This study focuses on the concepts of subjective age and subjective nearness-to-death (views-of-aging) and examines the association between individuals’ chronological age, self, and others’ perceptions of these variables and mental health. A total of 267 participants aged 40–95 M = 64.33 provided sociodemographic information and filled out scales assessing self and others’ views-of-aging, depressive symptoms, and their well-being. After controlling for covariates, age was not related to the dependent variables, whereas young/far from death self, and perceived others’ views-of-aging was related to better mental health. The interaction between young age and young/far from death perceived others’, but not self, views-of-aging was associated with lower depressive symptoms and higher well-being. Finally, the interaction between young/far from death self and perceived others’ views-of-aging was associated with lower depressive symptoms but not with well-being. These findings provide an initial glance at the complex relations between two types of personal views-of-aging and emphasize the importance of how individuals appraise others’ perceptions of their own aging process and life expectancy.
Alonso DebreczeniF.BaileyP. E. (2021). A systematic review and meta-analysis of subjective age and the association with cognition, subjective well-being, and depression. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 76(3), 471–482. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa069
2.
AndresenE. M.MalmgrenJ. A.CarterW. B.PatrickD. L. (1994). Screening for depression in well older adults: Evaluation of a short form of the CES-D. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 10(2), 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-3797(18)30622-6
3.
AyalonL. (2022). Ageism towards oneself vs. Ageism towards others in the context of views of aging. In PalgiY.ShriraA.DiehlM. (Eds.), Subjective views of aging: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 41–58). Springer Nature.
4.
AyalonL.Tesch-RömerC. (eds) (2018). Contemporary perspectives on ageism. Springer Nature.
5.
BergmanY. S.BodnerE. (2020). Age is not just a number: Age awareness, subjective nearness-to-death, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms among older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 24(6), 906–913. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2019.1566815
6.
BergmanY. S.BodnerE.HaberY. (2018). The connection between subjective nearness-to-death and depressive symptoms: The mediating role of meaning in life. Psychiatry Research, 261, 269–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.12.078
7.
BergmanY. S.PalgiY. (2021). Ageism, personal and others’ perceptions of age awareness, and their interactive effect on subjective accelerated aging. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 40, 1876–1880. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464820967209
8.
BergmanY. S.ShriraA. (2022). Cultural differences in the association between subjective age and health: Evidence from the Israeli component of the survey of health, ageing and retirement in Europe (SHARE-Israel). Ageing & Society, 42(1), 32–47. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X20000707
9.
BodnerE.ShriraA.HoffmanY.BergmanY. S. (2021). Day-to-day variability in subjective age and ageist attitudes and their association with depressive symptoms. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences, 76(5), 836–844. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa125
10.
BuberI.EngelhardtH. (2011). The association between age and depressive symptoms among older men and women in Europe. Findings from SHARE. Comparative Population Studies, 36(1). https://doi.org/10.12765/CPoS-2011-02
11.
DiehlM.WahlH.-W.BarrettA. E.BrothersA. F.MicheM.MontepareJ. M.WesterhofG. J.WurmS. (2014). Awareness of aging: Theoretical considerations on an emerging concept. Developmental Review, 34(2), 93–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2014.01.001
GalderisiS.HeinzA.KastrupM.BeezholdJ.SartoriusN. (2015). Toward a new definition of mental health. World Psychiatry, 14, 231–233. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20231
14.
HayesA. F. (2018). An introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press.
15.
KastenbaumR.DerbinV.SabatiniP.ArttS. (1972). ‘‘The ages of me”: Toward personal and interpersonal definitions of functional aging. Aging and Human Development, 3(2), 197–211. https://doi.org/10.2190/TUJR-WTXK-866Q-8QU7
16.
KesslerR. C.FosterC.WebsterP. S.HouseJ. S. (1992). The relationship between age and depressive symptoms in two national surveys. Psychology and Aging, 7(1), 119–126. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.7.1.119
17.
