crash characteristics. RESULTS: Children driven by grandparents comprised 9.5% of the sample but resulted in only 6.6%of the total injuries. Injuries were reported for 1302 children, for an overall injury rate of 1.02 (95%CI: 0.90–1.17) per 100 child occupants. These represented 161 weighted injuries (0.70%injuryrate) withgrandparent driversand2293injuries (1.05%injury rate) with parent drivers. Although nearly all children werereportedtohavebeenrestrained,childrenincrasheswithgrandparent drivers used optimal restraint slightly less often. Despite this, children in grandparent-driven crashes were at one-half the risk of injuries as those in parent-driven crashes (OR: 0.50 [95% CI: 0.33– 0.75]) after adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Grandchildren seem to be safer in crashes when driven by grandparents than by their parents, but safety could be enhanced if grandparents followed current child-restraint guidelines. Additional elucidation of safegrandparent drivingpractices whencarrying their grandchildren may inform future child-occupant driving education guidelines for all drivers. Pediatrics 2011;128:289–295 AUTHORS: FredM. Henretig, MD,DennisR. Durbin, MD, MSCE, Michael J. Kallan, MS,and FlauraK. Winston, MD, PhD Division of Emergency Medicine, Center for Injury Research and Prevention, and eDivision of General Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; bDepartment of Pediatrics and dCenter for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and fLeonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania