Objectification and body esteem: age group patterns in women's psychological functioning.

OBJECTIVES: Sexual objectification is related to negative outcomes for young adult women, but whether sexual objectification operates similarly for women in mid-life or older adulthood is less clear. Our aim was to assess self-objectification and sexually objectifying experiences for women in two different age groups, 18-27 and 48-90 and, further, test the relationship between objectification and psychological functioning. Based on objectification theory, we hypothesized that young adults would report higher self-objectification and sexually objectifying experiences compared to women in the older group. We further expected that these age differences would be related to body esteem and psychological functioning. METHODS: We surveyed 218 women regarding their sexually objectifying experiences and self-objectification, as well as body esteem, global self-esteem, and mood/anxiety, all outcomes theoretically expected to be related to sexual objectification and self-objectification. RESULTS: Sexually objectifying experiences and self-objectification were correlated with lower body esteem, lower global self-esteem, and higher mood/anxiety symptoms. Further, older women reported lower objectification and better psychological functioning. Tests of serial mediation showed that the relationship between age and two outcomes (self-esteem and mood/anxiety symptoms) was mediated by self-objectification and body esteem, while the model using experiences of sexually objectifying experiences was not supported. CONCLUSION: Older women differed from younger women in the impact of self-objectification. We discuss these outcomes referencing age patterns and objectification theory.

Well-being among older adults with OA: direct and mediated patterns of control beliefs, optimism and pessimism.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the contribution of important psychological resources (i.e. optimism, pessimism, control beliefs) to the psychological well-being of older adults with Osteoarthritis (OA); to assess the direct and mediated association of these psychosocial resources to outcomes (depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and self-esteem). These objectives are important because OA is a significant stressor, treatments are limited, and psychological functioning is at risk for those coping with the condition, even compared to other chronic illnesses. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey of 160 community-dwelling older adults with OA (81% women). Participants were not randomly selected, but nonetheless reflected the demographic makeup of the selection area. RESULTS: Ordinary least squares regression analyses using the PROCESS macro revealed that optimism and pessimism were associated with higher depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem indirectly through constraints beliefs. The analysis of life satisfaction showed that optimism and pessimism were each partially mediated through mastery and constraints beliefs. DISCUSSION: These results suggest that prior research, which has assessed these psychological resources as having singular relationships to outcomes, may have underestimated the importance of the relationship between these variables. We discuss possible points of intervention for older adults with OA who may experience increasing constraints beliefs over time.

Exercising control: exercise intention and perceived constraints in older adults with osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Maintaining perceived psychological control in older adulthood is beneficial for health, well-being, and adjustment to chronic illness. Theoretically, control over specific, personally meaningful domains should inform general control beliefs. Thus, the objective of the present study was to examine perceived control over the exercise domain (operationalized as exercise intention belief) for its ability to predict general control beliefs in a sample of older adults with chronic illness over 1 year. DESIGN AND METHODS: Longitudinal survey responses from 133 older adults with osteoarthritis (OA) were examined. RESULTS: Longitudinal hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that higher baseline exercise intention beliefs predicted a lower perception of constraints on control 9-12 months later, but did not predict changes in mastery beliefs. IMPLICATIONS: Results suggest that bolstering exercise intention beliefs may protect against age-related increases in psychological constraints on perceived control for older adults with OA.

It's all in how you view it: pessimism, social relations, and life satisfaction in older adults with osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVES: Current treatments for osteoarthritis (OA) continue to leave those burdened by the condition with pain and disability which affects physical and psychological well-being. The present study examines other psychosocial factors, such as dispositional personality and social relationships, in order to investigate their influence on the well-being of 160 older adults with OA (80% women). METHOD: Older adults were recruited for self-reported knee or hip OA. Participants completed self-report measures of optimism and pessimism, social support, social strain, and life satisfaction using the computer program MediaLab. Measures were taken twice 9-12 months apart. RESULTS: Results showed that, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, pessimism was related to lower social support and higher social strain. In addition, pessimism was mediated by social support in its relationship to life satisfaction. DISCUSSION: Our models support the combined roles of pessimism and social support influencing life satisfaction over time. Future interventions may want to concentrate on improving the social relationships of people with OA to enhance psychological well-being.

Love hurts: the influence of social relations on exercise self-efficacy for older adults with osteoarthritis.

Exercise self-efficacy is a powerful predictor of physical activity behavior, which enhances health and well-being for older adults. Social relations have been proposed as influential precursors for exercise self-efficacy. In a longitudinal study of 160 older adults with osteoarthritis (76.9% women), the authors found that social support (but not social strain) significantly predicted exercise self-efficacy in a structural equation model examining cross-sectional data: chi(2) (178, N = 160) = 264.57, p < .01; RMSEA = .06; CFI = .92; TLI = .90. When data were examined longitudinally, however, social strain (but not social support) significantly predicted lower exercise self-efficacy 1 year later: Xi(2) (233, N = 160) = 288.64, p < .01; RMSEA = .04; CFI = .96; TLI = .95. Results support the negativity effect, suggesting that social strain might be the more potent aspect of social relations and should be the target of interventions.

