Heidrun Mollenkopf

WHY DO OLDER DRIVERS REDUCE DRIVING? FINDINGS FROM THREE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

The objective of this study was to find out the reasons, which lead drivers to reduce their driving in varying cultural settings. Data on the prevalence of reduced driving, the reasons for and factors associated with reduced driving were obtained from Finnish, German and Italian home-dwelling active drivers (n=710) aged 55 and older. The subjects were interviewed in autumn 1995 at their homes with a standardized questionnaire as a part of the European project Keeping the Elderly Mobile: Technology to Meet Their Outdoor Mobility Needs. In the Finnish and German samples 62% and in the Italian sample 44% of the active drivers stated that they had reduced their driving. These persons drove fewer kilometres, less often and avoided more situations in traffic than the others. Both similarities and differences were found among the reasons given for reduction in driving. Commonly stated reasons included being able to reach everything without a car, health reasons, too hectic traffic and retirement. Binary logistic regression administered separately for each location revealed that retirement was associated with reduced driving in all locations. Older age, changes in leisure activities and chronic conditions were significantly associated in at least one of the locations. In addition, reduced driving was more likely among drivers living in former West Germany than former East Germany. The results confirm the effect of retirement and age on reducing the amount of driving, but also underscore the effect of the personal and environmental resources available.

Continuity and change in older adults' perceptions of out-of-home mobility over ten years: a qualitative–quantitative approach

ABSTRACT This research report starts from the assumption that a solely geriatric and transport-related view of out-of-home mobility needs to be extended to incorporate other aspects of perceived and experienced mobility. In particular, our goal is to understand better the stability and change in peoples perceptions of out-of-home mobility over ten years. We concentrate on: (a) the subjective meaning of mobility over time, including perceived changes in mobility and perceived reasons for change; (b) trends in satisfaction with various mobility domains; and (c) a case-oriented exploration of inter-individual variation over time. A qualitative–quantitative data-analytic approach was applied to data collected from 82 participants on three occasions over ten years in 1995, 2000 and 2005. The mean age of the sample in 2005 was 75.2 years. The results indicate overall stability in the meaning attached to mobility between 1995 and 2005, while the perceived changes point to major losses in the array of mobility experiences and decreasing satisfaction with mobility opportunities, out-of-home leisure activities and travelling, but in contrast satisfaction with public transport increased. Case studies exemplified the reasons for the pronounced variation in satisfaction with mobility dynamics over time. In conclusion, the findings confirm that out-of-home mobility remains of utmost importance when people move from late midlife into old age.

The many faces of health, competence and well-being in old age: Integrating epidemiological, psychological and social perspectives

Preface. Part 1: Focusing on Social-Ecological Research - Contributions to Health, Competence, and Well-Being in Old Age. Introduction: The Person-Environment Perspective in Ageing Research. The Role of the Home Environment in Middle and Late Adulthood. Commentary: A House is Not a Home: But Can it Become One?. Outdoor Mobility in Late Life: Persons, Environments and Society. Commentary: Mobility - A Key to Understanding and Improving Transportation Services for Seniors and Others. Age-Related Loss in Vision: A Case to Learn About Ageing in Context. Commentary: Age-Related Loss in Vision: A Case to Learn About Ageing in Context. Part 2: Focusing on Psychological Research - Contributions to Health, Competence, and Well-Being in Old Age. Introduction: Developmental Perspectives in the Second Half of Life. The Influence of Social Support on Marital Support: Age and Gender Differences?. Commentary: Changed Gender Roles and Their Impact on Marital Support and Satisfaction. Stressful Life Events, Protective Factors, and Depressive Disorders in Middle Adulthood. Commentary: Stressful Life Events, and Depressive Disorders: The Paradigm Shift. Predictors of Well-Being in Very Old Age. Commentary: Well-Being in Very Old Age - Old and New Issues. Part 3: Focusing on Epidemiological Research - Contribution to Health, Competence, and Well-Being. Introduction: Epidemiological Perspectives in Ageing Research. Cancer Among Older Adults. Incidence, Prognosis and New Avenues of Prevention. Commentary: Cancer in the elderly: prevention and better care needed. Cardiovascular Disease among Older Adults. Incidence, Prognosis and New Avenues for Prevention. Commentary: Cardiovascular Disease among Older Adults. Incidence, Prognosis and New Avenues for Prevention. Medical Care for Nursing Home Residents. National Perspectives in International Context. Commentary: Medical Care for Nursing Home Residents. National and International Perspectives. Part 4: Synergies betweenSocial-Ecological, Psychological and Epidemiological Research. The Impact of Internal and External Resources on Health, Competence, and Well-Being: Longitudinal Findings from the ILSE. Determinants and Prognostic Relevance of Depression and Anxiety in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease: An Interdisciplinary Approach within the KAROLA Study. Commentary: Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Studies of Ageing. Part 5: Applications and Social Policy Implications. Ageing Europe: Challenges for Policy and Research. On the Relevance of Ageing Research for Policy and Practise. Appendix. Abstracts of Poster session.

