Eating Disorders Across the Life Span

SUMMARY

Eating disorders have traditionally been considered afflictions of adolescents and young women. Recent evidence, however, suggests that eating disorders often occur across the life span. Although the incidence of these disorders among mid-life and older women appears to be on the rise, it is not clear if this reflects a true increase in prevalence, better recognition among clinicians, or both. This paper presents an overview of the etiology and treatment of eating disorders, with particular emphasis on developmental factors impacting older women. Recommendations for the treatment of eating disorders among older women are offered. An emerging clinical literature suggests various lines of research that are needed to explore the development and treatment of eating disorders in older women.     

The Satisfaction with Sex Life Across the Adult Life Span

Three separate issues concerning the relation between age and satisfaction with sex life are addressed in this article. The first issue was concerned with the age generalizability of the factor structure produced by responses to the Satisfaction with Sex Life Scale (SWSLS). The second issue was to examine whether there were differences in the satisfaction with sex life according to certain background characteristics, namely age. Finally, the relationship between scores on the SWSLS with those on other relational constructs was explored. Data collection involved completion of a questionnaire. The sample consisted of 1,144 participants. The mean ages of the sample were 38.99 years in (SD = 16.91); ages ranged from 20 to 80. The data indicated that the factor structure of responses to the SWSLS were highly similar through adult life. Religious involvement, marital status, and love status influenced satisfaction with sex life. Expected correlations with measures of other relationship constructs were found. The strongest predictor of satisfaction with sex live across the adult life span was love satisfaction. Suggestions concerning the use of the SWSLS for research and clinical purposes are offered.     

Borderline Personality Disorder Across the Life Span

SUMMARY

Borderline personality disorder is characterized by affective dysregulation, intense, unstable interpersonal relationships, impulsivity and unstable identity. It overlaps considerably with both PTSD and bipolar spectrum disorders. Research on true late-life BPD is limited, but suggests that some of the core features of BPD including interpersonal difficulties, unstable affect and anger remain relatively unchanged, while impulsivity and identity disturbance decline or change their mode of expression in late life. Diagnosis of BPD in late life requires flexible application of the standard diagnostic criteria as well as a thorough longitudinal history. The etiology of BPD is best explained as a combination of genetic, neurobiological vulnerability combined with childhood trauma, abuse or neglect that leads to dysregulated emotions, distorted cognitions, social skills deficits, and few adaptive coping strategies. Treatment options include pharmacotherapy (especially mood stabilizers, SSRIs and atypical antipsychotics) and psychotherapeutic interventions that focus on distress tolerance, affective regulation, changing distorted beliefs, and introducing new social and relationship problem-solving skills (especially Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Schema Focused Cognitive Therapy). In late-life care environments, such as nursing homes and other residential facilities, staff need to be empowered to set appropriate limits on problematic behavior while maintaining empathy and validating the painful affect patients often experience.     

A Biodemographic Interpretation of Life Span

The life span of individuals and the life expectancy of the populations they comprise have always been topics of interest to scientists and the lay population. In modern times, forecasts of life span and life expectancy have become particularly important public policy issues because of their influence on the future solvency of age‐entitlement programs. The authors present a brief discussion of the origin of the notion of life span, discuss its relevance and importance in light of recent developments in the emerging field of the biodemography of aging, and explore the theoretical and biological forces that influence the duration of life of sexually reproducing species.     

Quality of Life and Its Influencing Factors Among Centenarians in Nanjing,China: A Cross-Sectional Study

Social Indicators Research - As centenarians are the most vulnerable social group among older adults, their quality of life (QoL) is of great significance for the realization of healthy aging and a...     

Life Style Or Survival Strategy?

