Psychological resources as mediators of the association between social class and health: comparative findings from Japan and the USA.

Background: Recently, researchers have proposed that psychological resources might be key concept in explaining the association between social class and health. However, empirical examinations of the extent to which psychological resources to social class in health are still few.

Purpose: This study investigated mediating effects of selected psychological resources (sense of control, self-esteem, optimism, and neuroticism) on the association of social class [education and subjective social status (SSS)] with current health status (self-rated health and the number of chronic conditions).

Conscientiousness predicts greater recovery from negative emotion.

Greater levels of conscientiousness have been associated with lower levels of negative affect. We focus on one mechanism through which conscientiousness may decrease negative affect: effective emotion regulation, as reflected by greater recovery from negative stimuli. In 273 adults who were 35-85 years old, we collected self-report measures of personality including conscientiousness and its self-control facet, followed on average 2 years later by psychophysiological measures of emotional reactivity and recovery.

Cultural perspectives on aging and well-being: a comparison of Japan and the United States.

This study investigated age differences in multiple aspects of psychological well-being among midlife and older adults in Japan (N = 482) and the United States (N = 3,032) to test the hypothesis that older Japanese adults would rate aspects of their well-being (personal growth, purpose in life, positive relations with others) more highly that older U.S. adults.

Bioindicators in the MIDUS national study: protocol, measures, sample, and comparative context.

Objectives: Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) is a national study of health and aging among individuals aged 25 to 74 at baseline (1995-1996). Longitudinal survey assessments (2004-2005), were followed by biological assessments on a subsample (aged 35-85).To facilitate public use, we describe the protocol, measures, and sample.

Coping and positive affect predict longitudinal change in glycosylated hemoglobin.

Objective: This study investigated whether different psychosocial factors predicted levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA) over time, after adjusting for covariates and baseline level of HbA.

Design: These questions were investigated with a longitudinal sample (N = 97, age = 61-91) of older women without diabetes. HbA levels and psychosocial measures were obtained at baseline and 2-year follow-up.

Socioeconomic status and psychological well-being predict cross-time change in glycosylated hemoglobin in older women without diabetes.

Objective: To investigate whether socioeconomic status and psychological well-being (eudaimonic and hedonic aspects) predicted nondiabetic levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) over time, after adjusting for covariates and baseline level of HbA1c.

Methods: These questions were investigated with a longitudinal sample (n = 97; age = 61-91 years) of older women without diabetes. Socioeconomic status, well-being, and health behaviors were assessed using self-administered questionnaires.

Psychological well-being and ill-being: do they have distinct or mirrored biological correlates?

Background: Increasingly, researchers attend to both positive and negative aspects of mental health. Such distinctions call for clarification of whether psychological well-being and ill-being comprise opposite ends of a bipolar continuum, or are best construed as separate, independent dimensions of mental health. Biology can help resolve this query--bipolarity predicts 'mirrored' biological correlates (i.

Positive health: connecting well-being with biology.

Two key types of well-being, eudaimonic and hedonic, are reviewed. The first addresses ideas of self-development, personal growth and purposeful engagement, while the second is concerned with positive feelings such as happiness and contentment. How well-being varies by age and socio-economic standing is briefly summarized, followed by examination of its biological correlates (neuroendocrine, immune, cardiovascular, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep).

The association between psychosocial factors and vaccine-induced cytokine production.

Existing data suggest that immune function is compromised by negative psychosocial factors. We hypothesized that high psychological well being and quality relationships would be associated with vigorous cytokine responses to vaccination. Lymphocytes from 18 individuals were studied for their ability to produce interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) with influenza or hepatitis A immunization.

Tetanus seroprevalence among farmers: a preliminary study.

Background: Farmers are at increased risk of contracting tetanus. However, no difference in immunity to tetanus has been reported between rural and urban dwellers in large epidemiological studies. We hypothesized that tetanus antibody concentrations would be lower in farmers than in nonfarmers within the rural population.

The role of self-enhancing evaluations in a successful life transition.

The objective of the study was to investigate how self-enhancing evaluations, obtained via positive social comparisons and reflected appraisals, were related to mental health in a later life transition. The sample consisted of 266 women who were interviewed once before and 3 times after the experience of community relocation. Results extended prior findings suggesting the dynamic impact of self-enhancing evaluative processes on psychological well-being and depressive symptoms.

Social relationships, gender, and allostatic load across two age cohorts.

Objective: This article addresses the question of biological pathways through which social integration and support may affect morbidity and mortality risks. A new concept of cumulative biological risk, allostatic load, is used to test the hypothesis that social experiences affect a range of biological systems. Data from two community-based cohorts are examined to evaluate the consistency of findings across two different age groups.