Toward Measuring Proactivity in Person-Environment Transactions in Late Adulthood

Abstract Both a life-span developmental control perspective as well as an environmental gerontology view, particularly Lawtons notion of environmental proactivity, served as the theoretical background to suggest a new dimension of domain-specific control, namely housing-related control beliefs. The newly developed 23-item Housing-Related Control Beliefs Questionnaire (HCQ) is based on the widely used dimensions of Internal Control, External Control: Powerful Others, and External Control: Chance. In two studies of older adults (N= 485; 66-69 years and N= 107; 65-91 years), we examined the psychometric quality of the questionnaire and explored its relation with socio-structural variables, general control beliefs, and a set of housing-related aspects. Psychometric results indicate satisfactory levels of internal consistency and re-test stability in all three scales of the instrument and factor analysis supported the theoretically expected three-factor solution. Also, HCQs external control subscales were correlated with higher age, lower education, and lower income and the correlational pattern between the HCQ and a general control measure was substantial and consistent with theoretical expectations. Relations between the HCQ and objective and subjective housing-related variables tended to be low in size. These preliminary findings suggest the potential usefulness of the HCQ as a measure to address environmental proactivity in late adulthood.

The outdoor mobility and leisure activities of older people in five European countries.

ABSTRACT Many gerontological studies have dealt with the leisure activities of older people and they have generated many important theories. Although outdoor activities and mobility promote good health in old age, both decrease with increasing age as people lose physical and mental functions. This paper examines the outdoor and indoor leisure activities of 3,950 older adults and their variations by personal and environmental characteristics in Germany, Finland, Hungary, The Netherlands and Italy. The main dimensions of activity were established by factor analysis, and in all countries four factors were found: home activities, hobbies, social activities, and sports activities. Both similar and distinctive pursuits characterised each dimension among the five countries. ‘Home activities’ mainly comprised indoor activities, but the other three dimensions involved more physical mobility. The scores of various socio-environmental characteristics on the factors enabled the attributes of the participants to be profiled. Sports activities and hobbies were performed more often by younger men, by those with good physical functioning and by those who drove cars. Social activities were performed more by women and those who used public transport. Home activities were more frequently performed by those with low physical function and women.

Affective Well-Being in Old Age The Role of Tenacious Goal Pursuit and Flexible Goal Adjustment

Abstract. This study investigated the relationships between tenacious goal pursuit (TGP) and flexible goal adjustment (FGA), two fundamental modes of self-regulation suggested by Brandtstadter and colleagues, and positive and negative affect (PA, NA). This was done in general terms and by considering the developmental constraint of perceived age-related visual decline. Data stem from 751 community-dwelling elders (55-98 years, 372 women, 379 men). Results support the hypothesis of differential associations of TGP and FGA, respectively, with affect: TGP was positively related to PA, and FGA was negatively related to NA. Moreover, differential moderator effects of TGP and FGA, respectively, on the relationship between subjective vision and affect emerged. FGA independently moderated the inverse relationship between subjective vision and NA. The moderator effect of TGP, however, was dependent on FGA: TGP did not alter the relationship between subjective vision and PA until FGA was high, too. It is concluded ...

Associations of personal and mobility resources with subjective well-being among older adults in Italy and Germany.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the patterns of associations of personal and mobility resources with positive well-being in two sample populations of older adults from Germany (n=1518) and Italy (n=600). A correlation study showed which variables correlated the closest with the well-being components, then four logistic regression analyses were performed, one for each well-being component such as the positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS) positive scale, mobility satisfaction, health satisfaction and life satisfaction. High positive scores of PANAS and satisfaction scales were found both for Germany and Italy. As expected and in accordance with previous studies, components utilized as a measure of subjective well-being correlated significantly with each other in both countries, confirming their validity as instruments of evaluation for several different life domains. A considerable result of this study was that the driving car is an important predictor of well-being in both countries. The findings underlined a variety of associations among the mobility resources and the subjective perception of well-being. Our work supports the importance of being aware of the main variables influencing the positive dimension of well-being for creating a better understanding the needs and goals of older people. Moreover, the present study shows that individual-environment interaction should be considered in evaluating personal well-being, especially in older people.

