title: Fewer ups and downs: daily stressors mediate age differences in negative affect.
abstract: The current study examined age differences in daily stressors, positive events (uplifts), and their associations with emotional experience among healthy older women. Women (N = 101, 63-93 years old) reported their daily experiences across 1 week. Older age was related to fewer stressors and less frequent negative affect. However, the association between negative affect and age was no longer significant after accounting for the occurrence of daily stressors. Older age was not significantly related to positive affect, although positive uplifts were reported less frequently with age. Findings provide a contextual explanation for emotional experience in very late life, where reduced exposure to stressors partially explains age-related reductions in negative affect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, 3340 Social Ecology II, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-7085, USA. scharles@uci.edu
authors.forename: Susan Turk
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Luong
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ryff
authors.forename: Maggie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sturm
authors.forename: Gayle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Love
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D055500:Resilience, Psychological