Frank J. Infurna

Long-Term Antecedents and Outcomes of Perceived Control

Perceived control plays an important role in shaping development throughout adulthood and old age. Using data from the adult lifespan sample of the national German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP; N > 10,000, covering 25 years of measurement), we explored long-term antecedents, correlates, and outcomes of perceived control and examined if associations differ with age. Targeting correlates and antecedents of control, findings indicated that higher concurrent levels of social participation, life satisfaction, and self-rated health as well as more positive changes in social participation over the preceding 11 years were each predictive of between-person differences in perceived control. Targeting health outcomes of control, survival analyses revealed that perceived control predicted 14-year hazard ratio for disability (n = 996 became disabled) and mortality (n = 1,382 died). The effect for mortality, but not for disability, was independent of sociodemographic and psychosocial factors. Overall, we found very limited support for age-differential associations. Our results provide further impetus to thoroughly examine processes involved in antecedent-consequent relations among perceived control, facets of social life, well-being, and health.

Mental Work Demands, Retirement, and Longitudinal Trajectories of Cognitive Functioning

Age-related changes in cognitive abilities are well-documented, and a very important indicator of health, functioning, and decline in later life. However, less is known about the course of cognitive functioning before and after retirement and specifically whether job characteristics during ones time of employment (i.e., higher vs. lower levels of mental work demands) moderate how cognition changes both before and after the transition to retirement. We used data from n = 4,182 (50% women) individuals in the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative panel study in the United States, across an 18 year time span (1992-2010). Data were linked to the O*NET occupation codes to gather information about mental job demands to examine whether job characteristics during ones time of employment moderates level and rate of change in cognitive functioning (episodic memory and mental status) both before and after retirement. Results indicated that working in an occupation characterized by higher levels of mental demands was associated with higher levels of cognitive functioning before retirement, and a slower rate of cognitive decline after retirement. We controlled for a number of important covariates, including socioeconomic (education and income), demographic, and health variables. Our discussion focuses on pathways through which job characteristics may be associated with the course of cognitive functioning in relation to the important transition of retirement. Implications for job design as well as retirement are offered.

The nature and cross-domain correlates of subjective age in the oldest old: Evidence from the octo study

Self-reflections of age and aging are predictors for key outcomes such as mortality, but little is known about the nature and potential antecedents of subjective age in very old age. We used cross-sectional data from the Swedish OCTO study (N = 267; B. Johansson & S. H. Zarit, 1995) and found that almost two thirds of the 84- to 90-year-olds reported not feeling old. Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that younger age and better physical functioning as well as higher well-being and mastery beliefs were all related to not feeling old. In multivariate analyses, however, mastery beliefs emerged as the most consistent and robust predictor of subjective age. Our findings suggest that adaptive capacities may be preserved into advanced age and highlight the pivotal role of perceived control for successful aging.

Perceived control reduces mortality risk at low, not high, education levels

OBJECTIVE Both higher levels of educational attainment and a strong sense of control over ones life independently predict better health and longevity. Evidence also suggests that these 2 factors may combine in multiplicative ways to influence subjective reports of health. METHOD In the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) national sample (N = 6,135; age = 25 to 75 years), we tested whether stronger beliefs of control over ones life would moderate the effect of education on 14-year mortality risk. RESULTS Proportional hazards modeling indicated that both current levels of education and control beliefs were associated with lower risk of dying, over and above childhood socioeconomic level. In addition, there was a significant interaction between education and control beliefs. Among those low in education, higher control beliefs were associated with a decreased mortality risk. However, at greater levels of education, control beliefs were not associated with mortality risk. This effect remained after adjusting for potential confounding variables, including health behaviors, depressed affect, and general health (chronic illnesses, functional limitations, and self-rated health). CONCLUSIONS These findings demonstrate the importance of individual perceptions of control in buffering the mortality risk associated with educational disadvantage.

Perceived control relates to better functional health and lower cardio-metabolic risk: The mediating role of physical activity

OBJECTIVE The objective of the current study was to examine empirically associations between perceived control and indicators of functional health (grip strength) and cardio-metabolic risk (hemoglobin A1C, High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol [HDL-C], Systolic Blood Pressure [SBP], Pulse Rate [PR], and Waist Circumference [WC]) and to explore the mediating role of physical activity. METHOD Using cross-sectional data from the nation-wide Health and Retirement Study (N = 4,292; Mean age = 68, range 50-97; 59% women), we examined whether perceived control was predictive of the various health indicators over and above sociodemographic characteristics. We also used mediation models to test whether those direct associations were mediated by physical activity. RESULTS Findings indicated that perceiving more control related to better grip strength and lower cardio-metabolic risk. To illustrate, a 1 SD increase in control is associated with 2.5 fewer years of aging on grip strength, 10 fewer years of aging for hemoglobin A1C, 14.5 fewer years of aging for HDL-C, 3.7 fewer years of aging for pulse rate, and 5.75 fewer years of aging for waist circumference. We also found that physical activity mediated five of the six control-health associations. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate the importance of perceived control as predictor of functional and physiological health and the role of physical exercise as a behavioral mediator of these associations. Our results suggest that control may serve as a facilitator of positive health outcomes, including functional health, cardio-metabolic risk, and physical activity. Findings provide impetus for future research to elucidate mechanisms underlying the health implications of perceived control.

