Profiles of psychological functioning in the old and oldest old.
Cluster analysis was applied to 12 measures of intellectual, personality, self-related, and social functioning collected in the 1st cross-sectional wave of the Berlin Aging Study (BASE; N = 516). Central questions concerned the number, profile desirability (functional status), and the membership of the subgroups obtained. Of the 9 subgroups extracted, 4 reflected different patterns of desirable functioning (47% of the sample), and 5 reflected less desirable functioning (53%). Relative risk of a less desirable profile was 2.5 times higher for the oldest old (85-103 years) than for people between the ages of 70-84 years and was 1.25 times higher for women compared with men. Relationships with education, health, and mortality suggested underlying systemic differences. Consistent with theoretical propositions about a "4th age" and the incomplete architecture of life span development (P.B. Baltes, 1997) the oldest old appear to have a distinct and less desirable psychological profile.
Smith
J
J
Center for Psychology and Human Development, Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education, Berlin, Germany. smith@mpib-berlin.mpg.de
Baltes
P B
PB
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001604:Berlin; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D012649:Self Concept; D012737:Sex Factors; D012917:Social Adjustment; D014505:Urban Population