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With Age Comes Peace, Calm, Study Shows
St. Petersburg Times
May 27, 2008
Aging brings a sense of peace and calm, according to a study released this month may by the Population Research Center at the University of Texas.
Starting at about age 60, participants reported more feelings of ease and contentment than their younger counterparts.
The research was funded in part by the National Institute on Aging.
The findings reveal aging is associated with more positive than negative emotions, and more passive than active emotions, said sociology professor Catherine Ross.
Previous research on emotions associated with aging focused on negative emotions, such as depression. However, a second dimension underlying emotions is an active versus passive factor, which may be important in explaining how emotions shift as people age.
"The passive/positive combination reveals that contentment, calm and ease are some of the most common emotions people feel as they age," Ross said.
"Emotions that are both active and negative, such as anxiety and anger, are especially unlikely among the elderly."
The study examined 1,450 responses to a national survey. Findings reveal women had more negative than positive emotions, and more passive than active emotions than did men.
Also, participants with higher income and education levels had significantly more positive emotions than those with lower income and education levels.
Education may delay cognitive loss
Those with at least a high school education spend more of their older years without cognitive loss, including the effects of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and dementia, according to a study just released.
But these more-educated people die sooner after the cognitive loss becomes apparent, the same study reveals.
"Those with more education may process tasks more efficiently or use other compensatory mechanisms that delay cognitive impairment or delay our ability to detect impairment," said professor Eileen Crimmins of the Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California.
Crimmins and her co-authors tracked more than 7,000 people over the age of 70 for seven years. The researchers reported finding that a 70-year-old person with at least 12 years of education can expect:
- To live 14.1 more years without cognitive impairment and 2.5 years longer than 70-year-olds with fewer than 12 years of education.
- To spend one year of remaining life with impairment - or about seven months less than a person with fewer years of education.
- Those with more education also appeared to exhibit more severe cognitive impairment, which may include memory loss, loss of language or disorientation, and to be in worse health, the researchers found.
"Surprisingly, the risk of dying among those with cognitive impairment is generally higher for the more-educated than for the low-education group," Crimmins said.
The research was supported by the National Institute of Aging, the Institute for Longevity and Aging and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Health & Society Scholars Program.
Adult volunteers sought to mentor children.
The nonprofit Gulf Coast Community Care needs older adults for its child-mentoring program.
These volunteers spend a few hours a week in activities such as reading, fishing, baking, teaching a craft or visiting a park with a child.
The adults are matched with children from single-parent homes. There is a special need for volunteers to work with children ages 10 to 14.
The volunteer is provided social events to attend with the child and also receives support by agency staff. No experience is necessary, and there is no financial cost. There are 70 children throughout Pinellas County who are waiting for mentors.
To learn more, call Beverly at (727) 479-1841.
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