title: Modeling late-life adaptation in affective well-being under a severe chronic health condition: the case of age-related macular degeneration.
abstract: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was used as a case model to longitudinally study adaptation in affective well-being under a prevalent chronic health condition. Measures of positive and negative affect, obtained at 5 subsequent measurement occasions with 3-month intervals in between, were analyzed in 90 older adults diagnosed with AMD. The authors proposed a pattern of adaptation that shows initial decline in affective well-being after disease outbreak, followed by a turnaround into a restorative phase of increase, implying nonlinear intraindividual trajectories, with changes substantially related to disease duration. Analysis was conducted by means of a nonlinear mixed models approach. Results confirmed the hypothesized adaptation pattern for positive affect but not for negative affect, which was found more stable across measurement occasions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Aging Research, Institute of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. oliver.schilling@psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Oliver K
authors.initials: OK
authors.lastname: Schilling
authors.forename: Hans-Werner
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Wahl
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000339:Affect; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index