Acceptance and use of technological solutions by the elderly in the outdoor environment: findings from a European survey

Summary This article examines the use and acceptance of ticket machines, automatic teller machines (ATMs) and telephone cards by the elderly in four European regions. The analyses are based on data from an international project entitled „Keeping the Elderly Mobile”, collected in Mannheim (former West Germany; N=404 home-dwelling respondents), Chemnitz (former East Germany; N=400), Ancona (Italy; N=600), and Jyväskylä (Finland; N=618). The random sample was stratified by age and gender in each country. Two generations of men and women (aged 55–74 and 75+ years, respectively) participated in the study. Results show that respondents generally made little use of the three technologies under investigation: in fact, the majority of respondents does not use them at all. The most frequently used devices were ATMs in Chemnitz and ticket machines and telephone cards in Mannheim. On the basis of logistic regression analysis, age was the most important explanatory factor for the three technologies and for all four regions, i.e., the users were mostly the „young-old.” Education was a more important variable than gender. In all four regions, the majority of the respondents who used the technologies assessed felt that each of them made life easier; nevertheless, ticket machines make life more difficult to almost every third user in Mannheim. Interesting differences and similarities among the towns were also found. The present study exhibits preliminary results regarding elderly and technology which future research should investigate in greater depth.Zusammenfassung Die Autoren dieses Beitrags stellen Befunde über ältere Männer und Frauen als Nutzer von Fahrkartenautomaten, Bankautomaten und Kartentelefonen vor. Basis der Analysen bilden Daten, die im Rahmen des internationalen Kooperationsprojektes „Keeping the Elderly Mobile“ in vier europäischen Städten erhoben wurden. Die Untersuchungen fanden 1995 in Mannheim (Westdeutschland) mit 404, in Chemnitz (Ostdeutschland) mit 400, in Ancona (Italien) mit 600 und in Jyväskylä (Finnland) mit 618 in Privathaushalten lebenden Befragten statt, die aus den jeweiligen Einwohnermeldedregistern zufällig ausgewählt wurden. Die nach Geschlecht und Alter disproportional geschichtete Stichprobe setzte sich zu gleichen Teilen aus Frauen und Männern zusammen und umfasste zwei Altersgruppen (55–74 Jahre und 75 Jahre und älter). Der Gebrauch der Automaten ist in allen untersuchten Städten allgemein gering: Die meisten Befragten benutzen sie nicht. Die gebräuchlichsten Automaten sind Bankautomaten in Chemnitz und Kartentelefone in Mannheim. Logistische Regressionsanalysen ergaben, dass das Alter der Befragten in allen vier Städten und bei allen drei Automaten den wichtigsten Erklärungsfaktor bildet. Das bedeutet, dass die Geräte vor allem von Jüngeren benutzt werden. Bildung erwies sich als weiterer wichtiger Faktor, noch vor Geschlecht. Für jedes der technischen Geräte wurde außer nach der Nutzung auch gefragt, ob es das Alltagsleben erleichtert, schwieriger macht, oder ob kein Unterschied besteht. Die Mehrheit der Nutzer und Nutzerinnen fand, dass die Automaten – wiederum bezogen auf alle drei Geräte und in allen untersuchten Städten – eine Erleichterung darstellen. Fast ein Drittel der Nutzer in Mannheim gab allerdings auch an, dass Fahrkartenautomaten ihr Alltagsleben erschweren. Weitere Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen den Städten werden im Beitrag vorgestellt. Die Ergebnisse verweisen auf Beziehungen zwischen Alter und Technik, die in vertiefenden Studien weiter untersucht werden sollten.

