Department of Human Development and Family Studies & the Gerontology Program, Iowa State University, Ames, USA.
Aging Ment Health. 2011 Apr;15(3):385-96. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2010.519327.
Affect and loneliness are important indicators of mental health and well-being in older adulthood and are linked to significant outcomes including physical health and mortality. Given a large focus on young-old adults within gerontological research, the primary aim of this study was to examine the ability of individual and social resources in predicting affect and loneliness within a sample of oldest-old individuals including centenarians, an understudied population.
Participants were assessed during the most recent cross-sectional data collection of the Georgia Centenarian Study. The eligible sample included 55 octogenarians (M = 83.70 years, SD = 2.68; range = 81-90) and 77 centenarians (M = 99.78 years, SD = 1.64; range = 98-109). Subjects scored 17 or greater on the Mini-Mental Status Exam and completed mental health assessments.
Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the relation of affect and loneliness with demographic characteristics, physical and social functioning, cognition, and personality. Within this sample of cognitively intact oldest old, measures of executive control and cognitive functioning demonstrated limited association with mental health. Personality, specifically neuroticism, was strongly related to mental health indicators for both age groups and social relations were particularly important associates of centenarians' mental health.
Findings indicate the distinctiveness of mental health indicators and the need to distinguish differential roles of individual and social resources in determining these outcomes among octogenarians and centenarians.
情感和孤独感是老年期心理健康和幸福感的重要指标，与包括身体健康和死亡率在内的重要结果相关。鉴于老年学研究中对年轻老年人的高度关注，本研究的主要目的是检验个体和社会资源在预测包括百岁老人在内的最年长老年人的情感和孤独感方面的能力，百岁老人是一个研究不足的群体。
参与者在乔治亚州百岁老人研究的最近一次横断面数据收集期间接受评估。合格的样本包括 55 名 80 多岁的老年人（M=83.70 岁，SD=2.68；范围为 81-90）和 77 名百岁老人（M=99.78 岁，SD=1.64；范围为 98-109）。受试者在迷你精神状态检查中得分达到 17 分或以上，并完成了心理健康评估。
进行了层次回归分析，以检验情感和孤独感与人口统计学特征、身体和社会功能、认知和个性的关系。在这个认知健全的最年长老年人样本中，执行控制和认知功能的测量与心理健康的关联有限。个性，特别是神经质，与两个年龄组的心理健康指标密切相关，社会关系是百岁老人心理健康的重要相关因素。
研究结果表明，心理健康指标具有独特性，需要区分个体和社会资源在确定 80 多岁和百岁老人的这些结果方面的不同作用。
