Abstract
Among older adults psychological stress can cause significant changes to their health. These stressors include the transition to retirement, bereavement, social isolation, and ageism. Additionally, certain personality traits can worsen health outcomes and shorten the life span of the individual, while other personality traits can be protective. Strengthening the individual’s coping skills, maintaining their social support systems, and identifying purpose in their lives may improve their health and well-being.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
American Psychiatric Association. Somatic symptom and related disorders. In: Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th ed. 2013. doi:https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.dsm09.
Wang M, Shi J. Psychological research on retirement. Annu Rev Psychol. 2014;65:209–33.
Stahl ST, Schulz R. Changes in routine health behaviors following late-life bereavement: a systematic review. J Behav Med. 2014;37(4):736–55.
Courtin E, Knapp M. Social isolation, loneliness and health in old age: a scoping review. Health Soc Care Community. 2017;25(3):799–812.
Mushtaq R, Shoib S, Shah T, Mushtaq S. Relationship between loneliness, psychiatric disorders and physical health: a review on the psychological aspects of loneliness. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014;8(9):WE01–4.
Hoppmann CA, Infurna FJ, Ram N, Gerstorf D. Associations among individuals’ perceptions of future time, individual resources, and subjective well-being in old age. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2017;72(3):388–99.
Allen JO. Ageism as a risk factor for chronic disease. Gerontologist. 2016;56(4):610–4.
Law J, Richmond RL, Kay-lambkin F. The contribution of personality to longevity: findings from the Australian centenarian study. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2014;59(3):528–35.
Andersen SL, Sun JX, Sebastiani P, et al. Personality factors in the long life family study. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2013;68(5):739–49.
Avvenuti G, Baiardini I, Giardini A. Optimism’s explicative role for chronic diseases. Front Psychol. 2016;7:295.
Cohen R, Bavishi C, Rozanski A. Purpose in life and its relationship to all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events: a meta-analysis. Psychosom Med. 2016;78(2):122–33.
Kim ES, Strecher VJ, Ryff CD. Purpose in life and use of preventive health care services. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014;111(46):16331–6.
Boyle PA, Buchman AS, Barnes LL, Bennett DA. Effect of a purpose in life on risk of incident Alzheimer disease and mild cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older persons. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010;67(3):304–10.
Boyle PA, Buchman AS, Wilson RS, Yu L, Schneider JA, Bennett DA. Effect of purpose in life on the relation between Alzheimer disease pathologic changes on cognitive function in advanced age. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012;69(5):499–505.
Scheffer AC, Schuurmans MJ, Van Dijk N, Van der Hooft T, De Rooij SE. Fear of falling: measurement strategy, prevalence, risk factors and consequences among older persons. Age Ageing. 2008;37(1):19–24.
Lachs MS, Pillemer KA. Elder Abuse. N Engl J Med. 2015;373(20):1947–56.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vardi, K. (2018). Psychological Factors Affecting Medical Conditions. In: Tampi, R., Tampi, D., Boyle, L. (eds) Psychiatric Disorders Late in Life. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73078-3_34
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73078-3_34
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73076-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73078-3
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)