At the beginning of the 1990s, less than a half-percent of the Czech agricultural work force were private farmers having persisted through the period of forced collectivization. This tiny social group did not play an economically or socially significant role in Czech society. In the agricultural sector, privatization of the Czech economy after 1989 meant restitution of land to the original owners. State and co-operative farms were transformed either to joint enterprises, i.e. owner-run co-operatives, or to private farms. Initially, there was no great interest in private farming. However, employment opportunities in rural areas are limited. Today, private farmers comprise about 20% of the agricultural work force. Over half of them (54%) have less than one hectare arable land and private farming is not their main source of work income. The rest of the private farmers have different types of holdings ranging from 1 ha to well over 1000 ha. The average size of private holdings of this category is about 32 ha. Return to private farming means a large change of life style for both farmers and their families. Hard competition on the market is reflected in their attitudes and opinions. Of course, life cannot be reduced to solely the economic dimension. Freedom, personal independence, and decision-making responsibility appear as new major life values. Nevertheless, close interdependency of economic and social conditions is strongly felt. This contribution summarizes results of empirical research based on 385 Czech private farmers. Survey participants evaluated positive and negative effects of changes subsequent to 1989 on their economic and social life.     

Does Late Reproduction Extend the Life Span? Findings from European Royalty

Statistical associations between late reproduction and female longevity led to speculations that a late birth increases a mother's life span. The database used here includes all descendants of King George I of England (1660–1727) and his wife, Sophie Dorothea (1666–1726), born in the royal dynasties in Europe up to 1939 (n=1,672). In the era of British world supremacy, these descendants formed the uppermost layer of the European aristocracy, occupying all royal thrones from 1850 onward. Novel in this study is the use of pedigree information. In pairs of ever‐married full sisters (brothers), both surviving to 45 (50) years, both having at least one child, the study examines whether the sibling with the first—or last—child born later in life also lived a longer life. This design controls for genetics, socioeconomic status, parity, social support, child mortality, birth cohort, and various environmental factors. In the 157 pairs of sisters and 191 pairs of brothers, later reproduction did not extend the life span.     

On the Survival of Great Apes and Their Habitat

The nonhuman Great Apes—gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos, and orangutans—are the primates genetically closest to humans, fellow members of the hominid family (hominidae). They share more than 96 percent of human DNA (more than 98 percent for chimpanzees). That relatedness, along with many similarities on such dimensions as intelligence, self‐awareness, social organization, and behavior, has argued for according them a special status among nonhuman animals—even, in the view of some ethicists, for placing them in the same moral community as humans. (One statement of this position, the Declaration on Great Apes, calls for “the extension of the community of equals to include all great apes: human beings, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orang‐utans”—at a minimum with protection of life and liberty and prohibition of deliberate infliction of pain. See « http://www.greatapeproject.org » and « http://www.personhood.org/main/org.html .») Advocates for this status point out that past exclusions of particular human groups from moral consider ability were based on what now are seen as wholly invidious arguments. Extinction would render such debate futile. All great ape populations except humans are in steep decline as a result of loss and fragmentation of their natural habitat (tropical rainforests in Central Africa and Southeast Asia) and in some regions armed poaching and hunting for bushmeat. Bonobos (DR Congo), mountain gorillas (areas bordering Rwanda, Uganda, and DR Congo), and orangutans (Sumatra and Borneo) are especially endangered. Since 2001 conservation efforts have been coordinated by the Great Ape Survival Project (GRASP), which brings together representatives of the 23 countries with great ape populations, the UN Environment Programme, and some NGOs. The first ministerial meeting of GRASP was held in Kinshasa in September 2005. It issued the Kinshasa Declaration on Great Apes. A more operational document that also emerged from Kinshasa was the Global Strategy for the Survival of Great Apes and Their Habitat. An annex to this document, providing information on the present status of great ape populations, is reproduced in part below. (The omitted section describes the conservation activities of various UN bodies.) The Kinshasa meeting materials can be found at « http://www.unep.org/grasp/Meetings/IGMkinshasa/Outcomes/index‐reports.asp ».     

Patterns of Time Use Across the Life Span in Korea: A Latent Class Analysis and Age and Gender Differences

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of time use and the patterns of time use across the life span using a socioemotional selectivity theory. The data used for this study were from the “Korean Time Use Survey,” which is collected every 5 years by Statistics Korea (KOSTAT). The data collected in 1999, 2004, and 2009 were used to analyze the patterns of time use using latent class analyses and to observe the differences of time use by age and gender. The results were summarized as follows: Based on the analyses of nine behavior classifications, after sleep and personal care, Korean allocated more time in daily activities to relationship and leisure time, followed by education, paid work, and household management, with the order differing between each age group and gender. Three different classes of time use were classified at each age group. Education-centered time use was revealed to be mainly in the young, paid work-centered in the middle-aged, and relationship and leisure-centered in older adults. We find significant gender differences. Men’s patterns of time did not change markedly across the 3 years, while women’s patterns have shifted. Meanwhile, in the age 65 and older group, paid work appeared alongside as well as leisure among most prominent activities, were appeared as dominant forms of time use. This phenomenon is closely related to reflecting high rates of elderly poverty in Korea. Further discussions concerning the time use by age and gender were provided and countermeasures for changing time use in later life were discussed.     

