The effect of control beliefs on the relationship between daily stressors and subjective age in younger adults

Experiencing stress can be associated with feeling and looking older. The goal of this study was to examine daily fluctuations in control beliefs as a potential moderator of the relationship between daily stressors and two indicators of subjective aging in younger adults. Data were collected from 107 younger adults between the ages of 18 and 36 (M = 19.96) who completed an online questionnaire via Qualtrics daily for 9 consecutive days. On Day 1, participants reported demographic information and on Days 2–9, participants reported their daily subjective ages (how old they felt and how old they looked), daily stressors, and perceptions of daily control beliefs. Results from multilevel models revealed that increases in daily stressors were associated with increases in both felt and look age. Although there was no main effect of control beliefs, control beliefs did function as a moderator of the relationship between daily stressors and felt age as well as between daily stressors and look age. Specifically, the aging effect of daily stressors was not significant on days with increases in control beliefs. These results suggest that young adults feel and look older on days when they experience higher levels of stressors and that increases in perceptions of control help to mitigate this effect.