Late-life decline in well-being across adulthood in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States: Something is seriously wrong at the end of life.
Denis Gerstorfa b, Nilám Ramb, Guy Mayrazc, Mira M. Hidajatd, Ulman Lindenbergere, Gert G. Wagnere, Jürgen Schuppf
- aDepartment of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. gerstorf@psu.edu
- bDepartment of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University,, University Park, PA, US
- cLondon School of Economics London, England
- dGerontology Center, Pennsylvania State University, PA, US
- eCenter for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Max Planck Society
- fGerman Socio-Economic Panel Study, DIW Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Abstract
Throughout adulthood and old age, levels of well-being appear to remain relatively stable. However, evidence is emerging that late in life well-being declines considerably. Using long-term longitudinal data of deceased participants in national samples from Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, we examined how long this period lasts. In all 3 nations and across the adult age range, well-being was relatively stable over age but declined rapidly with impending death. Articulating notions of terminal decline associated with impending death, we identified prototypical transition points in each study between 3 and 5 years prior to death, after which normative rates of decline steepened by a factor of 3 or more. The findings suggest that mortality-related mechanisms drive late-life changes in well-being and highlight the need for further refinement of psychological concepts about how and when late-life declines in psychosocial functioning prototypically begin. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).
TL;DRIt is suggested that mortality-related mechanisms drive late- life changes in well-being and the need for further refinement of psychological concepts about how and when late-life declines in psychosocial functioning prototypically begin is highlighted. (Semantic Scholar)