Resilience to Major Life Stressors Is Not as Common as Thought

We attempted to replicate findings that “most people are resilient” following three events: spousal loss, divorce, and unemployment. We applied growth mixture models to the same longitudinal data set that has previously been used to assert that resilience is ubiquitous. When using identical model specifications, as in prior studies, we found that resilient trajectories were most common, but the number of trajectories identified was different. When we relaxed two assumptions used in prior studies—that (a) all classes have similar variability in levels of postadversity adjustment and (b) there is no variability in changes within classes—we found that a resilience class was least common. Methodologically, our results show how findings on trajectories of change following major life stressors can vary substantially, depending on statistical model specifications. Conceptually, the results underscore the errors inherent in any categorical statements about “rates of resilience” among individuals confronted with major life stressors. Pragmatically, they underscore the dangers in recommending against prophylactic interventions (on the basis of one method of analyzing longitudinal data) for individuals who have experienced major life stressors.

Linking Perceived Control, Physical Activity, and Biological Health to Memory Change

Perceived control plays an important role for remaining cognitively fit across adulthood and old age. However, much less is known about the role of perceived control over and above common correlates of cognition, and possible factors that underlie such control-cognition associations. Our study examined whether perceived control was predictive of individual differences in subsequent 4-year changes in episodic memory, and explored the mediating role of physical activity and indicators of physical fitness, cardiovascular, and metabolic health for control-memory associations. To do so, we used longitudinal data from the nationwide Health and Retirement Study (HRS; N = 4,177; ages 30 to 97 years; 59% women). Our results show that perceiving more control over ones life predicted less memory declines, and this protective effect was similar in midlife and old age. We additionally observed that higher levels and maintenance of physical activity over 2 years, better pulmonary function, lower systolic blood pressure (SPB), lower hemoglobin A1c, and higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) also predicted less memory declines. Mediation analyses revealed that levels of, and 2-year changes in, physical activity, as well as levels of pulmonary function and hemoglobin A1c and HDL-C, each uniquely mediated control-memory change associations. Our findings illustrate that perceived control, physical activity, and indicators of physical fitness and cardiovascular and metabolic health moderate changes in memory, and add to the literature on antecedents of cognitive aging by conjointly targeting perceived control and some of its mediating factors. We discuss possible pathways underlying the role of control for memory change and consider future routes of inquiry to further our understanding of control-cognition associations in adulthood and old age.

Substantial Changes in Mastery Perceptions of Dementia Caregivers With the Placement of a Care Recipient

OBJECTIVES The current study examined how a key component of caregiving stress processes, global mastery perceptions, changes with placing the care recipient in a nursing home or institution. We also explored the role of primary stressors in accounting for mastery changes with placement and whether characteristics of the caregiver and care recipient moderate reactions to placement. METHOD We applied multiphase growth curve models to prospective longitudinal data from 271 caregivers in the Caregiver Stress and Coping Study who experienced placement of their care recipient. RESULTS Using a time-to/from-placement metric, we found that caregivers typically experienced declines in mastery preceding placement, followed by a significant increase within 1 year after placement and further increases thereafter. Corresponding changes in primary stressors (role overload) mediated the placement-related increase in mastery. Caregivers who reported more depressive symptoms and activities of daily living/instrumental activities of daily living dependencies of the care recipient were more likely to experience larger placement-related increases in mastery perceptions. DISCUSSION Our findings suggest that placement alters psychological resources of caregivers and this effect is driven by corresponding changes in primary stressors. Findings also underscore the importance of examining change processes across salient life events and transitions.

Job strain and trajectories of change in episodic memory before and after retirement: results from the Health and Retirement Study

Background We examined indicators of job strain in relation to level and change in episodic memory in the years leading up to as well as following retirement. Methods Our analyses centre on 3779 individuals from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (baseline age 57.3 years) who reported gainful employment in an occupation for 10+ years prior to retirement, and who were assessed for episodic memory performance over up to 20 years (median 8 waves over 16 years). We used ratings from the Occupational Information Network (O*Net) to score occupations for job control and job demands, and to measure job strain (job demands/job control). Results Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, depressive symptoms, and cardiovascular disease, less job control and greater job strain were not significantly associated with change in episodic memory in the period leading up to retirement, but were associated with significantly poorer episodic memory at retirement and an accelerated rate of decline in episodic memory following retirement. The results did not vary for men and women or by self-employment status. Conclusions Job strain expressed mainly as low job control is linked to poorer episodic memory at retirement and more decline after retirement. Job characteristics appear to have implications for cognitive ageing independent of relevant confounds.

The effects of constraints and mastery on mental and physical health: Conceptual and methodological considerations.

Perceived control and health are closely interrelated in adulthood and old age. However, less is known regarding the differential implications of 2 facets of perceived control, constraints and mastery, for mental and physical health. Furthermore, a limitation of previous research testing the pathways linking perceived control to mental and physical health is that mediation was tested with cross-sectional designs and not in a longitudinal mediation design that accounts for temporal ordering and prior confounds. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; n = 7,612, M age = 68, SD = 10.66; 59% women) we examined the effect of constraints and mastery on 4-year changes in mental and physical health and whether physical activity mediated such effects in a longitudinal mediation design. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we modeled the 2-factor structure of perceived control that consisted of constraints and mastery. In our longitudinal mediation model, where we accounted for possible confounders (e.g., age, gender, education, neuroticism, conscientiousness, memory, and health conditions), constraints showed a stronger total effect on mental and physical health, than mastery, such that more constraints were associated with 4-year declines in mental and physical health. Physical activity did not mediate the effect of constraints and mastery on mental and physical health (indirect effect). To demonstrate the importance of a longitudinal mediation model that accounts for confounders, we also estimated the mediated effect using 2 models commonly used in the literature: cross-sectional mediation model and longitudinal mediation model without accounting for confounders. These mediation models indicated a spurious indirect effect that cannot be causally interpreted. Our results showcase that constraints and mastery have differential implications for mental and physical health, as well as how a longitudinal mediation design can illustrate (or not) pathways in developmental processes. Our discussion focuses on the conceptual and methodological implications of a 2 facet model of perceived control and the strengths of longitudinal mediation designs for testing conceptual models of human development.