THE ROLE OF THE HOME ENVIRONMENT IN MIDDLE AND LATE ADULTHOOD

Human development over the life span is characterised by person–environment (p–e) exchange processes (Bronfenbrenner, 1999), covering subjective experiences as well as objective behaviour. In order to address the complexity of ageing in place from a predominantly psychological point of view, a conceptual framework that emphasises two processes of p–e exchange in later life is suggested, and integrates many of the theoretical approaches offered in the field in the last decades. These processes are labelled “belonging” and “agency” (Oswald & Wahl, 2004; Wahl & Lang, 2003; Wahl & Oswald, 2004, in press) (Figure 1). Processes of belonging account for the full range of subjective experiences, while processes of agency emphasise the full range of objective behaviours. Having experienced life-long bonding to certain places in later life, processes of belonging are based on the increasing amount of environmental experience, leading to subjective evaluation and interpretation of places, allocation of meaning, as well as to cognitive and emotional representation and place attachment. Processes of agency, in contrast, deal with behaviour in relation to passive and active use, compensation, adaptation, retrofitting and creation of places, which are especially important in old age because of the decrease in functional capacity and behavioural flexibility. Both processes are considered to be particularly important for p–e exchange in the immediate home environment. The home becomes more relevant to people as they age, due to the increased time older people spend at home, as well as the many activities that take place at home (Baltes, Maas, Wilms, & Borchelt, 1999). Thus, the research programme underlying this work is driven by the basic assumption that processes of housing-related belonging and processes of housing-related agency are two fundamental processes of ageing in place. However, both types of processes are not considered independent from each other in everyday life. Furthermore, we would argue that processes of p–e exchange are related to housing-related outcome variables. Two types of outcomes are introduced by way of dichotomisation into housing-related identity and housing-related autonomy. As far as the ageing self at home is concerned, a major goal in later life is to maintain identity and personality—as far as the ageing body is concerned, a major goal is to remain independent at home for as long as possible. To reach both aims, processes of housing-related agency and belonging are assumed to be instrumental. Finally, we argue that both outcomes are

Technik im Haushalt zur Unterstützung einer selbstbestimmten Lebensführung im Alter Das Forschungsprojekt „sentha” und erste Ergebnisse des Sozialwissenschaftlichen Teilprojekts

Zusammenfassung Die interdisziplinäre Forschergruppe sentha (Seniorengerechte Technik im häuslichen Alltag) an der Technischen Universität Berlin (mit Beteiligung des Berliner Instituts für Sozialforschung GmbH BIS, des Deutschen Zentrums für Alternsforschung an der Universität Heidelberg DZFA, der Hochschule der Künste Berlin HdK und der Brandenburgischen Technischen Universität Cottbus BTU) untersucht in intensiver interdisziplinärer Zusammenarbeit „Technik im Haushalt zur Unterstützung der selbständigen Lebensführung älterer Menschen” und entwickelt daraus neue Konzepte, Gestaltungsregeln und Modelle „seniorengerechter Technik”, die Senioren möglichst lange Optionen für die selbstbestimmte Gestaltung ihres Lebens offenhält. Der Artikel beschreibt knapp den Beitrag der einzelnen Disziplinen sowie erste Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen Umfrage des Sozialwissenschaftlichen Teilprojekts, die im Sommer 1999 mit einem nach Alter und Geschlecht stratifizierten Sample von 1417 Personen ab 55 Jahre durchgeführt wurde. Neben einem Überblick über die derzeitige Ausstattung älterer Menschen mit technischen Geräten in den Bereichen Haushalt, Kommunikation/Information/Unterhaltung und Gesundheit/Sich pflegen werden „kritische” Geräte vorgestellt und beliebte und unbeliebte Tätigkeiten des Alltags sowie die damit verbundenen Mühen aufgezeigt. Daraus können Anforderungen abgeleitet werden, die unmittelbar in die weitere interdisziplinäre Arbeit einfließen.Summarysentha is an interdisciplinary research team involving the Technical University Berlin, the Berlin Institute for Social Research GmbH (BIS), the German Centre for Research on Ageing at the University of Heidelberg (DZFA), the School of Fine Arts Berlin (HdK), and the Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus (BTU). Building on empirical investigations of the role of everyday household products in the everyday life of older people, product-independent design and assessment guidelines and new products are being developed in an intensive interdisciplinary process in order to better meet the needs of older people and to enhance their autonomous living. The following paper describes the contributions from the participating disciplines and presents initial results of the social sciences subproject, describing the problems arising in living independently in old age and detecting the demands on new technological solutions. Data are based on a representative survey conducted in 1999 and including a stratified sample of 1417 men and women aged 55 and older.