James Iveniuk

The Onset of Depression During the Great Recession: Foreclosure and Older Adult Mental Health

OBJECTIVES We examined neighborhood-level foreclosure rates and their association with onset of depressive symptoms in older adults. METHODS We linked data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (2005-2006 and 2010-2011 waves), a longitudinal, nationally representative survey, to data on zip code-level foreclosure rates, and predicted the onset of depressive symptoms using logit-linked regression. RESULTS Multiple stages of the foreclosure process predicted the onset of depressive symptoms, with adjustment for demographic characteristics and changes in household assets, neighborhood poverty, and visible neighborhood disorder. A large increase in the number of notices of default (odds ratio [OR] = 1.75; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.14, 2.67) and properties returning to ownership by the bank (OR = 1.62; 95% CI = 1.06, 2.47) were associated with depressive symptoms. A large increase in properties going to auction was suggestive of such an association (OR = 1.45; 95% CI = 0.96, 2.19). Age, fewer years of education, and functional limitations also were predictive. CONCLUSIONS Increases in neighborhood-level foreclosure represent an important risk factor for depression in older adults. These results accord with previous studies suggesting that the effects of economic crises are typically first experienced through deficits in emotional well-being.

Classification of Older Adults Who Have Diabetes by Comorbid Conditions, United States, 2005–2006

Introduction Older adults who have diabetes vary widely in terms of comorbid conditions; these conditions help determine the risks and benefits of intensive glycemic control. Not all people benefit from intensive glycemic control. The objective of this study was to classify by comorbid conditions older American adults who have diabetes to identify those who are less likely to benefit from intensive glycemic control. Methods We used latent class analysis to identify subgroups of a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling older adults (aged 57–85 y) who have diabetes (n = 750). The subgroups were classified according to 14 comorbid conditions prevalent in the older population. Using the Akaike Information Criterion, the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), the sample-size adjusted BIC, and the χ2 goodness-of-fit statistic, we assessed model fit. Results We found 3 distinct subgroups. Class 1 (63% of the sample) had the lowest probabilities for most conditions. Class 2 (29% of the sample) had the highest probabilities of cancer, incontinence, and kidney disease. Class 3 (9% of the sample) had the highest probabilities (>90%) of congestive heart failure and myocardial infarction. Class 1 had only 0, 1, or 2 comorbid conditions, and both class 2 and class 3 had 6 or more comorbid conditions. The 5-year death rates for class 2 (17%) and class 3 (33%) were higher than the rate for class 1 (9%). Conclusion Older adults who have diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and 6 or more comorbid conditions may represent a subgroup of older adults who are less likely to benefit from intensive glycemic control.

Sexuality in Older Couples: Individual and Dyadic Characteristics.

Sexuality is a key component of health and functioning that changes with age. Although most sexual activity takes place with a partner, the majority of research on sexuality has focused on individuals. In this paper, we focused on the sexual dyad. We proposed and tested a conceptual model of the predictors of partnered sexual activity in older adulthood. This model began with the personality of each of the partners, which affects individuals’ views of sex and characteristics of the partnership, which in turn affected sexual expression in the couple. We measured a key feature of personality, Positivity, which reflected the individual’s tendency to present his or herself positively in social situations. This trait, we posited, increased frequency of sex through increased desire for sex, and the subjective importance of sex to each member of the couple. In this model, Positivity also impacted characteristics of the relationship that promoted dyadic sexual behavior. These processes differed for men and women in the model. We tested this model with data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, which conducted personal interviews with both partners in 940 American dyads (average male age 72; average female age 69). We found that couples in which the husbands’ (but not wives’) were high in Positivity show higher levels of sexual activity, and that this association was partially mediated by dimensions of relationship quality, but more so by individual factors such as thinking about sex and believing sex is important.

Religious Influence on Older Americans’ Sexual Lives: A Nationally-Representative Profile

This study investigated the relationship between religious influence and sexual expression in older Americans, with specific attention to gender. Using the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, a nationally-representative survey of older adults, we created a composite measure of religious influence on sexual expression using Latent Class Analysis. We found more variability within denominations than between in terms of membership in the high-influence class; this indicated that religious influence on sexual expression was diverse within faiths. We show that religious influence was associated with higher self-reported satisfaction with frequency of sex, as well as higher physical and emotional satisfaction with sex, but only for men. Men were also significantly more likely than women to report that they would only have sex with a person they love. These results persisted in the presence of controls for demographic characteristics, religious affiliation, church attendance, intrinsic religiosity, political ideology, and functional health.

