Dyadic Appraisals of Family Decisions and Health Tasks in Midlife-Older Couples.

Shared appraisals and collaboration within couples play important roles in optimizing health. Less is known about concordance regarding collaboration, factors associated with concordance, and implications for health. Data from 2,761 couples from the (2014/2016 and 2016/2018 waves) were examined to determine within-couple concordance in completion of two tasks (family decisions and medical forms).

Analysis of eligibility criteria in Alzheimer's and related dementias clinical trials.

Overly restrictive clinical trial eligibility criteria can reduce generalizability, slow enrollment, and disproportionately exclude historically underrepresented populations. The eligibility criteria for 196 Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) trials funded by the National Institute on Aging were analyzed to identify common criteria and their potential to disproportionately exclude participants by race/ethnicity. The trials were categorized by type (48 Phase I/II pharmacological, 7 Phase III/IV pharmacological, 128 non-pharmacological, 7 diagnostic, and 6 neuropsychiatric) and target population (51 AD/ADRD, 58 Mild Cognitive Impairment, 25 at-risk, and 62 cognitively normal).

Heterogeneous Effects of Volunteering on Frailty in Later Life: A Panel Quantile Regression Approach.

Objectives: Decades of research indicate that volunteering is associated with better health for the volunteer beyond the selection effects based on health. However, little is known about potential heterogeneity in health outcomes associated with volunteering in the context of good or poor health. This study addresses this gap by focusing on the frailty index (FI) to investigate the volunteering-health nexus across the population frailty distribution ranging from fit to frail.

Do friends get under the skin?: Everyday social encounters and cardiovascular functioning among Black and White adults in the United States.

Objective: Studies have shown that contact with friends enhances emotional health, but little is known about whether friends influence cardiovascular health. This study investigated (a) whether encounters with friends and the quality of these encounters were associated with cardiovascular reactivity in everyday life and (b) whether these associations varied by race.

Method: Participants were from the Stress and Well-being in Everyday Life Study which included Black ( = 76; aged = 34-76) and White ( = 87, aged = 34-91) adults residing in the United States.

Revisiting the caregiver stress process: Does family caregiving really lead to worse mental health outcomes?

While the act of caregiving is often characterized as a stressful experience detrimental to mental health, recent studies are challenging this view by reporting robust health and well-being benefits linked to family caregiving. The current study attempted to provide an explanation of this apparent paradox by focusing on the role played by family health problems in the association between being a caregiver and mental health. Framed within the life course perspective and focusing on caregiving provided to aging mothers, the current study aimed 1) to demonstrate how the linkage between caregiving and depression reported in earlier studies may be misleading and 2) to further investigate whether caregiving to an aging mother may lead to any mental health benefits.

Volunteering and Changes in Cardiovascular Biomarkers: Longitudinal Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study.

Background And Objectives: Growing body of research shows that volunteering is beneficial for those served, the volunteers, and the larger communities. However, major challenges remain that hinder the practical implications for volunteer activity as a public health intervention, including potential selection effects, lack of longitudinal studies that adjust for baseline characteristics, and a paucity of studies that consider multiple physical health outcomes in a single model.

Research Design And Methods: Data from 2006 to 2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2016) were used ( = 18,847).

Neighborhood Cohesion Across the Life Course and Effects on Cognitive Aging.

Objectives: Greater neighborhood cohesion is associated with better cognitive function in adulthood and may serve as a protective factor against cognitive impairment and decline. We build on prior work by examining the effects of perceived neighborhood cohesion across the life course on level and change in cognitive function in adulthood.

Methods: Utilizing longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2016) and its Life History Mail Survey, we leveraged data from 3,599 study participants (baseline age: 51-89) who participated in up to 10 waves.

Age and Cohort Trends in Formal Volunteering and Informal Helping in Later Life: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study.

Formal volunteering holds great importance for the recipients of volunteer services, individuals who volunteer, and the wider society. However, how much recent birth cohorts volunteer in middle and late adulthood compared with earlier birth cohorts is not well understood. Even less well-known are the age and cohort trends in informal helping provided to friends and neighbors in later adulthood.

Cognitive function and cognitive decline among older rural Chinese adults: the roles of social support, pension benefits, and medical insurance.

Objectives: This study investigated whether social support, pension benefits, and medical insurance coverage are related to cognitive function and decline among older rural Chinese adults and whether depressive symptoms represented a pathway linking these factors with cognitive function.

Methods: Data are taken from three waves of the ( = 5,135). Cognitive function is assessed with episodic memory and depressive symptoms are assessed with the 10-item CESD Scale.

Adult children's achievements and ageing parents' depressive symptoms in China.

This study examined the association between adult children's achievements and ageing parents' depressive symptoms in China. The research topic was examined within the contexts of one-child and multiple-children families in rural and urban China. Older adults (aged 60-113, = 8,450; nested within 462 communities/villages) from the 2013 China Longitudinal Ageing Social Survey provided information about themselves and their adult children ( = 22,738).

Perceptions of Childhood Neighborhood Social Cohesion and Cognitive Function in Middle and Late Adulthood.

Background And Objectives: Framed within the life course perspective and the neighborhood stress model, this study investigated the association between perceptions of childhood neighborhood social cohesion and cognitive function among middle-aged and older Chinese adults. We also examined whether gender, childhood hukou status, the Chinese national administrative household registration system, and birth cohort moderated the association.

Research Design And Methods: This study used 3 waves of nationally representative data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011-2015; N = 11,469).

The Impact of Marital Quality as Older Couples Adjust to Dementia Onset.

