European Journal of Ageing最新文献

{"title":"Predictors of self-rated health in older adults: insights from an anchoring vignettes study.","authors":"Karolina Thune, Hanna Falk Erhag, Anne Ingeborg Berg, Lena Johansson, Maria Solevid","doi":"10.1007/s10433-026-00952-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10433-026-00952-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Self-rated health is one of the most used measures of subjective health in research. At the same time, it presents several methodological challenges. Self-rated health requires individuals to translate their complex, multifaceted health experiences into a single response on the self-rated health scale. When different groups interpret and rate their health differently e.g. by gender or birth cohorts, the risk of misinterpretation increases. Older adults tend to rate their health as good or very good despite the increasing physical degeneration associated with ageing. To address these challenges, the anchoring vignette method was developed to improve the comparability of survey responses. In this study, anchoring vignettes were used to investigate the association between demographic and health-related predictors and both unadjusted and adjusted self-rated health in later life. Data were collected through the Swedish Citizen Panel; a total of 4,300 individuals aged 60-85 were invited, stratified by age and sex. 3,083 participants completed more than 80% of the questionnaire. The associations between demographic and health-related factors and self-rated health changed between the unadjusted and adjusted analyses. In the unadjusted analysis, women reported better health than men; this reversed in the CHOPIT model. After adjustment, there was no significant association between self-rated health and age or educational level. Living with others remained positively associated with self-rated health, whereas dependency in daily activities, number of diseases, and somatic symptoms remained negatively associated. We conclude that anchoring vignettes can be a suitable tool for evaluating self-rated health in later life and a valuable addition to simpler, traditional approaches.</p>","PeriodicalId":47766,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ageing","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642853/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149116751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How perceiving pace of social change affects loneliness: psychological obsolescence as predictor for loneliness in late-life sample.","authors":"Nora M Degen, Frieder R Lang","doi":"10.1007/s10433-026-00951-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10433-026-00951-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A specific challenge of later life relates to the perceived pace of social change (i.e., psychological obsolescence), which may contribute to enhanced feelings of loneliness. In a 2-year longitudinal study with two measurement occasions (i.e., 2021 and 2023), data were collected from N = 818 adults aged 75 years and older (M = 80.99, SD = 4.07, range = 75-95 years). Participants were recruited from an urban area in southern Germany. A baseline-adjusted autoregressive path model was used to examine the concurrent association of psychological obsolescence with baseline loneliness and its prospective association with follow-up loneliness, accounting for baseline loneliness. Loneliness was assessed using the 6-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale and modeled as a manifest variable. Perceived obsolescence was significantly associated with baseline loneliness, with higher loneliness observed among individuals reporting greater psychological obsolescence. At follow-up, psychological obsolescence also showed a significant prospective association with loneliness after accounting for baseline loneliness. Over the two-year period, loneliness demonstrated substantial temporal stability. Among the covariates, being socially isolated and not being in a partnership were associated with higher follow-up loneliness. Overall, the findings suggest that, in later life, perceiving oneself as out of touch with the times is associated with higher loneliness both concurrently and prospectively, beyond the effects of prior loneliness and other established covariates.</p>","PeriodicalId":47766,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ageing","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13586106/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148992049","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Age-based stereotypes in hiring and training: how digitalization and labor shortages reshape employer decisions.","authors":"Philipp Heyer, Wiebke Schmitz, Kathrin Weis","doi":"10.1007/s10433-026-00936-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10433-026-00936-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Demographic aging contributes to labor shortages and strains welfare systems across Europe, including Germany. In response, extending older workers' labor market participation has become a growing policy concern. Yet, age-based stereotypes may hinder this goal by reducing their chances in personnel decisions like hiring and training. However, the introduction of digital technologies is reshaping work dynamics, while labor shortages-partly driven by demographic aging-are intensifying competition for skilled workers. This puts pressure on companies to upskill their workforce and secure qualified personnel, potentially limiting the scope for decisions based on stereotypes.While age-based stereotypes have been widely studied, the organizational context-such as labor shortages and digitalization-has received less attention. This