Cohort comparisons: emotional well-being among adolescents and older adults

Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz,1 Tengku Aizan Hamid,1,2 Rahimah Ibrahim1,21Institute of Gerontology, 2Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaBackground: There are several negative stereotypes about older adults that have negatively influenced people's attitude about aging. The present study compared emotional well-being between older adults and adolescents.Methods: Data for this study came from 1,403 community-dwelling elderly persons and 1,190 secondary school students and were obtained from two national cross-sectional surveys. Emotional well-being was measured using the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index. Data analysis was conducted using a multivariate analysis of covariance with SPSS software version 20 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA).Results: Elderly people significantly scored higher levels of emotional well-being (mean, 62.3; standard deviation, 22.55) than younger people (mean, 57.9; standard deviation, 18.46; t, 5.32; P≤0.001). The findings from the multivariate analysis of covariance revealed a significant difference between older adults and younger people in emotional well-being [F(3, 2587)=120.21; P≤0.001; η2=0.122] after controlling for sex.Conclusion: Contrary to negative stereotypes about aging, our findings show a higher level of emotional well-being among older adults compared with younger people.Keywords: aged, ageism, emotional well-being, positive agin

Social embeddedness as a mechanism for linking social cohesion to well-being among older adults: moderating effect of gender

Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz,1 Sharifah Azizah Haron,2 Rahimah Ibrahim,3 Tengku Aizan Hamid3 1Institute of Gerontology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 2Institute of Gerontology, Department of Resource Management and Consumer Studies, Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 3Institute of Gerontology, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Background: The positive effect of social cohesion on well-being in older adults has been well documented. However, relatively few studies have attempted to understand the mechanisms by which social cohesion influences well-being. The main aim of the current study is to identify social pathways in which social cohesion may contribute to well-being. Methods: The data for this study (taken from 1,880 older adults, aged 60 years and older) were drawn from a national survey conducted during 2008–2009. The survey employed a two-stage stratified sampling process for data collection. Structural equation modeling was used to test mediating and moderating analyses. Results: The proposed model documented a good fit to the data (GFI =98; CFI =0.99; RMSEA =0.04). The findings from bootstrap analysis and the Sobel test revealed that the impact of social cohesion on well-being is significantly mediated by social embeddedness (Z=5.62; P<0.001). Finally, the results of a multigroup analysis test showed that social cohesion influences well-being through the social embeddedness mechanism somewhat differently for older men than women. Conclusion: The findings of this study, in addition to supporting the importance of neighborhood social cohesion for the well-being of older adults, also provide evidence that the impact of social cohesion towards well-being is mediated through the mechanism of social embeddedness. Keywords: aged, social embeddedness, social cohesion, well-bein

Dyadic effects of attitude toward aging on psychological well-being of older Malaysian couples: an actor–partner interdependence model

Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz, Tengku Aizan Hamid, Jariah Masud, Sharifah Azizah Haron, Rahimah IbrahimInstitute of Gerontology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaBackground: There is a growing body of literature indicating that attitudes toward aging significantly affect older adults’ psychological well-being. However, there is a paucity of scientific investigations examining the role of older adults’ attitudes toward aging on their spouses' psychological well-being. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the dyadic effects of attitude toward aging on the psychological well-being of older couples.Methods: Data for the present study, consisting of 300 couples aged 50 years and older, were drawn from a community-based survey entitled “Poverty among Elderly Women: Case Study of Amanah Ikhtiar” conducted in Peninsular Malaysia. An actor–partner interdependence model using AMOS version 20 (Europress Software, Cheshire, UK) was used to analyze the dyadic data.Results: The mean ages of the husbands and wives in this sample were 60.37 years (±6.55) and 56.33 years (±5.32), respectively. Interdependence analyses revealed significant association between older adults’ attitudes toward aging and the attitudes of their spouses (intraclass correlation =0.59; P<0.001), and similar interdependence was found for psychological well-being (intraclass correlation =0.57; P<0.001). The findings from AMOS revealed that the proposed model fits the data (CMIN/degrees of freedom =3.23; goodness-of-fit index =0.90; confirmatory fit index =0.91; root mean square error of approximation =0.08). Results of the actor–partner independence model indicated that older adults’ psychological well-being is significantly predicted by their spouses' attitudes toward aging, both among older men (critical ratio =2.92; P<0.01) and women (critical ratio =2.70; P<0.01). Husbands’ and wives’ own reports of their attitudes toward aging were significantly correlated with their own and their spouses’ psychological well-being.Conclusion: The findings from this study supported the proposed Spousal Attitude–Well-Being Model, where older adults’ attitudes toward aging significantly affected their own and their spouses’ psychological well-being. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.Keywords: aged, attitude toward aging, psychological well-bein

Does food insufficiency in childhood contribute to dementia in later life?

Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz,1,4 Sharifah Azizah Haron,1,3 Tengku Aizan Hamid,1,2 Rahimah Ibrahim,1,2 Jariah Masud1 1Institute of Gerontology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 2Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 3Department of Resource Management and Consumer Studies, Faculty of Human Ecology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 4Iranian Research Center on Aging, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran Background: Despite several studies attempting to identify the risk factors for dementia, little is known about the impact of childhood living conditions on cognitive function in later life. The present study aims to examine the unique contribution of food insufficiency in childhood to dementia in old age.Methods: Data for this study of 2,745 older Malaysians aged 60 years and older was obtained from a national survey entitled “Mental Health and Quality of Life of Older Malaysians” conducted from 2003 through 2005 using a cross-sectional design. The Geriatric Mental State-Automated Geriatric Examination for Computer Assisted Taxonomy was used to measure dementia. A multiple binary logistic regression using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21 was conducted to assess the unique effect of food insufficiency in childhood on developing dementia in old age.Results: A notably higher prevalence of dementia was found in respondents who indicated they had experienced food insufficiency in childhood than in their food-sufficient counterparts (23.5% versus 14.3%). The findings from multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that food insufficiency in childhood would independently increase the risk of developing dementia in old age by 81%, after adjusting for sociodemographic factors (odds ratio =1.81, 95% confidence interval 1.13–2.92, P<0.01).Conclusion: Findings from the present study showing that food insufficiency in early life significantly contributes to dementia in later life highlight the importance of childhood living conditions in maintaining cognitive function in old age. It is, therefore, suggested that older adults with childhood food insufficiency might be targeted for programs designed to prevent dementia. Keywords: aged, dementia, food insufficiency, Malaysi

Are older people more vulnerable to long-term impacts of disasters?

Hassan Rafiey,1 Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz,2,3 Fardin Alipour,1 Hamidreza Khankeh,4 Shokoufeh Ahmadi,4 Mohammad Sabzi Khoshnami,1 Sharifah Azizah Haron3 1Research Center of Social Welfare Management, Department of Social Work, 2Iranian Research Center on Aging, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing (MyAgeing), Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 4Department of Health in Emergency and Disaster, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran Background: Despite the growing interest in the study of disasters, there is limited research addressing the elderly population that lead to prejudiced beliefs that older adults are more vulnerable to disasters than younger adults. This study aimed to compare positive mental health between elderly and young earthquake survivors.Method: Data for this study, consisting of 324 earthquake survivors, were obtained from a population-based cross-sectional survey conducted in Iran, 2015. The long-term effect of earthquake was assessed using the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form questionnaire. A one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) using SPSS (version 22) was used in data analysis.Results: Older adults scored significantly a higher level of overall positive mental health (mean [M]=34.31, standard deviation [SD]=10.52) than younger age group (M=27.48, SD=10.56, t=-4.41; P<0.001). Results of MANCOVA revealed a statistically significant difference between older and young adults on the combined positive mental health subscales (F(3,317)=6.95; P<0.001), after controlling for marital status, sex, and employment status.Conclusion: The present findings showing a higher level of positive mental health among elderly earthquake survivors compared with their younger counterparts in the wake of natural disasters suggest that advancing age per se does not contribute to increasing vulnerability. Keywords: aged, earthquakes, mental health, post-disaster, resiliency, vulnerabilit

Sex differences in stroke: a socioeconomic perspective

Ahmad Delbari,1 Farzane Keyghobadi,2 Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz,1,3 Fariba Keyghobadi,2 Reza Akbari,2 Houman Kamranian,2 Mohammad Shouride Yazdi,2 Sayed Shahaboddin Tabatabaei,1 Seyed-Mohammad Fereshtehnejad4 1Iranian Research Center on Aging, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Research Center on Healthy Aging, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Khorasan, Iran; 3Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing (MyAgeing™), Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 4Department of Neurobiology, Division of Clinical Geriatrics, Care Sciences and Society (NVS), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Background: A number of studies have explored the issue of sex differences in stroke from biomedical perspective; however, there are still large gaps in the existing knowledge. The purpose of this study was to assess whether the differences in socioeconomic status and living conditions between men and women may explain the part of the sex differences in incidence and outcomes of stroke. Methods: All stroke participants aged ≥60 years admitted in Vaseie Hospital in Sabzevar, Iran, from March 21, 2013, until March 20, 2014, were included in this study. Computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging were used to confirm stroke. A series of χ2 tests were performed and Statistical Program for Social Sciences, Version 21.0, was used to investigate the potential differences between older men and women in stroke incidence and outcomes. Results: A total of 159 incident stroke cases were documented during 1 year. The annual rate of stroke was statistically significantly higher in elderly women than in elderly men (401 vs 357 per 100,000; P<0.001). Female elderly participants had significantly lower socioeconomic status, poorer living conditions, and higher lifetime history of depression, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus than their male counterparts. Conclusion: The findings from this study showed that elderly women are more adversely affected by stroke in terms of incidence and outcomes of stroke than elderly men. The most noticeable result is that sex differences in socioeconomic status and living conditions may result in increased incidence of stroke and poorer outcomes in elderly women. Therefore, it is imperative to identify vulnerable elderly women and provide them appropriate treatment and services. Keywords: aged, incidence, mortality, outcome, sex differences, socioeconomic disparities, vascular diseas