Prediction of subjective age, desired age, and age satisfaction in older adults: Do some health dimensions contribute more than others?

Age-associated changes of subjective health and associations of subjective health with physical health, functional health, and mental health were meta-analyzed in older adults (M age > 60 years). An age-associated decline of subjective health, which was stronger in old-old samples than in young-old samples, was found. Subjective health was correlated with the indicators of objective health, but the association with physical health was stronger than with functional health. Correlations of subjective health with physical health and functional health were lower in the old-old than in the young-old samples, whereas associations of subjective health with mental health were stronger in older samples. Furthermore, the size of the association between subjective and objective health varied by the method of assessment of objective health, showing highest associations with symptom checklists and results of medical examinations due to strict protocols.

We examined differences in subjective age identification from adolescence to old age and the relation between subjective age and fears about one's own aging and life satisfaction. Using a questionnaire format, 188 men and women from 14 to 83 years of age made judgments about how old they felt, looked, acted, and desired to be. Respondents also answered questions about their personal fears of aging and present life satisfaction. Results revealed that individuals in their teens held older subjective age identities, whereas during the early adult years, individuals maintained same age identities. Across the middle and later adult years, individuals reported younger age identities, and women experienced younger age identities than men across these adults years. Results also revealed that discrepancies between subjective and actual age were associated with personal fears of aging and life satisfaction, especially in younger men and women.

Do older people tend to exaggerate their health problems? Or do they downplay them? Do such tendencies change as people age? Are they a function of cohort membership? Or are differences in health perceptions among elderly people due to differences in survivorship within the elderly cohorts? These questions are examined with longitudinal data from the Yale Health and Aging Project, a stratified probability sample of elderly persons in New Haven, Connecticut. Complete health assessments are available for 2,583 community residents 65 and older in 1982, and complete follow-up date are available for 1,319 respondents in 1988. Multivariate regressions of self-assessed health on concurrent 1982 and 1988 objective health status and longitudinal analysis of residual values from these equations show that: (a) older survey respondents gave disproportionately positive health assessments, and (b) processes of aging, selective survivorship, and cohort differences all appear to play a role in creating this pattern.