The interactive effect of perceived control and functional status on health and mortality among young-old and old-old...

The effect of perceived control on health has been examined extensively in the gerontological literature. A question that has received little attention, however, is whether perceived control affords similar benefits to all other adults. In a longitudinal study we examined the effect of perceived control, in combination with functional status and age, on perceived health, morbidity, hospitalization, and mortality. The analyses showed that perceived control interacted with functional status for old-old (80+ years old) adults, but not for young-old (65-79 years old) adults in terms of perceived health, hospitalization, and mortality. For perceived health, feeling in control was of benefit of old-old adults with some functional impairment, but not to those with little impairment. Moreover, a greater sense of control was associated with lower rates of hospitalization and mortality for old-old individuals with little functional impairment. These results highlight the usefulness of examining the buffering effects of perceived control in relation to different age groups.