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. 2008 Mar;23(1):154-68.
doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.23.1.154.

Decline in life satisfaction in old age: longitudinal evidence for links to distance-to-death

Denis Gerstorf  1 , Nilam Ram, Christina Röcke, Ulman Lindenberger, Jacqui Smith
Affiliations

Decline in life satisfaction in old age: longitudinal evidence for links to distance-to-death

Denis Gerstorf et al. Psychol Aging. 2008 Mar.

Abstract

Using 12-year longitudinal data from deceased participants of the Berlin Aging Study (N = 414; age 70-103 years, at first occasion; M = 87 years, SD = 8.13), the authors examined whether and how old and very old individuals exhibit terminal decline in reported life satisfaction at the end of life. Relative to age-related decline, mortality-related decline (i.e., distance-to-death) accounted for more variance in interindividual differences in life satisfaction change and revealed steeper average rates of decline, by a factor of 2. By applying change-point growth models, the authors identified a point, about 4 years before death, at which decline showed a two-fold increase in steepness relative to the preterminal phase. For the oldest old (85+ years), a threefold increase was observed. Established mortality predictors, including sex, comorbidities, dementia, and cognition, accounted for only small portions of interindividual differences in mortality-related change in life satisfaction. The authors conclude that late-life changes in subjective well-being are related to mechanisms predicting death and suggest routes for further inquiry.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Frequency of observations in the Berlin Aging Study in relation to chronological age (Panel A) and distance-to-death (Panel B). The large majority of the 961 observations available were in fact longitudinal in nature. In the age models, observations were spread relatively equally across the three age decades (70s: n = 188, 80s: n = 406; 90+s: n = 367). In the distance-to-death models, about 50% of the observations were taken in the last three years prior to death (nobservations = 682).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average amount of decline observed over chronological age (Panel A) and distance-to-death (Panel B). The age model showed, on average, significant, but relatively minor decline (− 0.33 T-score units per year). Relative to the age model, decline in the distance-to-death model was steeper by a factor of 2.3 (− 0.75 T-score units per year).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Model-implied means for the optimal change-point model (2.9 years prior to death) over distance-to-death in life satisfaction. The rate of decline increased from the pre-terminal phase (− 0.58 T-Score units per year) to the terminal phase (− 1.39 T-Score units per year) by a factor of 2.4.
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