On the Sunny Side of Life: Sunshine Effects on Life Satisfaction

This paper seeks to analyze the influence of the weather on a person’s self-reported life satisfaction. On a theoretical level, it is claimed that ‘nice’ weather can improve the affective well-being of a person. Given this, it is argued that affects can, in turn, have an impact on that person’s general assessment of his or her life. In particular, it is expected that people would report a higher life satisfaction on days with unambiguously ‘nice’ weather. Data from three German large-scale surveys are used to test empirically to what extent self-reported life satisfaction is determined by the weather. All in all, the results are mostly consistent with the initial hypothesis. In all three samples those respondents surveyed on days with exceptionally sunny weather reported a higher life satisfaction compared to respondents interviewed on days with ‘ordinary’ weather. In two out of three samples, this difference was statistically significant. Hence, the supposed sunshine effect on peoples’ life satisfaction does indeed exist. Implications of these findings are discussed in a conclusion.     

Life Span Extension in Humans Is Self‐Reinforcing: A General Theory of Longevity

This article proposes that longevity is not merely the result of an absence of mortality but a self‐reinforcing and positively selected life‐history trait in social species. It argues that a small increase in longevity is amplified as (1) reductions in mortality at young ages increase natural selection for mechanisms of maintenance and repair at all older ages as well as increasing the potential for intergenerational transfers; (2) intergenera‐tional transfers of resources from old to young increase fitness (e.g., through improved health, skill, and competitive ability) of the young and thus favor the presence of older individuals in a population; and (3) the division of labor increases both efficiency and innovation at all levels, resulting in increased resources that can be reinvested. This theory is framed around the longevity‐oriented question posed two decades ago by the ger‐ontologist George Sacher, “Why do we live as long as we do?,” rather than the more prevalent question today, “Why do we grow old?” The article describes the foundational principles and the main phases of a model for the evolution of longevity mediated through social organization, and applies the concept specifically to human populations.     

Using Changes in Life Satisfaction and Health to Predict the Survival Status Among Older Men and Women in Taiwan

Despite policies aimed at decreasing old-age income inequality, such as Social Security and Supplemental Security Income, research consistently finds that later-life poverty is highly concentrated among women. While the early-life economic disadvantages of motherhood are well established, little work has examined whether these disadvantages persist into later life. Life course research consistently demonstrates the relationship between early-life choices and later-life inequality, but few studies have examined whether the reproductive phase of a woman's life is associated with her later-life income. Using data from the 2003 wave of the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women cohort, this research examines whether women's age at first birth and parity are associated with her later-life income within the context of marriage. From a set of multivariate analyses, I find that despite a marginal statistically significant effect, substantively for the women in this cohort the effects of childbearing are not particularly consequential for later-life income. The results suggest that as women age the economic penalties associated with motherhood are less important to financial well-being than are other factors.     

The Population of Centenarians in Brazil: Historical Estimates from 1900 to 2000

Since the nineteenth century, the census has provided the number of 100-year-olds in Brazil, one of the most populous countries worldwide. In 1900, 4,438 individuals reported themselves to be centenarians, a figure that increased about fivefold by the 2000 census. However, due to data quality issues, we are skeptical about the real size of the recorded population in the Brazilian census. We offer alternative estimates of the most likely number of centenarians during the twentieth century by combining variable-r relations with different mortality models. Our results indicate there was virtually no centenarian at the beginning of the twentieth century. The population has become larger than 1,000 individuals only in the 1990s, suggesting there has been an extensive, although diminishing, overenumeration of centenarians in the census records. Our results can help policymakers to plan the demands of a growing old age population in places that face stricter family and public budget constraints.     