study analyzes representative employer data from the 2024 BIBB Training Panel in Germany to examine (1) how age-based stereotypes among employers are linked to personnel decisions regarding hiring and training of older workers and (2) how this association differs by perceived labor shortages and digitalization levels.Using fractional-logit regression models (n = 1310), the results show that while age-based stereotypes matter, their influence might be moderated by structural conditions: Digitalization mitigates training decisions that disadvantage older employees. There is also some evidence indicating that labor shortages may reduce hiring bias. These findings indicate that age-based stereotypes and their consequences do not operate in isolation: They are shaped by structural constraints and opportunities. In times of labor shortages and digital transformation, policy should address age-based stereotypes and reposition older workers not as a burden but as an asset.</p>","PeriodicalId":47766,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ageing","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13457536/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148701726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Long-term care insurance and unmet needs in China: perspectives of older adults and family members.","authors":"Jinbao Zhang, Wing Kit Chan, Bo Hu, Jinghua Gao","doi":"10.1007/s10433-026-00938-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10433-026-00938-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With population aging, many countries have introduced long-term care insurance (LTCI) and provide home-based services for older adults. Grounded in the convoy of care framework, this study investigated the lived experiences of older recipients and their families, exploring how specific policy features relate to unmet care needs. Qualitative data were collected from 24 older recipients and their family members in Guangzhou, China. Findings revealed four LTCI policy mechanisms that alleviated unmet needs: (1) enrolling individuals to use formal care, (2) flexibility in choosing caregivers, (3) integrating home care agency nurses into care networks, and (4) providing training for caregivers. Yet, unmet needs were identified due to suboptimal policy features: the inadequacy of LTCI benefits, the lack of program information, and limited access to individualized care-related goods. To enhance care outcomes, policymakers could incorporate our findings into the development of LTCI programs.</p>","PeriodicalId":47766,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ageing","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13538311/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148882089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Area deprivation and multi-domain measures of ageing: biological ageing, cognitive, and subjective health across the entire adult age span.","authors":"Wen Wang, Steven Haworth, Yanchun Bao, Meena Kumari","doi":"10.1007/s10433-026-00937-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10433-026-00937-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Area deprivation is a key contextual determinant of health, yet the consistency of effects on ageing processes over the adult life span remains insufficiently investigated. This study investigated associations between area deprivation and different ageing measures across the entire adult age span in Great Britain. We used data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study. A total of 13,174 participants in Health Assessment (2010-2012) and a DNA methylation subsample of 3,636 participants were included for cross-sectional analyses, as well as repeated measures of subjective functioning from subsequent 13-year follow-up for longitudinal analyses. Area deprivation was measured using the quintile of the Index of Multiple Deprivation, Townsend index, and Carstairs index. Ageing measures included DunedinPACE DNA methylation algorithm, Biological Health Score, cognitive function, and self-reported physical and general health. Linear regression models were used for cross-sectional analyses, and growth curve models were applied to examine longitudinal associations in subjective functioning. Subgroup analyses explored effect modification by individual-level sociodemographic characteristics. Higher area deprivation was associated with accelerated biological ageing, poorer cognitive performance, and worse subjective health, with clear and consistent social gradients across all deprivation measures. Longitudinally, individuals living in more deprived areas experienced persistently worse trajectories of physical and general health over time. Subgroup analyses suggest that area-level associations operate broadly across population groups, with few exceptions. These findings suggest that area-level socioeconomic disadvantage is a consistent contextual correlate of unequal ageing across adulthood that is associated with both baseline differences and, for some outcomes, divergent health trajectories over time.