Department of Sociology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Aging Ment Health. 2012;16(1):67-74. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2011.596811. Epub 2011 Jul 25.
Mental health is more than the absence of psychopathology, but few studies use positive mental health along with a measure of past year major depressive episode (MDE). This study addresses this gap by investigating the association of MDE and flourishing mental health (FMH) with chronological age and subjective (felt and ideal) age. Data are from the Midlife in the United States random digit dialing sample of adults ages 25 to 74, collected in 1995 (n = 3032). Rates of MDE were lowest, and FMH highest, among the three oldest age cohorts (45-54, 55-64, 65-74 years). Subjective age was linked with chronological age; with age, adults tend to feel younger, and want to be an age that is younger, than their actual age. As predicted by the model of subjective age as an adaptive strategy, feeling younger was related to a lower risk of MDE and a higher risk of FMH. However, wanting to be younger was related to a lower risk of FMH and unrelated to MDE.
心理健康不仅仅是没有精神病理学，但是很少有研究将积极的心理健康与过去一年的重度抑郁发作（MDE）的测量结合起来。本研究通过调查 MDE 和蓬勃发展的心理健康（FMH）与实际年龄和主观（感觉和理想）年龄的关系来弥补这一空白。数据来自美国中年的随机数字拨号样本，年龄在 25 至 74 岁之间，于 1995 年收集（n=3032）。在三个最年长的年龄组（45-54、55-64、65-74 岁）中，MDE 的发生率最低，FMH 的发生率最高。主观年龄与实际年龄相关；随着年龄的增长，成年人往往会感觉更年轻，并希望自己的年龄比实际年龄年轻。正如主观年龄作为一种适应策略的模型所预测的那样，感觉更年轻与 MDE 的风险降低和 FMH 的风险增加有关。然而，想要更年轻与 FMH 的风险降低有关，与 MDE 无关。
