Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026
07:40
Validation of a Psychosocial Intervention on Body Image in Older People: An Experimental Design
Published on: May 31, 2021
Aging Side by Side: Couples' Views of Aging and Health Over Time
Hanamori F Skoblow1, Getrude Nyang'au2, Megan Gilligan2
1Center for Family Policy and Research, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
Research on Aging
|July 29, 2026
Summary
Positive self-perceptions of aging (SPA) benefit both individuals and their partners, influencing mental and physical health over time. This highlights the importance of positive aging attitudes for couples.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Self-perceptions of aging (SPA) are linked to health outcomes in older adults.
- Understanding the dynamic interplay between partners' SPA and health is crucial for aging well.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine bidirectional, within-person associations between couples' SPA and their health over time.
- To investigate how individual SPA influences partner's health and vice versa.
Main Methods:
- Utilized dyadic random intercept cross-lagged panel models on a large sample (N=2,778 dyads) from the Health and Retirement Study (2008-2018).
- Analyzed data across three waves to distinguish within-person changes from stable differences and model cross-spousal effects.
Main Results:
- Positive and negative SPA showed bidirectional links with individuals' self-rated health.
- Positive SPA was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and better cognitive performance.
- Individuals' positive SPA predicted their partners' better self-rated and mental health.
Conclusions:
- SPA dynamically influences an individual's own health and their partner's well-being.
- Findings support the development of dyadic interventions to enhance SPA and health in older couples.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Aging
Aging is a complex biological phenomenon influenced by various processes that affect cellular and systemic functions. Several prominent theories attempt to explain its mechanisms, highlighting cellular limitations, oxidative damage, and hormonal changes as central factors in aging.
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
01:19The Effect of Aging on Tissues
Several body functions deteriorate with age. The external signs of aging are easily identifiable. For example, the skin becomes dry, less elastic, and thins out, forming wrinkles. The skin of the face begins to appear looser due to a decrease in the levels of elastic and collagen fibers in the connective tissue. Additionally, melanin production in the hair follicle decreases with age, resulting in gray hair. Moreover, the senses of sight and hearing decline, so glasses and hearing aids may...
02:20Longitudinal Research
Sometimes we want to see how people change over time, as in studies of human development and lifespan. When we test the same group of individuals repeatedly over an extended period of time, we are conducting longitudinal research. Longitudinal research is a research design in which data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time. For example, we may survey a group of individuals about their dietary habits at age 20, retest them a decade later at age 30, and then again...
01:27Pharmacodynamics in Geriatric Patients: Effects of Age
Age-related pharmacokinetic changes are extensively documented, but understanding age-related pharmacodynamic alterations is relatively limited. This knowledge gap can be partly attributed to the complexity of developing appropriate measures of drug responses compared to bioanalytical methods for determining drug concentrations.Most information regarding age-related differences in human pharmacodynamics originates from cross-sectional studies. However, these studies assume that observed mean...
01:18Pharmacokinetics in Geriatric Patients: Effect of Age on Drug Metabolism
Geriatric patients show significant variation in how their bodies process medications, which can change how effective and safe treatments are. The liver is the primary organ where drug metabolism occurs, involving two main types of chemical reactions: phase I and II. Phase I metabolism is driven by the cytochrome P450 enzyme system, which includes key types such as CYP3A, CYP2D6, and CYP2C9. Research indicates that while aging doesn't notably alter the levels or activity of these enzymes, it...
01:21Dimensions of Health and Illness
The factors influencing the health-illness continuum can be internal or external and may or may not be under conscious control. They are related to the following eight human dimensions, and each dimension is interrelated to one other.