How does subjective aging influence mental and physical health? What is it and how does it influence our health as we grow older?
Begun in 1995, the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife
Development established the study and recruited participants ages 25-74
to investigate “the role of behavioral, psychological, and
social factors in accounting for age-related variations in health and
well-being in a national sample of Americans” and to define middle age (https://midus.wisc.edu/scopeofstudy.php#History, 2023). They recruited approximately 3,500
participants. Thirty years later, there is still no definition of middle age.
The MIDUS study was expanded and now has 10,000 participants. This longitudinal
study has dozens of sub-studies and has produced major findings on aging over
the lifespan.
There are two types of aging. The biological
or chronological age is your birth year, and that date is shown on your
driver’s license and passport. Born in 1940? Your biological or chronological
age is eighty-three years old. Subjective aging has two components; your
preferred age (the age you would like to be) and how old you feel in your head.
In your head, you are 25 but you were born in 1950. Therefore, your subjective
age is twenty-five years old! Feeling younger is a protective factor (buffer)
for stress and health declines.
Actress and comedienne Carol Burnett turned 90
years old on April 26, 2023. Interviewed ahead of her tribute birthday
television special, Burnett said, “I still feel about 11 years old!” Her
comment is a perfect example of subjective aging. She feels 11 years old in her
head, celebrating her amazing milestone instead of hiding it.
When I presented this to a live audience
recently, one man raised his hand and asked me, “It’s like the chicken and egg.
What came first? Are they positive and have high self-esteem because they feel
younger physically and have money to make them happy and healthy? If they are
poor and broke, won’t they feel older?” As I explained to him, researchers do
not know the answer to that question. They do know that respondents who feel older
than their chronological age are more likely to be living in poverty and have
lower educational attainment. However, the cause and effect remain unknown. Compared
to adults who feel older, adults who feel younger have…..
Ø More energy and
sleep more
Ø Evaluated their
health status as EXCELLENT or VERY GOOD
Ø Fewer chronic
conditions than those who feel older.
Ø Fewer risk
factors for future disease
Ø Have more control
and greater life purpose.
Ø Are more socially
active. Volunteerism, religious services, contact with friends.
Ø Report less
strain and more support from their families.
How MIDUS participants
self-reported
their health
status:
Feel YOUNGER: Excellent to Very Good 70%
Feel OLDER: Excellent to Very Good 53%
Feel YOUNGER: Good 26%
Feel OLDER Good 36%
Feel YOUNGER Fair
to Poor 4%
Feel OLDER Fair to Poor 10%
Key findings of the MIDUS Study:
v “MIDUS has shown
that positive aging is the ability to remain actively engaged in life, even in
the face of age-related challenges, rather than the commonly held belief that
only disease-free individuals age well. As George Valliant found in the Harvard
Study, older adults can be disease free but are lonely, negative, and toxic.
v Older adults who
feel younger in their head have a strong sense of purpose and:
v Lower
inflammation
v Lower allostatic
load which measures wear and tear in seven biological systems and predicts
chronic illness including low morale, fatigue, exhaustion, breakdown, and
overload. Allostatic load is the cumulative burden of chronic stress and life
events.
v Healthier levels
of stress hormone cortisol over the course of a day. Cortisol controls
glucose, tissue repair, mood, blood pressure, and weight gain. Secreting too
much cortisol is detrimental to health.
v v Lower risk of heart attack, stroke, and lived longer.
v Psychological
wellbeing impacts physical and mental wellbeing:
v Feeling in charge
of your life
v Having good
relationships
v Liking yourself” (MIDUS.wisc.edu,
2023).
Do you want to participate in the MIDUS Study?
In 2022, the National Institute on Aging (NIH) funded six more years of
research! Contact MIDUS via midus.wisc.edu/helpdesk.php
References:
How healthy are we? A national study of well-being at
midlife. (2004) Brim, OG, Ryff, CD, & Kessler, RC (eds). Chicago, IL The
University of Chicago Press, 1-36.
Midlife in the United States. (2023) https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/resource/midlife-united-states
MIDUS (2023). https://midus.wisc.edu/
Photo Credit: Thank you Artyom Kabajey!
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