Breast cancer survivors' health-related quality of life : racial differences and comparisons with noncancer controls.

BACKGROUND: Small samples with few minority women and/or the absence of comparisons to peers without cancer histories have limited previous research suggesting racial differences in breast cancer survivors' health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study not only compared HRQoL of African American and white breast cancer survivors, but also compared the HRQoL of these women to that of same-race women with no cancer history. METHODS: Data from the Women's Health Initiative-Observational Study were used, including 5021 cancer survivors and 88,532 women without a history of cancer. Multivariate regression analyses estimated differences in breast cancer survivors' baseline HRQoL (RAND36), depressive symptoms (CES-D short-form), and sleep quality (WHIIRS). RESULTS: African American breast cancer survivors reported worse physical functioning and general health compared with white survivors. Among African Americans, survivors reported worse role limitations due to physical health, pain, general health, and vitality than women without a history of cancer. This was most evident in those with more recent diagnoses. Most significant differences between groups were small in magnitude (Cohen d = .21-.36). CONCLUSIONS: These results add to the increasing knowledge of cancer disparities by showing that African American women have small, but clinically meaningful, decrements in physical HRQoL compared with white survivors and with African American women without cancer. Because African American women also face diagnosis with higher grade tumors and higher breast cancer mortality, more research is needed to examine the physical and psychosocial experiences of African American breast cancer survivors to elucidate the mechanisms leading to poorer outcomes.

Understanding associations of control beliefs, social relations, and well-being in older adults with osteoarthritis.

Control beliefs and social relationships have been individually assessed in relation to adaptation to chronic illness, although only rarely together. Further, some control scales show psychometric limitations in older adult samples. To address these concerns, a scale assessing external control was created by factor analyzing the items from Levenson's (1974) control subscales. We tested the association of external control beliefs, measured with the new formulation of items, and two social relations variables (support and strain) to well-being measures in a sample of older adults reporting osteoarthritis (OA; N = 95, 72% female). We also compared the new formulation of items to the original subscales. The Levenson measures were significantly related to life satisfaction after controlling for social relations. However, the new externality scale was a stronger correlate than the chance subscale (though not different from powerful others). Only the new scale was related to depressive symptoms once social relations were controlled. In addition, social support was significantly associated with both outcomes.

Baseline health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease: the Estrogen Replacement and Atherosclerosis (ERA) trial.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the baseline health-related quality of life (HRQL) of 301 postmenopausal women with heart disease enrolled in the Estrogen Replacement and Atherosclerosis (ERA) trial. METHODS: The primary measure of HRQL was the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (MOS SF-36). The SF-36 was augmented with secondary assessments, including measures of depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, urinary incontinence, sleep disturbance, and physical symptoms. Multiple regression analyses were used to test hypotheses regarding the contribution of positive (social support) and negative (social strain) aspects of social relations after accounting for other correlates of HRQL and heart disease. RESULTS: Results indicate that social support was positively associated with better functioning for all measured outcomes (all p < 0.05) except symptom frequency and severity. Social strain was negatively associated with HRQL functioning (all p < 0.05) except overall physical functioning, sleep disturbance, and urinary incontinence. In addition, several comorbid conditions were negatively associated with HRQL outcomes. In particular, chest pain was significantly associated with worse functioning on all HRQL outcomes except urinary incontinence. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that both clinical status variables (particularly chest pain) and the psychosocial context (represented by dimensions of relationship quality) influenced HRQL in this cohort. Thus, interventions that combine medical treatments with psychosocially based interventions may be most effective for women at risk for impaired HRQL.

Social relations and depressive symptoms in older adults with knee osteoarthritis.

Depressive symptoms often occur as a comorbid condition in the context of chronic illnesses such as arthritis. However, the role of both social support and social strain in relation to depressive symptoms has not been adequately explored. This study investigates the association of support and strain with depressive symptoms among a sample of older men and women in the USA (N = 298, mean age 71 years) who have knee osteoarthritis (OA). Data were collected from a survey mailed to residents who had previously participated in the Osteoarthritis Study in Seniors (OASIS), a longitudinal observational study of OA progression (survey response rate was 77%). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed significant associations of both support and strain with depressive symptoms, while statistically controlling for a variety of demographic, psychosocial and disease-related variables. In addition, social support significantly buffered the relation between social strain and depressive symptoms. The interaction effect was not significantly different for women and men, nor were the individual associations of support and strain with depressive symptoms conditioned by participant gender. The results add to the ongoing discussion regarding gender and social relations as well as highlight the role of both positive (social support) and negative (social strain) aspects of social interactions in relation to the psychological functioning of older adults coping with a chronic illness.