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. 2014 Nov:59:74-80.
doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2014.06.019. Epub 2014 Jul 1.

Do hassles mediate between life events and mortality in older men? Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study

Carolyn M Aldwin  1 , Yu-Jin Jeong  2 , Heidi Igarashi  3 , Soyoung Choun  3 , Avron Spiro 3rd  4
Affiliations

Do hassles mediate between life events and mortality in older men? Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study

Carolyn M Aldwin et al. Exp Gerontol. 2014 Nov.

Abstract

We investigated whether hassles mediated the effect of life events on mortality in a sample of 1293 men (Mage=65.58, SD=7.01), participants in the VA Normative Aging Study. We utilized measures of stressful life events (SLE) and hassles from 1989 to 2004, and men were followed for mortality until 2010. For life events and hassles, previous research identified three and four patterns of change over time, respectively, generally indicating low, moderate, and high trajectories, with one moderate, non-linear pattern for hassles (shallow U curve). Controlling for demographics and health behaviors, we found that those with moderate SLE trajectories (38%) more likely to die than those with low SLE trajectories, HR=1.42, 95% CI [1.16, 3.45]. Including the hassles classes showed that those with the moderate non-linear hassles trajectory were 63% more likely to die than those with low hassles trajectory, HR=1.63, 95% CI [1.19, 2.23], while those with consistently high hassles trajectory were over 3 times more likely to die, HR=3.30, 95% CI [1.58, 6.89]. However, the HR for moderate SLE trajectory decreased only slightly to 1.38, 95% CI [1.13, 1.68], suggesting that the two types of stress have largely independent effects on mortality. Research is needed to determine the physiological and behavioral pathways through which SLE and hassles differentially affect mortality.

Keywords: Aging; Hassles; Mortality; Stressful life events; Trajectories.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stress trajectory categories. Figure 1a is from Aldwin, C. M., Molitor, N-.T., Spiro, A. III, Levenson, M. R., Molitor, J., & Igarashi, H. (2011). Do stress trajectories predict mortality in older men? Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Journal of Aging Research http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jar/2011/896109/. Figure 1b is adapted from Aldwin, C. M., Jeong, Y.-J., Igarashi, H. and Spiro, A. III. (2014). Do hassles and uplifts change with age? Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Psychology and Aging, 29, 57–71.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aldwin CM. The Elders Life Stress Inventory (ELSI): Egocentric and nonegocentric stress. In: Stephens MAP, Crowther JH, Hobfoll SE, Tennenbaum DL, editors. Stress and coping in later life families. New York: Hemisphere; 1990. pp. 49–69.
    1. Aldwin CM. Stress, coping, and development: An integrative perspective. 2nd ed. New York: Guilford Press; 2007.
    1. Aldwin CM, Gilmer DF. Health, illness and optimal aging: Biological and psychosocial perspectives. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Springer; 2012.
    1. Aldwin CM, Jeong Y-J, Igarashi H, Spiro A., III Do hassles and uplifts change with age? Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Psychology and Aging. 2014;29:57–71. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aldwin CM, Levenson MR, Spiro A, Ill, Bossé R. Does emotionality predict stress? Findings from the Normative Aging Study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1989;56:618–624. - PubMed

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