Religiosity and Life Satisfaction Across the Life Course

Scant attention has been paid to social catalysts of the increase in religiosity in the maturational and aging process. Using the 1988 Gallup Survey, this paper first explores four major measures of religiosity (personal devotion, participation in public ritual, divine interaction, and preference for public or privatized religiosity) for seven age groups. Next, the impact of these religiosity measures on satisfaction with life is assessed for each of the major age categories. In light of these findings, the authors move toward developing a theory of religiosity and life course.     

优良的生存环境是孕育百岁老人的基本条件--兼析南通市长寿现象之由来

本文联系南通市的长寿现象,提出了用宏观眼光分析百岁老人生存环境的必要性,具体阐述了老年人健康长寿的外部环境的基本内涵,指出了今后一个时期影响老年人健康长寿的若干亟待解决的问题.     

Differential Survival in Europe and the United States: Estimates Based on Subjective Probabilities of Survival

Cross-country comparisons of differential survival by socioeconomic status (SES) are useful in many domains. Yet, to date, such studies have been rare. Reliably estimating differential survival in a single country has been challenging because it requires rich panel data with a large sample size. Cross-country estimates have proven even more difficult because the measures of SES need to be comparable internationally. We present an alternative method for acquiring information on differential survival by SES. Rather than using observations of actual survival, we relate individuals’ subjective probabilities of survival to SES variables in cross section. To show that subjective survival probabilities are informative proxies for actual survival when estimating differential survival, we compare estimates of differential survival based on actual survival with estimates based on subjective probabilities of survival for the same sample. The results are remarkably similar. We then use this approach to compare differential survival by SES for 10 European countries and the United States. Wealthier people have higher survival probabilities than those who are less wealthy, but the strength of the association differs across countries. Nations with a smaller gradient appear to be Belgium, France, and Italy, while the United States, England, and Sweden appear to have a larger gradient.     

Life philosophy and Life style

Two categories of values are distinguished by their psychological functions. Life philosophy values secure a person's sense of personal identity; they are held regardless of what anyone else thinks of his value choice. Life style values secure a person's sense of social identity; they are held precisely because of what others think of his value choice. People sometimes run together their legitimate need for securing each of these value domains. The result of this can be an eruption of either a social or personal identity crisis. People have paid especially too little attention to the idea of social identity crisis.     

Is the Good Life the Easy Life?

Three studies examined folk concepts of the good life. Participantsrated the desirability and moral goodness of a life as a function of thehappiness, meaning, and effort experienced. Happiness and meaning weresolid predictors of the good life, replicating King and Napa (1998).Study 1 (N = 381) included wealth as an additional factor. Resultsshowed little desire for exorbitant (over moderate) wealth, but also adesire to avoid poverty. When effort was operationalized as number ofhours worked, respondents desired the easy life, particularly atmoderate levels of income. When effort was operationalized as effortfulengagement (Study 2), 186 undergraduates and 178 community adults ratedthe hardworking life as morally superior to the easy life. Communityadults preferred meaningful lives of ease, while college studentspreferred meaningful lives that involved effort. Study 3 (N = 359) foundthe meaningful, effortful life was rated as most morally good, and thehappy effortful life was rated as most desirable, happy, and meaningful.The role of hard work in naïve notions of The Good Life is discussed.     

The Schooling of Offspring and the Survival of Parents

Contemporary stratification research on developed societies usually views the intergenerational transmission of educational advantage as a one-way effect from parent to child. However, parents’ investment in their offspring’s schooling may yield significant returns for parents themselves in later life. For instance, well-educated offspring have greater knowledge of health and technology to share with their parents and more financial means to provide for them than do their less-educated counterparts. We use data from the 1992–2006 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine whether adult offspring’s educational attainments are associated with parents’ survival in the United States. We show that adult offspring’s educational attainments have independent effects on their parents’ mortality, even after controlling for parents’ own socioeconomic resources. This relationship is more pronounced for deaths that are linked to behavioral factors: most notably, chronic lower respiratory disease and lung cancer. Furthermore, at least part of the association between offspring’s schooling and parents’ survival may be explained by parents’ health behaviors, including smoking and physical activity. These findings suggest that one way to influence the health of the elderly is through their offspring. To harness the full value of schooling for health, then, a family and multigenerational perspective is needed.