KeyesC. L.LopezS. J. (2009). Toward a science of mental health. Oxford handbook of positive psychology, (pp. 89-95).
18.
KeyesC. L.WissingM.PotgieterJ. P.TemaneM.KrugerA.Van RooyS. (2008). Evaluation of the Mental Health Continuum–Short Form (MHC–SF) in setswana-speaking South Africans. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 15(3), 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.572
19.
Kleinspehn-AmmerlahnA.Kotter-GrühnD.SmithJ. (2008). Self-perceptions of aging: Do subjective age and satisfaction with aging change during old age?The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 63(6), P377–P385. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/63.6.P377
20.
Kotter-GrühnD.GrühnD.SmithJ. (2010). Predicting one’s own death: The relationship between subjective and objective nearness to death in very old age. European Journal of Ageing, 7(4), 293–300. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-010-0165-1
21.
KunzmannU.LittleT. D.SmithJ. (2000). Is age-related stability of subjective well-being a paradox? Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the Berlin aging study. Psychology and Aging, 15, 511–526. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.15.3.511
O’BrienR. M. (2007). A caution regarding rules of thumb for variance inflation factors. Quality & Quantity, 41(5), 673–690. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-006-9018-6
24.
PalgiY. (2020). Positive mental health moderates the association between PTSD symptoms and subjective accelerated aging among older adults. International Psychogeriatrics, 32, 885–889. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1041610220001349
25.
PalgiY.AyalonL.AvidorS.BodnerE. (2017). Changes in positive and negative affect as predictors of change in felt age: Results from the health and retirement study. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 12(6), 605–612. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2016.1221121
26.
PalgiY.ShriraA.Ben-EzraM.SpalterT.KavéG.ShmotkinD. (2014). Age-related and death-related differences in emotional complexity. Psychology and Aging, 29(2), 284. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036302
27.
PalgiY.ShriraA.NeupertS. D. (2021). Views on aging and health: A multidimensional and multitemporal perspective. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences, 76(5), 821–824. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbab026
28.
RantanenT.SuutamaT.RuoppilaI. (2006). Change in subjective age among older people over an eight-year follow-up: ‘getting older and feeling younger?’. Experimental Aging Research, 32, 381–393. https://doi.org/10.1080/03610730600875759
29.
RipponI.SteptoeA. (2018). Is the relationship between subjective age, depressive symptoms and activities of daily living bidirectional?Social Science & Medicine, 214, 41–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.08.013
RubinD. C.BerntsenD. (2006). People over forty feel 20% younger than their age: Subjective age across the lifespan. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 13, 776–780. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193996
32.
ShriraA.BodnerE.PalgiY. (2014). The interactive effect of subjective age and subjective distance-to-death on psychological distress of older adults. Aging and Mental Health, 18(8), 1066–1070. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2014.915925
33.
ShriraA.PalgiY.Diehl (2022). Advancing the field of subjective views of aging: An overview of recent achievements. In PalgiY.ShriraA.DiehlM. (Eds.), Subjective views of aging: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 11–37). Springer Nature.
34.
ShriraA.PalgiY.HoffmanY.AvidorS.BodnerE.Ben-EzraM.BensimonM. (2018). Subjective age as a moderator in the reciprocal effects between posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and self-rated physical functioning. Frontiers in Psychology, 1746. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01746
WesterhofG.MicheM.BrothersA.BarrettA.DiehlM.MontepareJ. M.WurmS. (2014). The influence of subjective aging on health and longevity: A meta-analysis of longitudinal data. Psychology and Aging, 29(4), 793–802. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038016
37.
World Health Organization (2004). Promoting mental health: concepts, emerging evidence, practice (Summary Report). World Health Organization.
38.
WurmS.DiehlM.KornadtA. E.WesterhofG. J.WahlH.-W. (2017). How do views on aging affect health outcomes in adulthood and late life? Explanations for an established connection. Developmental Review, 46, 27–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025420935620