Objectives: A burgeoning literature links being married to better cognitive health, but less attention has been paid to how couples view their marital relationships. Couples do not always concur in their assessments, and such discrepancies affect both partners' health. We present a dyadic study on whether and how overall and discrepant views of marital quality predicted (a) dementia onset and (b) changes in older adults' depressive symptoms with spousal dementia.

Internet Use and Cognitive Functioning in Later Life: Focus on Asymmetric Effects and Contextual Factors.

Background And Objectives: Despite emerging literature linking Internet usage and cognitive functioning in later life, research seldom takes changes in older adults' Internet use into account. How changes in Internet use influence older adults' cognitive decline over time, particularly in the context of sociodemographic factors that shape Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use, remains an open question.

Research Design And Methods: Using 9 waves of panel data from the Health and Retirement Study (2002-2018), we examined within-person asymmetric effects of transitioning into and out of Internet use on cognitive functioning, and whether the associations vary across birth cohorts and by living arrangement.

Older Adult's Marital Status, Conversation Frequency, and Well-Being in Everyday Life.

Objectives: Marital status contributes to differences in social experiences and well-being in late life. Yet, we know little about the role of conversation in these processes. Drawing on a functionalist perspective and hierarchical compensatory model, this study aimed to understand (a) whether older adults' marital status is associated with conversation frequency throughout the day, (b) whether contacts with nonspousal ties elicit more conversations among unmarried older adults, and (c) whether conversations exert a stronger effect on mood for unmarried older adults than married older adults.

Take a sad song and make it better: Spousal activity limitations, caregiving, and depressive symptoms among couples.

Objectives: Framed around key concepts of the life course perspective, we examined the linkages between spousal activity limitations, caregiving transitions, and depression among married couples. The key study objectives were 1) to demonstrate how the caregiving-depression link widely reported in earlier research may have been over-stated, and 2) to investigate whether caregiving yields mental health benefits by weakening the link between spousal activity limitations and depressive symptoms.

Methods: We used longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (2004-2016) to examine a national sample of coupled individuals (6,475 couples; 57,844 person-wave observations).

Facilitators, Challenges, and Messaging Strategies for Hispanic/Latino Populations Participating in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Clinical Research: A Literature Review.

Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD) disproportionally affect Hispanic and Latino populations, yet Hispanics/Latinos are substantially underrepresented in AD/ADRD clinical research. Diverse inclusion in trials is an ethical and scientific imperative, as underrepresentation reduces the ability to generalize study findings and treatments across populations most affected by a disease. This paper presents findings from a narrative literature review (N = 210) of the current landscape of Hispanic/Latino participation in clinical research, including the challenges, facilitators, and communication channels to conduct culturally appropriate outreach efforts to increase awareness and participation of Hispanics/Latinos in AD/ADRD clinical research studies.

Health consequences of retirement due to non-health reasons or poor health.

Objectives: This study aimed to contribute to our understanding of the complex linkage between retirement and health by estimating health consequences of retirement transitions that were not driven by health reasons separately from those caused by poor health, while taking into consideration the health differences that exist between individuals who engage in different labor force behaviors.

Methods: Ten waves of rich data from the U.S.

Psychological and Physical Health in Widowhood: Does Marital Quality Make a Difference?

We investigate how preloss marital quality is associated with changes in psychological distress and physical health among older widow(er)s. Using prospective data with a 2-year follow-up from the Health and Retirement Study, we selected 546 respondents who transitioned into widowhood. Respondents were classified as supportive, ambivalent, aversive, or neutral groups.

Functional Limitations, Volunteering, and Diurnal Cortisol Patterns in Older Adults.

Objectives: Older adults often experience functional limitations that affect their everyday lives, but many of them continue to make positive contributions to society and benefit from these contributions themselves. We examine (a) whether older adults' functional limitations are associated with diurnal cortisol patterns and (b) whether these associations vary on volunteering days versus nonvolunteering days.

Methods: Participants were adults aged older than 60 years (N = 435) from the National Study of Daily Experiences, part of the Midlife in the United States Study.

Childhood Friendship Experiences and Cognitive Functioning in Later Life: The Mediating Roles of Adult Social Disconnectedness and Adult Loneliness.

Background And Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between childhood friendships and cognitive functioning, as assessed with cognitive status and decline among adults aged 45 and older in China. We also examined the mediating effect of adult social disconnectedness and adult loneliness for this relationship.

Research Design And Methods: This study was based on 3 waves of data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS; 2011, 2013, 2015; N = 13,959).

Volunteering, polygenic risk for Alzheimer's disease, and cognitive functioning among older adults.

Objective: In the context of the public health burden posed by increases in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) prevalence around the globe and the related research efforts to identify modifiable risk factors for the disease, we sought to provide an empirical test of earlier claims that volunteering may be considered as a health intervention that could help to prevent or delay the onset of AD.

Method: Using nine waves of panel data from the U.S.

Activity Limitations and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Couples: The Moderating Role of Spousal Care.

Objectives: Limitations in performing basic daily activities, as well as spousal caregiving that arises from activity limitations, are important factors that have ramifications for mental health among couples. The objective of this study was to investigate the interplay of these factors by focusing on whether the associations between activity limitations and depressive symptoms among coupled-individuals were moderated by receipt and provision of spousal care.

Methods: Longitudinal household data from the Health and Retirement Study (2004-2014; dyad N = 6,614) were analyzed to estimate within-person associations between one's own and spousal activity limitations, receipt and provision of spousal care, and depressive symptoms.

Edentulism and Trajectories of Cognitive Functioning Among Older Adults: The Role of Dental Care Service Utilization.

This study examined the associations between edentulism, dental care service utilization, and cognitive functioning trajectories among older adults. Longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2014) were employed to examine individuals aged 51 and older who were identified as having normal cognition at baseline ( = 12,405). Cognitive functioning was measured with a modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognition Status.