Crime Rates, Crime Spikes and Cardiovascular Health in an Urban Population

We draw on theories of neighborhood social organization and environmental stress in an effort to explain variation in cardiovascular risk in a large urban population. We focus on the role of rapid increases in the crime rate (“crime spikes”) in influencing an indicator of inflammatory processes related to cardiovascular health – C-reactive protein (CRP). Employing data from the Dallas Heart Study (2000–2002), a large-scale probability study of adults aged 18–65 years old, we examine the association between measures of census tract level burglary rates and CRP. Neighborhood fixed effects models reveal that both changes in the overall prior-year burglary rate and short-term change in the burglary rate between the first and last 6 months of the prior year are positively associated with CRP. Above a threshold of four burglaries per 1,000 population, a one burglary increase in the short-term burglary rate change measure is associated with a 9% increase in CRP, net of individual controls, time-invariant neighborhood characteristics, and calendar month. These findings offer additional evidence supporting the hypothesis that contextual stressors have implications for cardiovascular health and suggest that short-term changes in environmental stressors may independently shape health risk outcomes.

Putting Sex Into Context in Later Life: Environmental Disorder and Sexual Interest Among Partnered Seniors

Background and Objectives This study examines whether neighborhood and household disorder is associated with sexual interest among partnered seniors. Research Design and Methods Analyses use dyadic data from Wave 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling older adults (2010-2011). Measures of environmental disorder were conducted by trained interviewers. Survey data were also linked to census tract information from the 2009 American Community Survey. We used actor-partner interdependence models to estimate the likelihood of reporting low sexual interest. Results There was no observed association between neighborhood context (physical disorder or census tract socioeconomic disadvantage) and sexual interest, but husbands were more likely to report low sexual interest if they lived in more disorderly households. High marital quality protected against low sexual interest, but these evaluations did not mediate or moderate the putative effect of household disorder. Discussion and Implications Regardless of the broader neighborhood context, helping older adults maintain an orderly home space may help sustain sexual functioning. Future research should consider how various features of the environment matter for additional aspects of late-life sexuality.

Social Networks, Role-Relationships, and Personality in Older Adulthood

OBJECTIVES This article examines the implications of personality traits for social network connectedness in older adulthood, across different social relationships. METHODS This article uses data from the National Social Life Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), a nationally-representative, longitudinal survey of community-dwelling older Americans (N = 2,261). Network characteristics were predicted using Poisson and negative binomial regression (for network size) as well as multilevel identity-linked and ordinal-logit-linked regressions (for tie strength). RESULTS Extraversion and agreeableness were associated with tie strength, and extraversion was weakly associated with friend network size. Few trait-by-role-relationship interactions emerged, although more-neurotic persons were more likely to talk about their health with friends. DISCUSSION Personality traits impact the strength of social network ties in older adulthood. However, traits may have minimal impact on network size. The consequences of personality also appear to be largely consistent across different social relationships.

The psychosocial sources of sexual interest in older couples

Sexual activity with one’s partner is an important component of well-being and is linked to physical, emotional, and cognitive health. However, it is unclear why some older adults are more interested in sex and some less so. Their own characteristics, those of their partner, and characteristics of the relationship may all be important. We define sexual interest as consisting both of the motivation to seek sex with a partner and willingness to have sex when asked. We measure this construct using data from both members of 953 couples in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. We focus in this article on the impact of psychological and social factors on older adults’ interest in sex, as well as the impact of their partners’ characteristics on their own interest in sex. We find that individuals with high perceived positive marital quality, a more positive and open personality, a large network of family, and better physical health showed greater interest in sex. Characteristics of their partner generally had little association with sexual interest.

Compensatory Conscientiousness Redux A Direct Replication of Roberts, Smith, Jackson, and Edmonds (2009)

The present study attempted to closely replicate Roberts, Smith, Jackson, and Edmonds (2009) who found, in part, a compensatory effect such that individuals with spouses higher in conscientiousness reported higher self-rated health and fewer physical limitations in the Health and Retirement Study. Using similarly structured data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 953), the current study found results largely consistent with the original study such that partner conscientiousness predicted both self-rated health and physical limitations, and husbands’ conscientiousness and neuroticism interacted when predicting wives’ self-rated health. A discussion of the usefulness of statistical significance versus effect size in replication follows.