European Journal of Ageing最新文献

With climate change and population aging, it has become important to motivate older adults to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. Compared with younger adults, older adults may have lower ecological risk perceptions (perceived personal harm and worry) and higher social generativity (concern for future generations). The former may make them less likely, while the latter may make them more likely, to engage in pro-environmental behaviors. This study examined age-related pro-environmental behaviors when these two factors worked together. A survey was conducted among 235 older (Mage = 70.64, age range 64-93) and 238 younger adults (Mage = 25.91, age range 19-37) in Hong Kong, a subtropical city facing increasing temperatures. Despite no significant age differences in ecological risk perceptions, older adults reported greater recycling, political support, consumption-related pro-environmental behaviors, and higher social generativity compared to younger adults. Younger adults exhibited the same level of pro-environmental behaviors as older adults did at higher levels of social generativity. When asked why they engaged in pro-environmental behaviors, older adults reported more pro-environmental, habitual, and norm-conforming reasons, while younger adults reported more monetary reasons. These findings suggest that although older adults do not perceive higher ecological risks, they may engage in more pro-environmental actions for the sake of future generations. Implications for future studies and practices were discussed.

Personality traits (PTs) such as openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism reflect individuals' differences in thinking, feeling, and behaving. This study explores the association between these PTs and individuals' commitment to end-of-life (EoL) planning. Understanding this association can provide valuable insights for professionals and family members, helping them effectively motivate individuals to engage in EoL planning, thereby contributing to an improved quality of life in the last stage. Using data from a self-completion questionnaire (n = 1,524) of SHARE Switzerland, this study employs logistic regression to explore the relationship between PTs measured by the Big Five Inventory Ten (BFI-10) and EoL planning attitudes and behaviours measured by well-established indicators: contemplating death, discussing one's EoL preferences, organizing legal matters concerning EoL such as writing a testament and durable powers of attorney, designating a healthcare proxy, and completing a living will in case of potential future incapacity. Older adults with higher levels of openness think about and discuss EoL matters more frequently than individuals with lower levels of openness. They are also more likely to have a testament and a durable power of attorney. Older adults with higher levels of extraversion are more likely to have a testament, while participants scoring higher in neuroticism tend to ponder their EoL wishes more frequently. PTs' contribution to participation in EoL planning appears to be relatively limited. Therefore, it is unlikely that PTs pose substantial impediments to engaging in comprehensive EoL planning, which can be promoted among individuals irrespective of their specific PTs.

Despite the critical importance of COVID-19 vaccination for older adults, vaccine hesitancy has been observed within this population. At the same time, internet use among older adults has increased substantially, making it important to understand how digital engagement shapes access to vaccination-related information. This study examines the associations between internet usage, self-estimated level of internet knowledge, and mistrust in online information with COVID-19 vaccination uptake and hesitancy among adults aged 60 + in Switzerland during the pandemic. The analytical sample includes 986 Swiss respondents from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Corona Questionnaire 2 (2021). The associations in this article were estimated using probit regressions, controlling for socio-demographic, health, and regional characteristics. The findings reveal a higher likelihood of vaccination among older adults who use the internet as a source of information on COVID-19 and related regulations. Additionally, respondents with greater confidence in their internet knowledge are more inclined to get vaccinated. Conversely, those who find it challenging to differentiate between truthful and misleading information online are less likely to choose vaccination. Our findings highlight the potentially crucial role of internet use and digital literacy in shaping COVID-19 vaccination behavior among older adults in Switzerland. Promoting digital literacy and enhancing trust in reliable online health information could be key strategies to reduce vaccination hesitancy in this population. Addressing concerns about misinformation is also essential for improving vaccination uptake.

Socioeconomic inequalities may act on affective and cognitive health from early life through later life. This study tested to what extent the association of childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) with later-life cognitive ageing is explained by life course accumulative affective problems. We used data from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (n = 1,593; 52.6% women). Cognitive ageing was assessed through a battery of neuropsychological tests. Later-life cognitive function was assessed at age 69, and cognitive decline was measured across ages 53, 60-64, and 69. Childhood SEP was derived from overcrowding, essential household amenities, housing condition, and paternal occupation. Affective problems measured at ages 13-64 were categorized into case-level thresholds (never/once/twice or more). Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses and causal mediation models tested associations between childhood SEP, affective problems, and later-life cognitive ageing. Low childhood SEP was associated with lower scores on later-life (age 69) verbal memory (B = - 1.87[- 2.48; - 1.25]), letter search speed (B = - 9.98[- 17.57; - 2.40]), letter search accuracy (B = - 0.90[- 1.44; - 0.37]), cognitive state (B = - 2.14[- 2.82; - 1.46]), and accelerated decline (between ages 53-69) in letter search accuracy (B = 0.82[0.17; 1.46]), but slower decline in verbal memory (B = - 0.27[- 0.51; - 0.00]) compared to high childhood SEP. Low childhood SEP was associated with life course affective problems once (OR = 1.37[1.09; 1.73]) and twice or more (OR = 1.32[1.01; 1.71]). The association between childhood SEP and later-life letter search accuracy was partly explained (6.3%) by incidental affective problems. In conclusion, although improving affective health across the life course may enhance later-life cognitive ageing, it could only marginally explain the association between childhood SEP and later-life cognitive ageing.

