Department of Sociology, Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, Florida State University, Tallahassee.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2020 Feb 14;75(3):625-629. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gby085.
Although changes in body functioning and appearance signal the aging process to ourselves and others, studies give limited attention to the effect of bodily experiences of aging on age identity. Our study examines the effect on age identity of 3 categories of aging body reminders: everyday body problems, body repairs, and body aids.
Hierarchical linear models are run using 5 waves of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (2011-2015). Models predict the effect on age identity of change in the count of everyday body problems (e.g., pain), body repairs (i.e., surgeries and medications), and body aids (e.g., hearing aids).
Increases in everyday body problems and body repairs (in particular, medications) predict older identities, with the strongest average effect found for everyday body problems. These results are observed in models controlling on health, suggesting that body reminders exert independent effects.
Our study reveals a realm of aging experiences-bodily experiences-that influence age identity. Avenues for further research include examinations of other aging body reminders, as well as variation across individuals.
尽管身体机能和外貌的变化向我们自己和他人发出了衰老的信号，但研究对身体衰老体验对年龄认同的影响关注有限。我们的研究考察了 3 类衰老身体提示对年龄认同的影响：日常身体问题、身体修复和身体辅助。
使用国家健康老龄化趋势研究（2011-2015 年）的 5 个波次运行分层线性模型。模型预测日常身体问题（如疼痛）、身体修复（即手术和药物）和身体辅助（如助听器）数量变化对年龄认同的影响。
日常身体问题和身体修复（尤其是药物）的增加预示着更老的身份，日常身体问题的平均影响最大。在控制健康状况的模型中观察到这些结果，表明身体提示产生了独立的影响。
我们的研究揭示了一个影响年龄认同的衰老体验领域——身体体验。进一步研究的途径包括检查其他衰老的身体提示，以及个体之间的差异。
