College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.
Aging Ment Health. 2022 Jun;26(6):1189-1197. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2021.1893269. Epub 2021 Mar 6.
How people adjust their goals is central to adaptation across the lifespan. However, little is known about individual difference characteristics that predict how and why people use different self-regulatory strategies. The present study investigated associations of perceived age-related gains and losses, and their interaction, as predictors of goal adjustment in older adulthood. Furthermore, we examined whether future time perspective (FTP) mediated relationships between awareness of age-related change (AARC) and goal adjustment.
A community-based sample of 408 adults (aged 60-88 years) was recruited via an internet-based research platform. Participants completed questionnaire measures of AARC, FTP, goal disengagement, and goal re-engagement. A flexibility index reflecting tendencies toward use of both goal disengagement and goal re-engagement strategies was also analyzed.
Although AARC-losses was associated with lower goal re-engagement and goal flexibility, this association was weaker among those with higher AARC-gains, indicating AARC-gains may be protective in the relationship between AARC-losses and goal adjustment. The association between AARC and goal adjustment was also shown to be mediated by FTP. Higher AARC-gains was associated with more expansive FTP, which was associated with lower goal disengagement and higher goal re-engagement. On the other hand, higher AARC-losses was associated with more restricted FTP, which was associated with higher goal disengagement and lower goal re-engagement.
Results have implications for how we conceptualize the combined effects of age-related gains and losses on developmental outcomes relevant to adaptive aging. Furthermore, perceptions of future time with advancing age may be implicated in processes linking AARC with goal adjustment.
人们如何调整目标是贯穿整个生命周期适应的核心。然而，人们对预测个人差异特征知之甚少，这些特征可以预测人们为什么以及如何使用不同的自我调节策略。本研究调查了感知到的与年龄相关的得失及其相互作用，作为预测老年人目标调整的因素。此外，我们还研究了未来时间透视（FTP）是否在与年龄相关的变化意识（AARC）和目标调整之间的关系中起中介作用。
通过互联网研究平台招募了一个基于社区的 408 名成年人（年龄在 60-88 岁之间）样本。参与者完成了 AARC、FTP、目标脱离和目标重新参与的问卷测量。还分析了反映同时使用目标脱离和目标重新参与策略的倾向的灵活性指数。
尽管 AARC 损失与较低的目标重新参与和目标灵活性相关，但在 AARC 增益较高的人群中，这种相关性较弱，表明 AARC 增益可能在 AARC 损失与目标调整之间的关系中具有保护作用。AARC 与目标调整之间的关系也被证明是由 FTP 介导的。较高的 AARC 增益与更广阔的 FTP 相关，这与较低的目标脱离和较高的目标重新参与相关。另一方面，较高的 AARC 损失与更受限的 FTP 相关，这与较高的目标脱离和较低的目标重新参与相关。
结果对我们如何概念化与适应性衰老相关的发展结果的年龄相关收益和损失的综合影响具有启示意义。此外，随着年龄的增长对未来时间的感知可能与 AARC 与目标调整之间的关系有关。
