[The Jerusalem Longitudinal Studies of Middle Age and Aging--JESMA]

The Jerusalem Study of Midadulthood and Aging (JESMA) was started in 1967, and terminated in the mid 1980s. It involved the longitudinal assessment by intelligence and personality tests, as well as by interview, of over 220 urban participants ranging in age from 46 to 65 at first measurement point. Sex, educational level (6-10 vs 10 or more years) and cultural origin (european vs afro-asian) were represented equally in a design which allowed for control of age and birthcohorts in addition to socioeconomic and cultural background variables. Sequential analyses of data obtained at three measurement points demonstrated the central role of educational level as determinant of the course of development. As in similar European and US studies these analyses also showed only a very slight drop of meanvalues in selected cognitive and personality functions. The use of an especially constructed, age appropriate, 82-item Jerusalem-Q-sort allowed identification of four personality types which could be followed up over the years, revealing individual patterns of development. The main conclusions of the study were that the course of development during the later years depends greatly on personality type as delineated by coping style and self consistency, as well as on the cultural conditions under which development takes place.