As the older population increases, there is a need for increased support for caregivers most of them older themselves. Owning a pet may providesome of this support. This study looked at caregivers age 55 and older of brain-impaired adults and examined whether or not the social support provided by pets during the caregiving time contributes to their well-being.

My dissertation focuses on investigating the associations of neighborhood environments—namely, built and social environments—with health among community-dwelling older Americans. The first paper examines groupwide variations in social participation patterns among older adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and if community social cohesion and health during the pandemic were significantly associated with social participation patterns. Using Rounds 9 and 10 longitudinal data from the National Health and Aging Trend Study, I employed latent class analysis to identify the presence of groupwide variations in social participation, before and during the pandemic. I used logistic and linear regressions to examine the associations between social participation patterns, community social cohesion, and health during the pandemic. Results suggested two participation patterns, active and selective participants. Compared to active participants, older adults who were selective in their social participation were more likely to live in less socially cohesive communities and report substantial depressive and anxiety symptoms. In the second paper, I examined cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between neighborhood physical disorder, low social cohesion, and sleep problems among older Americans. Mediators of health behaviors (i.e., lack of physical activity and social participation) and mental health (i.e., depressive and anxiety symptoms) were also tested in these relationships. Data were derived from three rounds of panel data (Rounds 7-9) from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, involving a sample of 4,029 Americans aged 65 or older. I found statistically significant cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between physical disorder and low social cohesion, and late-life sleep problems. Only cross-sectional mediation effects of health behaviors and mental health were found in the relationship of physical disorder and sleep problems, whereas both cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between low social cohesion and sleep problems were significantly mediated by health behaviors and mental health. In the third paper, I used annual data from the 2015-16 Poverty Tracker study to examine the roles of distance to grocery stores, neighborhood disadvantage, and social cohesion in explaining food insecurity among older adults in New York City. Multiple logistic regressions were conducted to assess these relationships. Results showed that greater distance to grocery stores (0.26–0.75 miles vs. 0.00–0.25 miles) and living in more disadvantaged neighborhoods increased the odds of food insecurity. Community social cohesion was a marginally significant protective factor against food insecurity. The findings of these papers highlighted the associations between the neighborhood environment, social health, sleep quality, and food security status among older adults. These papers also emphasized the potential for environmental policy and social work program interventions to improve the well-being and quality of life among community-dwelling older adults.

Current research tends to describe loneliness among the elderly as an individual issue, focusing on psychological or biological causes and negative effects on health. This dissertation lays the groundwork for an alternative, sociological approach. Drawing on the model developed by Durkheim in his study of suicide, the argument operates on three levels. First, it critically examines the dominant analytical framework for studying loneliness, highlighting the influence of concepts and methods inherited from psychology. Next, it contextualizes loneliness historically, tracing through the archives of international organizations (especially the ILO, the WHO, and the Council of Europe) the emergence of policies that contributed to loosening intergenerational ties and isolating the elderly from the rest of society. Finally, the dissertation introduces an innovative quantitative approach based on data from a major European telealarm provider. These "organic" data, derived from real-life settings rather than conventional survey-based research, reveal the macrostructure of the phenomenon. Taken together, the findings point to the need to reconceptualize loneliness not as mere absence of interpersonal connections but as a misalignment of the individual with group norms, especially norms related to time. This has both theoretical and practical implications in terms of the nature of the phenomenon and the types of interventions needed to address it.

This study examined the influence of three predictor variables on perceptions of assisted living: psychological well-being, functional status, and coping strategies. A multiple regression analysis was used to examine the influence of these factors on perceptions of the transition to assisted living.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Social support has been shown to positively impact various aspects of health across the lifespan, including sexual health and well-being. While past research on sexual well-being has tended to focus on the earlier stages of the life course, notably adolescence and young adulthood, this is a largely ignored area of research past the reproductive stage of life. Current research finds that while social support, from partners, family, and friends alike, has generally positive influences on health in mid to late adulthood, these outcomes are varied in regards to sexual well-being. This thesis aims to (1) assess the role of friend support in the sexual well-being of older adults and (2) to explore if physical and mental health are significant mediators of this relationship, using data from Wave II of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). This study found that sixty two percent of older adults are not having sex as much as they would like and 61% feel that their sex life is lacking in quality. Increased feelings of openness with friends was associated with satisfaction with sexual frequency (p=.055). However, a significant association could not be established between satisfaction with quality of sex life and friend support. In addition, physical and mental health status were not found to be significant mediators.

Optimal aging is strongly related to personality factors along with health-behavior habits. Personality has played a key role in understanding the interactions between human behavior and the environment and as a vital predictor in determining health outcomes of individuals. Although previous studies have found links between personality traits and health, less is known about more process-oriented personality constructs, such as goals and self-regulatory strategies as linkages between traits and health outcomes. The purpose of this study is to explore the dynamic linkages of personality and health by examining how daily health-goal progress is associated with daily positive and negative affect as well as whether the association between health-goal progress and positive and negative affect can be predicted by personality traits of neuroticism and conscientiousness. Main research questions are: 1) Are daily positive and negative affect associated with daily health-goal progress? 2) To what extent are the traits of neuroticism and conscientiousness related to the overall levels of daily health-goal progress over a 100-day time period? 3) Do neuroticism and conscientiousness moderate the relationships between daily positive affect and daily health-goal progress as well as between negative affect and daily health-goal progress? This study was guided by developmental systems theory (Ford & Lerner, 1992) and the six-foci model of personality (Hooker & McAdams, 2003). This study utilized data from the "Personal Understanding of Life and Social Experiences" (PULSE) project that was a 100 day internet-based, daily study of Oregon residents over the age of 50. The sample for this study (N = 76) included participants who have participated at both baseline (initial survey) and the microlongitudinal phase (over 100 days). Personal health goals, neuroticism, and conscientiousness were measured at baseline. Daily health-goal progress, daily positive affect, and negative affect were measured over 100 days. Multilevel modeling analysis was used to examine within-person variations and between-person differences in daily health-goal progress and daily positive and negative affect by estimating an intercept (initial status) and slope (change) for each individual. The results of this study show that first, daily health-goal progress was positively coupled with daily positive affect and negatively coupled with daily negative affect within persons. Second, the associations between daily positive affect and daily health-goal progress and between daily negative affect and daily health-goal progress varied between individuals. Third, health-goal progress on the previous day was positively related to concurrent positive affect and negatively related to concurrent negative affect. Fourth, individuals high in neuroticism and individuals high in conscientiousness were only marginally likely to experience higher levels of health-goal progress over the 100-day period compared to those with low scores. Fifth, individuals high in neuroticism when experiencing high levels of negative affect tended to report lower levels of daily health-goal progress. These findings may provide enhanced knowledge of patterns of day-to-day variability within persons and lead to better health care. Moreover, the findings of the current study suggest that health-improving interventions could be targeted individually to participants based on knowledge of the linkages between daily goal progress and daily affect and personality traits. Ultimately, the personality of older adults may act as risk factors and/or protective factors in the processes of aging during the second half of life. / Graduation date: 2013