</p>","PeriodicalId":47766,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ageing","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149220775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Aging in place with disabled and non-disabled children: widowed mothers aged 80 + in an East Asian Familialist Welfare Context.","authors":"Yueh-Ching Chou, Bo-Wei Chen, Teppo Kröger","doi":"10.1007/s10433-026-00931-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10433-026-00931-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ageing-in-place experiences of widowed mothers caring for adult children with intellectual disabilities remain underexplored in gerontology and long-term care research. This study compares the experiences of widowed mothers aged 80 and over in Taiwan, an East Asian context in which filial piety continues to shape housing and care arrangements, among those with and without adult children with intellectual disabilities. Drawing on Clapham's Housing Pathways framework-personal control, identity, social support, and inequality-we analyse semi-structured interviews with 24 widowed mothers (17 with and 7 without adult children with intellectual disabilities) using an abductive thematic approach. Across both groups, ageing in place was strongly preferred, but this preference carried different meanings. For mothers of children with intellectual disabilities, remaining at home was tied to long-term co-residential caregiving, reciprocal interdependence, and concern for their children's future. For mothers with non-disabled children, it was more closely associated with maintaining independence, supported by family and, in some cases, migrant care workers. Homeownership and community ties fostered stability and belonging, while inequality shaped the extent to which ageing in place could be sustained. These findings show that later-life housing pathways are shaped not only by personal preference but also by caregiving histories, gendered family relations, and culturally embedded expectations of care. The study highlights the need for policies that better support older women with diverse care trajectories in East Asian familialist welfare contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":47766,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ageing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13658752/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148473398","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trends in informal and formal care utilisation and unmet care needs among older adults in Korea: evidence from repeated national surveys.","authors":"Eun Ha Namkung, Hyewon Kim","doi":"10.1007/s10433-026-00934-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10433-026-00934-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The increasing number of older adults with functional limitations has significant implications for care policy in rapidly ageing societies. This study examined trends in informal care, formal care, and unmet care needs among older Koreans, considering both individual characteristics and broader societal change. Using four waves of the National Survey of Older Koreans from 2014, 2017, 2020, and 2023, we analysed community-residing adults aged 65 and older with functional limitations and estimated survey-weighted multinomial regression models. Adjusted results showed a substantial rise in unmet care needs, from 20.4% in 2014 to 52.4% in 2023. Informal care from family and friends declined sharply, while the increase in formal care use was insufficient to compensate for this loss. Sensitivity analyses restricted to those with severe impairment also showed that unmet care needs still increased over time, but the magnitude of the increase was attenuated. However, among those with severe impairment, predicted probabilities of receiving formal care were relatively stable and even showed a decreasing trend. Older age, cognitive impairment, and a greater number of limitations were consistently associated with formal care utilisation relative to no care. These factors also predicted receipt of informal care relative to no care, although their statistical significance was less evident in recent years. These findings suggest that Korea's care system has not fully adapted to declining family-based care, accompanied by relatively unchanged formal care receipt rates and rising unmet care needs. Expanding formal care services and supporting informal caregivers remain priorities for improving elder care.</p>","PeriodicalId":47766,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ageing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13650231/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148449900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Is there a pension penalty for late-career family caregiving in Germany? The role of pension care credits and employment career.","authors":"Ulrike Ehrlich, Nadiya Kelle, Alberto Lozano Alcántara, Laura Romeu Gordo","doi":"10.1007/s10433-026-00923-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10433-026-00923-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Unpaid care for ill, disabled, or frail older family members (hereafter 'family care') is most common in late career. Because caregiving can be difficult to reconcile with paid work, it may reduce pension contribution records and later-life financial well-being. Many European countries therefore provide pension care credits, yet eligibility is selective and many caregivers remain uncredited. Against this background, we examine how late-career pension accumulation differs between non-caregivers, credited caregivers, and uncredited caregivers across different late-career employment trajectories. Detailed information on pensions, family care and employment of individuals between the ages of 55 and 65 (N = 814), covering those born between 1946 and 1955, is derived from SOEP-RV, a novel data linkage of administrative records of the German pension insurance (RV) with the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP, waves 2001-2020). By means of linear regressions, preceded by sequence and cluster analyses to typify late-career employment trajectories, we found no statistically significant associations between uncredited low-intensity care and lower pension accumulation. Uncredited high-intensity caregivers accumulate fewer pension entitlements within full-time and part-time trajectories. Moreover, credited caregivers accumulate more pension entitlements than non-caregivers, but only within part-time, homemaking, and early retirement trajectories. These findings suggest that the German pension care credit scheme provides selective and uneven compensation and that uncredited high-intensity caregivers tend to face pension penalties.