{"title":"Social Support, Social Strain, and Self-Perceptions of Aging.","authors":"Gina Lee, William Chopik","doi":"10.1177/01640275251352829","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The current study examined changes and variation in self-perceptions of aging (SPA) and how these perceptions vary according to sources of support and strain from spouses, children, family, and friends. We used random intercept cross-lagged panel models to model within-person changes in SPA and support/strain over twelve years (2008-2020) among 22,160 older adults from the Health and Retirement Study. There was a bidirectional, positive association between spousal support and SPA. More positive SPA was associated with lower spousal strain, though spousal strain did not affect SPA. Surprisingly, higher strain from other family members and friends was associated with more positive SPA; support from these sources did not affect SPA. Lastly, child support and strain were unrelated to SPA. These findings highlight the complex interactions between social relationships and aging perceptions. Future studies should explore cognitive, psychological, or physiological mechanisms and outcomes underlying each relational contributor of SPA.</p>","PeriodicalId":47983,"journal":{"name":"Research on Aging","volume":" ","pages":"1640275251352829"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Research on Aging","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/01640275251352829","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"GERONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The current study examined changes and variation in self-perceptions of aging (SPA) and how these perceptions vary according to sources of support and strain from spouses, children, family, and friends. We used random intercept cross-lagged panel models to model within-person changes in SPA and support/strain over twelve years (2008-2020) among 22,160 older adults from the Health and Retirement Study. There was a bidirectional, positive association between spousal support and SPA. More positive SPA was associated with lower spousal strain, though spousal strain did not affect SPA. Surprisingly, higher strain from other family members and friends was associated with more positive SPA; support from these sources did not affect SPA. Lastly, child support and strain were unrelated to SPA. These findings highlight the complex interactions between social relationships and aging perceptions. Future studies should explore cognitive, psychological, or physiological mechanisms and outcomes underlying each relational contributor of SPA.
期刊介绍:
Research on Aging is an interdisciplinary journal designed to reflect the expanding role of research in the field of social gerontology. Research on Aging exists to provide for publication of research in the broad range of disciplines concerned with aging. Scholars from the disciplines of sociology, geriatrics, history, psychology, anthropology, public health, economics, political science, criminal justice, and social work are encouraged to contribute articles to the journal. Emphasis will be on materials of broad scope and cross-disciplinary interest. Assessment of the current state of knowledge is as important as provision of an outlet for new knowledge, so critical and review articles are welcomed. Systematic attention to particular topics will also be featured.