The Profile of Stress and Coping Related to Successful Aging Among Chinese Migrant and Nonmigrant Grandparents.

Background And Objectives: Around eight million older adults have internally migrated to take care of grandchildren in China. This study aimed to explore how Chinese migrant and nonmigrant grandparents perceived successful aging and how they coped with challenges to successful aging.

Research Design And Methods: Based on ecological systems theory, semistructured interviews were conducted among 21 grandparents (12 migrants, median age = 59 years old) from urban areas in China who provided noncustodial grandchild care.

The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: Implications for cultivating happiness and wellbeing.

This review paper provides an integrative account regarding neurophysiological correlates of positive emotions and affect that cumulatively contribute to the scaffolding for happiness and wellbeing in humans and other animals. This paper reviews the associations among neurotransmitters, hormones, brain networks, and cognitive functions in the context of positive emotions and affect. Consideration of lifespan developmental perspectives are incorporated, and we also examine the impact of healthy social relationships and environmental contexts on the modulation of positive emotions and affect.

Relationship quality and 5-year mortality risk.

Objective: The present study examined positive and negative aspects of relationship quality with one's spouse or partner as predictors of mortality and the role of gender in moderating this link.

Method: Data were drawn from 2 waves, 5 years apart, of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project ( = 1,734). Positive aspects of relationship quality (frequency of opening up to the partner to talk about worries and relying on the partner) and negative aspects (frequency of the partner making too many demands and criticism by the partner) were assessed.

Confidant Availability (In)Stability and Emotional Well-Being in Older Men and Women.

Purpose Of The Study: The present study examined the role of stability and change in the availability of a family member and a friend as a confidant in older adults' emotional well-being.

Method: Participants in two waves of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (N = 4,631; M = 64.3, 53.

Who needs a friend? Marital status transitions and physical health outcomes in later life.

Objective: This study assessed the moderating role of 2 types of confidante relationships in mitigating the negative health impact of transitions involving spousal loss in late life (widowhood and divorce/separation).

Method: The sample included 707 respondents who participated in the 1992 and 2004 waves of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS, 2007) all of whom were married at Time 1 and by Time 2 experienced either an end of the marriage resulting from widowhood or divorce/separation or remained continuously married to the same spouse. The majority of the sample was female (n = 457) and 64.

Spouse health status, depressed affect, and resilience in mid and late life: a longitudinal study.

This study used longitudinal data to examine the effects of spousal illness on depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older married individuals and the extent to which the adverse effects of illness in a spouse were mitigated by 2 psychological resources, mastery and self-esteem. Using 1,704 married participants who were 51 years of age on average, depressive symptoms were compared in 4 groups varying in their experience of spousal health transitions: those whose spouse remained ill at T1 and T2, those whose spouse declined in health from T1 to T2, those whose spouse's health improved from T1 to T2, and those whose spouse remained healthy at both time points. Mixed analyses of covariance showed that, as hypothesized, having a spouse who became or remained ill over time was linked to greater depressed affect by T2, whereas having a spouse improve in health was associated with a decline in depressive symptomatology.

Marital quality as a moderator of the effects of poor vision on quality of life among older adults.

Objectives: This study assessed the moderating role of marital quality in the effects of subjective and objective vision on functional limitations, social isolation, and depressive symptomatology.

Method: Data from 738 married older adults drawn from a probability-based representative sample of elders residing in the United States were used. Assessments included subjective and objective vision, marital quality variables (relationship satisfaction, supportive spouse behaviors, and free time spent with one's spouse), and three aspects of quality of life (functional limitations, social isolation, and depressive symptomatology).

Poor vision, functioning, and depressive symptoms: a test of the activity restriction model.

Purpose: This study tested the applicability of the activity restriction model of depressed affect to the context of poor vision in late life. This model hypothesizes that late-life stressors contribute to poorer mental health not only directly but also indirectly by restricting routine everyday functioning.

Method: We used data from a national probability-based sample of older adults (N = 1,178; M = 69.

The role of psychological resources in the affective well-being of never-married adults.

We compared psychological resources between heterosexual never-married and married adults and their group-specific role in positive and negative affect after controlling for social resources. Although never-married respondents scored slightly lower than married adults on social resources and affective well-being, the two groups were comparable on psychological resources. Moderated regression analysis indicated that psychological resources were more strongly related to negative affect for never-married than married adults.

The impact of parent care on marital quality and well-being in adult daughters and sons.

This study prospectively examined the long-term impact of providing parent care using data from a probability-based U.S. sample of adult daughters and sons who had varying parent care experiences over time (N = 716).

Identity development and psychological well-being in Korean-born adoptees in the U.S.

Because adult Korean-born adoptees have unique experiences, the factors that contribute to their psychological well-being need to be studied separately from both Caucasian and Korean Americans. In this Internet-based study with 83 adult Korean-born adoptees in the United States, both ethnic identity and adjustment to adoption (considered a component of adoptive identity) were expected to predict psychological well-being. Results supported predictions: Each measure of psychological well-being (personal growth, self-acceptance, and positive relationships with others) was affected by the predictive variables in unique ways.

Moderating role of marital quality in older adults' depressed affect: beyond the main-effects model.

We examine the role of three indicators of marital quality (marital disagreement, marital happiness, and time spent together) as moderators of the association between physical disability and depressed affect among married older individuals (N=1,044). We found support for the moderating role of marital disagreement wherein the detrimental effect of disability on depressed affect was significantly heightened among older adults with more disagreements with their spouse; a moderating effect was not detected for marital happiness or time spent together. We conclude that, in addition to its main effect on older adults' depressed affect, marital quality (as indicated by marital disagreement) plays a significant stress-moderating role in the physical disability-depressed affect link.

The role of marital quality in physical health during the mature years.

Objective: This study examined the role of marital quality in the physical health of mature adults.

Method: Participants were from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States aged 50+ years who were in their first marriage. Five dimensions of marital quality and four indicators of physical health were used.

Age, marital processes, and depressed affect.

Purpose: We examined age-cohort differences in the interrelationships among marital processes and depressed affect.

Design And Methods: We used data from individuals in first marriages that participated in the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). The NSFH interviewed one adult per household of a nationally representative sample.

Concurrent and long-term predictors of older adults' use of community-based long-term care services: the Caregiver Health Effects Study.

Objective: This study examined concurrent and long-term associations between caregiver-related characteristics and the use of community long-term care services in a sample of 186 older adults caring for a disabled spouse.

Method: We used two waves of data from the Caregiver Health Effects Study, an ancillary study of the Cardiovascular Health Study. Caregiver-related need variables as predictors of service use were of primary interest and included caregiving demands, caregiver mental and physical health, and mastery.

Effects of pain on functioning and well-being in older adults with osteoarthritis of the knee.

The effects of pain on functioning and well-being were examined in 367 older adults with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. The relationship of OA-related pain to depressive symptoms and perceived health was hypothesized to be direct as well as mediated by physical and social functioning. Results showed that OA-related pain was related to poorer physical and social functioning, had a direct effect on depressive symptoms, and direct and indirect effects on perceived health.