The coping, appraisal, and resilience in aging (CARA) model: Longitudinal findings from the Normative Aging Study.

Resilience is central to understanding how individuals withstand the adverse effects of stress, but there is no generally agreed-upon definition of what constitutes resilience in later life. The present study tests the coping, appraisal, and resilience in aging model, which posits that resilient older adults, when faced with a problem, can draw upon their lifelong experience to minimize coping effort to conserve resources but still maintain a sense of coping efficacy (perceptions of how well they had handled the specific problem). We assessed coping effort and efficacy in 896 men in the Veterans' Affairs Normative Aging Study (Mage in 1993 = 64.

An overview of the Be Well Home Health Navigator Program to reduce contaminants in well water: Design and methods.

Background: The Be Well Home Health Navigator Program is a prospective, randomized controlled trial (RCT) implemented to compare a community health navigator program to usual care program to reduce contaminants in drinking water.

Design And Setting: This 4-year two-armed RCT will involve well owners in Oregon that have private drinking water wells that contain arsenic, nitrate, or lead above maximum contaminant levels.

Intervention: The intervention leverages the trusted relationship between Cooperative Extension Service (CES) Community Educators and rural well owners to educate, assist and motivate to make decisions and set actionable steps to mitigate water contamination.

Cohort Differences in PTSD Symptoms and Military Experiences: A Life Course Perspective.

Background And Objectives: There have been major changes in military service over the past 50 years. Most research on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among combat Veterans comes from help-seeking Vietnam and WWII cohorts; results from more recent cohort comparisons are mixed. The present study addressed these gaps by exploring cohort differences among Vietnam, Persian Gulf, and Post-9/11 combat Veterans from a life course perspective.

Adaptation to changes in COVID-19 pandemic severity: Across older adulthood and time scales.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been observed to negatively affect older adults' psychological health compared with prepandemic levels. However, older adults' coping efficacy may differ depending on their age, and little is known about effects of fluctuations in pandemic severity. Two longitudinal studies tested the hypothesis that pandemic severity would affect psychological health and be moderated by age.

Life satisfaction of Korean Vietnam War Veterans in later life: A lifespan approach.

The current study examined correlates of life satisfaction among Korean Vietnam War Veterans. The sample included 450 male Veterans from the Korean Vietnam War Veterans Study, surveyed by mail in 2013 (= 67.4 years old, = 3.

Resilience in Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Socioecological Approach.

Objectives: We examined sources of vulnerability and resilience among older adults early in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: We surveyed 235 respondents, 51-95 years old (M = 71.35; SD = 7.

Impact of combat exposure on mental health trajectories in later life: Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study.

Cross-sectional studies have shown contradictory results concerning the impact of combat exposure on mental health in later life. We examined whether combat exposure influences trajectories of mental health symptoms in older male veterans using longitudinal data collected from 1985 to 1991 in the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study ( = 1,105, age range = 40-86 years in 1985). Noncombat veterans showed little systematic change in depressive and anxiety symptoms with age, whereas combat veterans showed U-shaped nonlinear changes, with higher levels in midlife decreasing until the mid-60s and then increasing again in the 70s and 80s.

Depression Among Older Adults in the United States by Disaggregated Race and Ethnicity.

Background And Objectives: As the population becomes increasingly diverse, it is important to understand the prevalence of depression across a racially and ethnically diverse older population. The purpose of this study was to compare rates of depression by age and disaggregated racial and ethnic groups to inform practitioners and target resource allocation to high risk groups.

Research Design And Methods: Data were from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Health Outcomes Survey, Cohorts 15 and 16, a national and annual survey of a racially diverse group of adults aged 65 and older who participate in Medicare Advantage plans (N = 175,956).

Does combat exposure affect well-being in later life? The VA Normative Aging Study.

Objective: Combat exposure can have long-term negative effects in later life; although aspects of service may be appraised positively, the long-term positive effects of combat on well-being in later life is largely unknown.

Method: The sample included 1,006 male veterans from the VA Normative Aging Study, surveyed by mail in 1986, 1990, and 1991 (Mage = 65.5 years, SD = 7.

Spiritual peace predicts 5-year mortality in congestive heart failure patients.

Objective: Spirituality is favorably related to depression, quality of life, hospitalizations, and other important outcomes in congestive heart failure (CHF) patients but has not been examined as a predictor of mortality risk in this population. Given the well-known difficulties in managing CHF, we hypothesized that spirituality would be associated with lower mortality risk, controlling for baseline demographics, functional status, health behaviors, and religiousness.

Method: Participants were 191 CHF patients (64% male; M age = 68.

A Life-span Perspective on Combat Exposure and PTSD Symptoms in Later Life: Findings From the VA Normative Aging Study.

Purpose Of The Study: We tested a life-span model of combat exposure on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in later life, examining the direct and indirect effects of prewar, warzone, and postwar factors.

Design And Methods: The sample included 947 male World War II and Korean War veterans from the VA Normative Aging Study (Mage = 65, SD = 7). They completed mail surveys on childhood family environment, military service and postwar experience, stressful life events, and PTSD symptoms (response rates > 80%).

Cross-cultural comparison of self-transcendent wisdom between the United States and Korea.

Whether wisdom is a culturally-specific or universal construct is a matter of some debate (see Curnow 1999; Grossman et al. Psychological Science, 2012). This study compared similarities and differences in the factor structure of a measure of wisdom focused on self-transcendence in U.

Do hassles mediate between life events and mortality in older men? Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study.

We investigated whether hassles mediated the effect of life events on mortality in a sample of 1293 men (Mage=65.58, SD=7.01), participants in the VA Normative Aging Study.