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Maintaining good morale in old age

¹Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle 98195, USA.

The Western Journal of Medicine

|December 31, 1997

Summary

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Most older adults experience successful emotional aging, not inevitable decline. Understanding this requires a developmental view, recognizing subjective health and morale are key for quality of life in later years.

Area of Science:

Gerontology
Psychology of Aging
Geriatric Medicine

Background:

Traditional aging research often assumes inevitable biological, social, and psychological decline in later life.
Epidemiological studies indicate that most older adults do not experience significant psychological decline.
This challenges conventional views and raises questions about factors contributing to successful emotional aging.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore why aging is less emotionally threatening than expected for most older adults.
To identify factors distinguishing successful emotional aging from decline.
To inform medical approaches to emotional well-being in the elderly.

Main Methods:

The study integrates findings from epidemiological research on aging.

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It proposes supplementing the traditional diathesis-stress model with a developmental perspective.

Analysis considers changes in expectations and capacities with age.

Main Results:

Successful emotional aging is common, defying expectations of universal decline.
Subjective health is more strongly correlated with morale than objective health in older adults.
Some elders experience recurrent or new mental health disorders (e.g., depression) due to losses.

Conclusions:

A developmental perspective is crucial for understanding successful emotional aging.
Maintaining morale is vital for quality of life, especially with increasing focus on chronic disease in geriatric medicine.
Physicians require enhanced skills to detect and treat morale issues for optimal geriatric care.