</p>","PeriodicalId":47766,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ageing","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13365077/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148438463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Defining psychological capacity for a measure of healthy ageing: a rapid scoping review.","authors":"Candice Oster, Alice Windle, Sonia Hines, Neta Hagani, Jyoti Khadka, Vivian Isaac","doi":"10.1007/s10433-026-00933-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10433-026-00933-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Psychological capacity is a key element of intrinsic capacity for healthy ageing; however, it has not been well defined, and no established measure exists. Existing studies predominantly use a deficit framing when measuring psychological capacity, which does not align with the World Health Organization's intrinsic capacity framework of healthy ageing. The objective of this rapid scoping review was to identify definitions and attributes of positive psychological capacity to inform development of a measure of psychological capacity for healthy ageing. This review included English-language studies of any design that provided either a specific conceptual or operational definition of psychological capacity or psychological capital, or named attributes as being related to psychological capacity or capital. Searches were conducted in PsycINFO, PubMed, Embase and Scopus for studies published between 1 January 2010 and 16 April 2025. Retrieved citations were screened and assessed against the inclusion criteria by two independent reviewers. Text data relating to definitions and descriptions of psychological capacity and psychological capital were extracted and collated. Psychological capacity attributes were inductively identified and grouped into categories. Of the 603 studies that were screened, 78 were included. Only two (2.5%) of the included studies related to older adults. The majority of studies (n = 46, 59%) related to the context of 'work'. Eight different definitions of psychological capacity were identified, as well as several descriptions. Fifty-six attributes of psychological capacity were identified in included studies, and these were grouped into nine domains. There was considerable heterogeneity in definitions of psychological capacity, and no definition specific to healthy ageing. The vast majority of the literature related to the workplace context, driven by goals of performance and competitive advantage, rather than healthy ageing. Our study highlights the need for a strength-based definition and identification of attributes of psychological capacity for healthy ageing.</p>","PeriodicalId":47766,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ageing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642232/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148425203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Associations between older adults' attitudes to ageing, mental health, and quality of life: a systematic review.","authors":"Margot Juliëtte Overman, Lucy Hopkins, Kathryn Evans","doi":"10.1007/s10433-026-00932-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10433-026-00932-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The stereotype embodiment theory posits that negative age stereotypes, which are not self-relevant in early life, are internalised at a young age. Cognitive models suggest that such internalised attitudes present a latent vulnerability which can be activated with increasing age and contribute to mental health difficulties. Attitudes to ageing are proposed to be multidimensional, with individual domains exerting differential effects on health outcomes. This review therefore aimed to assess the relationship of general and domain-specific attitudes to ageing with depression, anxiety, and quality of life (QoL) in older adults. The protocol was preregistered on PROSPERO (CRD42024537940). PsycInfo, Embase, Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched from inception to February 7, 2026. 22 articles including 41,882 participants were identified and synthesised using a narrative approach, with quality assessed using the AXIS tool. Papers investigated depression (n = 11), QoL (n = 10), and anxiety (n = 7). General negative attitudes to ageing were associated with increased psychopathological symptoms and lower QoL. Across individual domains, negative attitudes to psychosocial loss were most reliably linked with poorer mental health. Conversely, positive attitudes to psychological growth may be a protective factor. These findings are consistent with the stereotype embodiment theory and suggest that attitudes to ageing may present a novel intervention target. Interpretations are limited by the observational nature of the studies, and a priority for future research is the use of experimental approaches to clarify the causality of observed associations and clinical application of attitudes to ageing as a treatment target for older adults' mental health.</p>","PeriodicalId":47766,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Ageing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2026-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13635059/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148425215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}