A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Behavioral Activation Intervention to Increase Engagement with Life and Well-Being in Older Adults.

Introduction: Engagement with life is central to aging well. There is currently a lack of flexible programs for promoting engagement that tailor to the unique interests, capacities, and life circumstances of individuals. We designed and evaluated a new program for promoting engagement with later life based on principles of behavioral activation.

Engage! a pilot study of a brief behavioural activation program to promote engagement and well-being in older adults.

Previous research has indicated the suitability of behavioural activation (BA) as an intervention for reducing depression in older adults. However, little research has investigated the potential of BA to increase active engagement and well-being in older adults. The current pilot study sought to investigate the usefulness and acceptability of BA to promote well-being in a group of non-clinical older adults.

Self-Compassion, Stressor Exposure, and Negative Affect: A Daily Diary Study of Older Adults.

Objectives: Self-compassion has been identified as a psychological resource for aging well. To date, self-compassion among older adults has typically been conceptualized as a trait variable. This study examined whether day-to-day (state) variability in self-compassion was associated with negative affective reactivity to daily stressors.

A behavioural activation intervention to increase engagement with life and wellbeing in older adults: Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Meaningful activity engagement is a critical element of ageing well. Interventions designed to increase activity engagement tend to be activity-specific and do not always meet the needs of older adults with diverse interests and capacities. Behavioural activation (BA) provides a promising person-centred framework for promoting engagement in valued activities.

Barriers to activity engagement in older adulthood: Results of a community survey.

Objectives: Losses that occur with age can create barriers to meaningful activity engagement, a crucial aspect of ageing well. Research on this topic is frequently qualitative, with few studies accessing large community samples. This study (a) assessed the frequency specific personal and environmental barriers (such as poor health and limited transport access), identified by older adults in previous research, were endorsed; (b) used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify population subgroups based on combinations of these barriers, and (c) examined associations of subgroups with purpose in life and quality of life.

Conscientiousness, Activity Engagement, and Momentary Affect in Oldest-Old Adulthood.

Objectives: Remaining engaged with life is a hallmark of aging well and pursuing personally meaningful activities is presumably important for late-life affect. We examined how moment-to-moment variability in meaning and degree of challenge ascribed to daily activities relate to positive and negative affect in very old adults. Possible moderating effects of between-person differences in conscientiousness on meaning-affect associations were also examined.

Is Occupational Complexity Associated with Cognitive Performance or Decline? Results from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Background: Long-term protective associations proposed between previous complex occupational tasks and cognitive functioning in later life point to work roles contributing to cognitive reserve.

Objective: To examine occupational complexity involving data, people, and things in relation to the level of, and rate of change in, cognitive functioning.

Methods: Participants were 1,290 members of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing and initially aged 65-102 years (mean = 79).

Non-Verbal and Verbal Fluency in Prodromal Huntington's Disease.

Background: This study examines non-verbal (design) and verbal (phonemic and semantic) fluency in prodromal Huntington's disease (HD). An accumulating body of research indicates subtle deficits in cognitive functioning among prodromal mutation carriers for HD.

Methods: Performance was compared between 32 mutation carriers and 38 non-carriers in order to examine the magnitude of impairment across fluency tasks.

Estimating the Years Lived With and Without Age-Related Sensory Impairment.

Background: The aim of this study was to estimate the expected years lived with hearing impairment, vision impairment, and dual sensory impairment among older adults.

Methods: A total of 4,160 adults (45.1% men) from two Australian community based studies were followed for up to 16 years (average 8.

An Examination of Resilience and Coping in the Oldest Old Using Life Narrative Method.

We aimed to identify aspects of late-life resilience and sense of self-identity and locate them within a life narrative to provide insights into methods of coping with the challenges of aging. To do this, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 oldest-old adults (aged 88-98 years) recruited from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Design, analysis, and interpretation of the study were informed by McAdams' life narrative theory, using concepts of redemption and contamination.

Trajectories of depressive symptoms in old age: Integrating age-, pathology-, and mortality-related changes.

Late life involves a variety of different challenges to well-being. This study extends and qualifies propositions drawn from the paradox of well-being in aging using 15-year longitudinal data on depressive symptoms from old and very old participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (Baseline N = 2,087; Mage = 78.69 years; range: 65-103 years; 49.

Perceived Control Moderates the Effects of Functional Limitation on Older Adults' Social Activity: Findings From the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Objectives: Research has shown that functional limitation is related to reduced social activity in older adults; however, individuals with high perceived control have greater confidence in their ability to achieve outcomes and are more likely to show persistence and employ strategies to overcome challenges. The aim of this study was to examine whether perceived control protects against the negative effects of functional limitation on older adults' social activity.

Method: Participants were 835 older adults aged 69 to 103 years at baseline from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Sense of purpose as a psychological resource for aging well.

Having a sense of purpose is recognized as an important resource for maintaining health and well-being over the life span. We examined associations of individual differences in sense of purpose with levels and rates of change in indices of aging well (health, cognition, and depressive symptoms) in a sample of 1,475 older adults (Mage = 77.06 years, SD = 6.

