Late-life decline in well-being across adulthood in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States: Something is seriously wrong at the end of life.
Throughout adulthood and old age, levels of well-being appear to remain relatively stable. However, evidence is emerging that late in life well-being declines considerably. Using long-term longitudinal data of deceased participants in national samples from Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, we examined how long this period lasts. In all 3 nations and across the adult age range, well-being was relatively stable over age but declined rapidly with impending death. Articulating notions of terminal decline associated with impending death, we identified prototypical transition points in each study between 3 and 5 years prior to death, after which normative rates of decline steepened by a factor of 3 or more. The findings suggest that mortality-related mechanisms drive late-life changes in well-being and highlight the need for further refinement of psychological concepts about how and when late-life declines in psychosocial functioning prototypically begin. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).
Gerstorf
Denis
D
Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. gerstorf@psu.edu
Ram
Nilam
N
Mayraz
Guy
G
Hidajat
Mira
M
Lindenberger
Ulman
U
Wagner
Gert G
GG
Schupp
Jürgen
J
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult