Trait negative affect relates to prior-week symptoms, but not to reports of illness episodes, illness symptoms, and care seeking among older persons.
OBJECTIVE
Use the commonsense model of self-regulation to generate and test hypotheses about the relationships of trait negative affect (NA) and self-assessed health (SAH) to reports of current symptoms (acute and chronic), episodes of illness, and use of health care during illness in a sample of elderly, community-dwelling respondents. Trait NA and SAH were compared with the properties of the illness episodes in models predicting the use of medical care.


METHODS
Data were obtained from two successive annual interviews (N = 790 and 719, respectively) conducted with elderly respondents (mean age = 73 years).


RESULTS
Both NA and SAH correlated (positively and negatively, respectively) with reports of prior-week acute and chronic symptoms at each of the two interviews. Trait NA and SAH also predicted changes in prior-week symptoms 1 year later. Neither trait NA nor SAH was related to reports of acute illness episodes, but each showed a very small relationship to reports of chronic illness episodes. Neither trait NA nor SAH predicted the average number of symptoms reported during acute or chronic episodes. The use of medical care during acute and chronic illness episodes was related to the properties of the episode: reported duration, novelty, and severity. Neither NA nor SAH predicted use of care for acute episodes; SAH was related to use of care for chronic episodes. Worry about the illness episode, but not trait NA, was related to care seeking for participants interviewed during a chronic episode.


CONCLUSIONS
Trait NA does not bias elderly adults' reports of symptoms, illness episodes, symptom reports for episodes, or the use of health care. Both NA and SAH reflect independent sources of common sense and self-knowledge, and each contributes valid information about the elderly individuals' perceptions of their somatic states.
Mora
Pablo A
PA
Institute for Health and Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1293, USA.
Robitaille
Chantal
C
Leventhal
Howard
H
Swigar
Mary
M
Leventhal
Elaine A
EA
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000339:Affect; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009515:New Jersey; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012803:Sick Role; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000523:psychology*