Subjective Beliefs, Memory and Functional Health: Change and Associations over 12 Years in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Background: Neither subjective memory beliefs, nor remembering itself, can be isolated from the overall context in which one is aging, nor are the drivers of memory complaints well specified. Sense of control is an important self-regulatory resource that drives cognitive and physical health over the lifespan. Existing findings are equivocal concerning both the extent of stability or change in control beliefs over time as well as their contribution to changes in behavior.

Social resource correlates of levels and time-to-death-related changes in late-life affect.

Little is known regarding how well psychosocial resources that promote well-being continue to correlate with affect into very late life. We examined social resource correlates of levels and time-to-death related changes in affect balance (an index of affective positivity) over 19 years among 1,297 by now deceased participants (aged 69 to 103 at first assessment, M = 80 years; 36% women) from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging. A steeper decline in affect balance was evident over a time-to-death metric compared with chronological age.

Cohort Profile: The Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA).

In response to the expressed need for more sophisticated and multidisciplinary data concerning ageing of the Australian population, the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA) was established some two decades ago in Adelaide, South Australia. At Baseline in 1992, 2087 participants living in the community or in residential care (ranging in age from 65 to 103 years) were interviewed in their place of residence (1031 or 49% women), including 565 couples. By 2013, 12 Waves had been completed; both face-to-face and telephone personal interviews were conducted.

The influence of smoking, sedentary lifestyle and obesity on cognitive impairment-free life expectancy.

Background: Smoking, sedentary lifestyle and obesity are risk factors for mortality and dementia. However, their impact on cognitive impairment-free life expectancy (CIFLE)has not previously been estimated.

Methods: Data were drawn from the DYNOPTA dataset which was derived by harmonizing and pooling common measures from five longitudinal ageing studies.

Longitudinal associations between activity and cognition vary by age, activity type, and cognitive domain.

The demonstration of correlated change is critical to understanding the relationship between activity engagement and cognitive functioning in older adulthood. Changes in activity have been shown to be related to changes in cognition, but little attention has been devoted to how this relationship may vary between specific activity types, cognitive domains, and age groups. Participants initially aged 65-98 years (M = 77.

Influence of health locus of control on recovery of function in recently hospitalized frail older adults.

Aim: To investigate the influence of health locus of control on physical function, quality of life, depression and satisfaction with care transition in a sample of older adults after a hospital admission.

Methods: A total of 230 older adults referred for transition care after a hospital admission (mean length of stay 25.7 days, SD 17.

Dual sensory loss and depressive symptoms: the importance of hearing, daily functioning, and activity engagement.

Background: The association between dual sensory loss (DSL) and mental health has been well established. However, most studies have relied on self-report data and lacked measures that would enable researchers to examine causal pathways between DSL and depression. This study seeks to extend this research by examining the effects of DSL on mental health, and identify factors that explain the longitudinal associations between sensory loss and depressive symptoms.

Increasing constructive engagement and positive affect for residents with severe and very severe dementia through group-based activities.

Aim: A group-based multisensory activity program (Sensory Day) for residents with dementia was developed, to address the challenge of providing personalised activities within tight operational constraints in residential aged care facilities.

Method: Fourteen participants with severe and very severe dementia were observed before, during and after participation in one of four Sensory Day sessions. The Menorah Park Rating Scale was used to yield four levels of engagement.

How important is health status in defining quality of life for older people? An exploratory study of the views of older South Australians.

Background: Cost-effectiveness analyses of interventions for older adults have traditionally focused on health status. However, there is increasing recognition of the need to develop new instruments to capture quality of life in a broader sense in the face of age-associated increasing frailty and declining health status, particularly in the economic evaluation of aged and social care interventions that may have positive benefits beyond health.

Objective: To explore the relative importance of health and broader quality of life domains for defining quality of life from the perspective of older South Australians.

Social partners and momentary affect in the oldest-old: the presence of others benefits affect depending on who we are and who we are with.

Links between social relationships and emotional well-being in old age are well documented, but little is known about daily life fluctuations in momentary affective experiences of the oldest-old while interacting with specific social partners. We examined associations between the presence of different types of social partners and moment-to-moment fluctuations in affect in the oldest-old, taking into account individual differences in gender, neuroticism, depressive symptoms, chronic health conditions, and loneliness. Participants (N = 74, M age = 88.

The nature and correlates of self-esteem trajectories in late life.

Is it possible to maintain a positive perspective on the self into very old age? Empirical research so far is rather inconclusive, with some studies reporting substantial declines in self-esteem late in life, whereas others report relative stability into old age. In this article, we examine long-term change trajectories in self-esteem in old age and very old age and link them to key correlates in the health, cognitive, self-regulatory, and social domains. To do so, we estimated growth curve models over chronological age and time-to-death using 18-year longitudinal data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (N = 1,215; age 65-103 years at first occasion; M = 78.

Longitudinal change of self-perceptions of aging and mortality.

Objective: To understand the association between self-perceptions of aging (SPA) and mortality in late life. Method. The sample (n = 1,507) was drawn from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging (baseline age = 65-103 years).