A study of 1,315 men from the “Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study” with ages ranging from 53 to 85 found a tendency for aging men to fall into three categories.
One group tended to remain relatively happy until they reached age 65 to 70, and then matters turned worse. The reasons pointed to ill health, cognitive decline, or the loss of a spouse or close friends. Hassles they encounter from their early 50s on tended to decline until they reached about 65 to 70 years of age, and then their troubles rose.
Carol Aldwin, a gerontology professor at the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University and the lead author of the study, said, “In general, life gets better as you age in the sense that older adults on average have fewer hassles and respond to them better than younger adults.
“But once you turn 70, how you react to these hassles changes and may depend on your resources or your situation in life.”
The study attempted to take a new look at emotional reactions of older adults and to evaluate whether three previously but contradictory models of aging have validity. One of these models is called The Hedonic Treadmill Model. It suggests that a condition of happiness or unhappiness a person experiences is relatively steady throughout a person’s life. A second theory says that, in general, things get better as you age. A third theory states that your life will “spiral downhill rapidly” when you turn age 80. The new study, with contributions from researchers at Boston University, found indications of all three models, depending on whether you looked at downturns or uplifts in the ages of the men.
How men assess their own uplifted spirits was stable, the researchers say, supporting The Hedonic Treadmill theory. But how they assessed the hassles depended on their age. Appraisals of their condition improved through their 60s. But then they started to become more severe in their 70s.
Professor Aldwin said that some men respond more intensely to life’s ups and downs than do others. But the perception and intensity of various events vary dramatically among individuals. “We found that among 80 percent of the men in the study, the hassles or problems they faced from their early 50s on seemed to decline until they reached 65-70 years of age. Then they rose,” according to Professor Aldwin.
Aldwin pointed out, “Conversely, about 20 percent of the men perceived experiencing more uplifting events until they reached 65-70 and then they began to decline.”
Perceptions of the men regarding events of their lives that were large and small, positive and negative, were studied. Aldwin said that self-regulation – or how they respond to these events – varied.
Some older people find sources of happiness in their later years in spite of dealing with family losses, declining health, or other lack of resources, Aldwin said.
“You may lose a parent, but gain a grandchild. The kids may leave the house, but you bask in their accomplishments as adults. You find value in gardening, volunteering, caregiving, or civic involvement.” Aldwin said that aging is neither exclusively rosy or depressing. How you react to the hassles and uplifts as a 55-60 year old may change as you enter what researchers call the fourth age from 75-100 based on your perceptions and/or life experiences.
Who falls into these various groups and why can begin to tell us who will ultimately likely be happy late in life or who may not, Aldwin said. “Once we find that out, we can begin interventions.”
The researchers on the study included Yu-Jin Jeong and Heidi Igarashi, who are at OSU. Avron Spiro III of Boston University also was involved in the study. They hope to expand their research beyond the limited sample and examine the mental health outlook for aging women, minorities, and others with various economic and health backgrounds.
Tait Trussell is an old guy and fourth-generation professional journalist who writes extensively about aging issues among a myriad of diverse topics.