Age discrimination at work is negatively associated with older workers' labour market attachment. High levels of social capital between colleagues (horizontal social capital) and between employees and management (vertical social capital) may prevent age discrimination.

Methods: We examined the prospective association between social capital at work and perceived age discrimination among 7640 workers aged 50 years or older participating in two waves of the Danish SeniorWorkingLife cohort study.

Results: Low levels of vertical (risk ratio 3.51 (95% CI: 2.66-4.62)) and horizontal (risk ratio 2.70 (95% CI: 2.04-3.56)) social capital at baseline increased the risk of reporting age discrimination in the labour market at follow-up compared to high levels of social capital.

Conclusion: The study contributes knowledge that low levels of social capital is associated with increased risk of experiencing age discrimination in the labour market. The results indicate that measures to enhance the social capital in the workplace may help prevent age discrimination and thereby contribute to prolonging working lives of older workers.

The present study examines the association between (multiple) physical and psychosocial work demands and the preference for early retirement among older German employees. The analyses are based on data from five waves (2015-2023) of the BAuA-Working Time Survey, including 32,686 person-year observations. The dependent variable is a binary indicator reflecting preference for early retirement versus statutory or later retirement. Cross-sectional analyses apply linear probability models (LPM) per wave, while longitudinal effects are assessed using pooled OLS (POLS), random-effects (RE), and fixed-effects (FE) estimators. Robustness checks include controls for health and job satisfaction.Cross-sectional models show positive and mostly significant associations between both physical and psychosocial work demands with early retirement preference. Psychosocial demands, particularly workload pressure and emotional demands, are consistently strong predictors. In longitudinal FE analysis, multiple psychosocial work demands remain meaningful and significant.The findings underscore the importance of multiple simultaneous psychosocial job demands, rather than only focusing on isolated working conditions, in shaping early retirement preferences. Despite modest coefficient sizes, these results based on retirement intentions (not actual exit decisions) highlight the necessity of a life-course perspective and targeted interventions to promote sustainable working lives.

The death of a spouse is a major life event, commonly experienced in later adulthood. While existing research suggests that widowhood may reduce the provision of grandchild care, most studies have relied on cross-sectional comparisons between widowed and non-widowed individuals. In this study, we use longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE; n = 27,467) to examine how changes in partnership status are associated with grandparental caregiving over time. Using panel fixed effects regression models, we find that widowhood significantly decreases grandchild care provision among grandfathers but not among grandmothers. For grandfathers, grandchild care declines by approximately 13 days per year shortly after widowhood, 19 days 2 years after, and 16 days 4 years after, relative to pre-widowhood levels. In contrast, the effects for grandmothers are small and statistically non-significant. These findings suggest that in contemporary Europe, grandfathers substantially reduce their caregiving involvement following the loss of a spouse, whereas grandmothers' provision of grandchild care remains largely resilient to widowhood.

Social variables have been associated with health status, especially in older people. However, it is unknown how loneliness and social isolation are differentially associated with physical and mental components of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We aimed to examine this association, overall and by sex. We used data obtained from 1808 community-dwelling individuals older than 65 years participating in the Seniors-ENRICA 2 cohort. Baseline phase was conducted between December 2015 and June 2017, and then a two-year follow-up period was considered. Loneliness was assessed using the three-item UCLA Loneliness Scale, while social isolation was measured using a four-component index, which included contact with family members and friends. HRQoL was assessed with the SF-12 questionnaire, using its physical and mental components. Multivariable linear regression models were used in the overall sample and stratified by sex. Higher scores in loneliness were associated with a decrease in the physical HRQoL [Coef. =  - 0.31, 95% confidence interval = (- 0.60, - 0.01), p = 0.042] and mental HRQoL [- 0.76 (- 1.11, - 0.43), p < 0.001]. There was no significant association between social isolation and HRQoL. The association between loneliness and the physical HRQoL was different by sex (p for interaction term = 0.028), and higher levels of loneliness were related to lower physical HRQoL scores only in women [- 0.53 (- 0.92, - 0.14), p = 0.007]. Loneliness had an independent association with HRQoL. This relationship seems to be stronger in women, which highlights the importance of a sex perspective in interventions to improve the HRQoL.

This study examines the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on loneliness among adults aged 65 and over across 27 European countries, focusing on gender differences and the role of government-imposed containment measures. Using longitudinal data from four waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), pre-pandemic (Wave 8), two SHARE Corona surveys (2020-2021), and post-pandemic (Wave 9), the analyses include 49,351 observations from 15,497 individuals. Logistic growth curve models (wave-individual-country) were estimated to assess changes in loneliness across pandemic periods and to explore how gender and policy stringency shaped these patterns. The results show that loneliness increased significantly during the second COVID-19 phases and remained elevated in the post-pandemic period compared with pre-pandemic levels, indicating a sustained rise in emotional vulnerability among older adults, especially for women. Higher policy stringency was associated with greater loneliness, following a curvilinear pattern: Loneliness rose with increasing restriction levels but leveled off and declined at the highest stringency levels. Interaction analyses showed that women were more sensitive to increases in policy stringency. The findings underscore the persistent and gendered effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on loneliness among Europe's older population. Public health and social policy interventions should adopt gender-sensitive and context-aware approaches to reduce loneliness and enhance resilience during and after large-scale crises.