Search results for "life-span"

FREE-LIVING AND LABORATORY-BASED GAIT ASSESSMENTS PROVIDE CONGRUENT RESULTS AMONG 75-YEAR-OLD MEN AND WOMEN

2018

It is often wondered how representative laboratory-based assessments are of the free-living condition. Indeed, free-living gait is more predictive of self-reported falls history compared to laboratory-based gait. However, explicit explorations of the relationship between laboratory-based and free-living based gait parameters remain scarce. Therefore, this association was studied using a trunk-worn accelerometer during a laboratory-based 6-min walking test, and in free-living conditions (6 days) in a sample of 75-year-old men and women (N=77). Gait quantity (minutes of walking per day, distance covered for free-living and laboratory, respectively) and quality (assessed with multiscale entrop…

DO FLEXIBLE AND TENACIOUS GOAL PURSUIT ALLEVIATE THE INFLUENCES OF FUNCTIONAL DECLINE TO ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION?

2018

Assimilative and accommodative coping strategies have hardly been studied in relation to activity participation when facing functional decline. We investigated whether tenacious goal pursuit (TGP) and flexible goal adjustment (FGA) influence the association between physical or cognitive performance, and physical activity or participation in other hobbies. Participants were 78-93-year-old community-dwelling people (n=187). TGP and FGA were self-evaluated with distinct scales (ranges 5–25). Physical performance was assessed with Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB; 0–12) and cognitive performance with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; 0–30). Physical activity (0–5) and participation i…

The determinants of subjective economic well-being: an analysis on Italian-Silc data

2011

Using Italian data on Income and living conditions for the year 2005, the paper investigates the main determinants of households’ subjective economic well-being by means of a Partial Proportional Ordered Logit Model. According to a joint subjective and objective perspective of analysis, we use as dependent variable the perceived ability of households to make ends meet. Whereas, we use as explanatory variables some objective aspects of living conditions relating to housing, financial equilibrium, possession of durables and quality of residence place and some socio-demographic characteristics. The empirical results show that the financial strain is the most relevant dimension of living condit…

Time to care? Temporal variations of agency of the Finnish adult foster carers.

2020

This article analyses a hybrid form of housing and care service for older people called adult foster care. In Finnish adult foster care model, an older person moves to a foster care home and is cared for by a semi-professional foster carer who is not related to them. A foster care home is thus simultaneously a personal dwelling and a site of intensive care work which also changes the rhythms and routines of both the foster carer and older person. In the article I ask, how do foster carers express their temporal agency and its variations (identity, pragmatic, life course) through time work? By temporal agency I mean individuals' ability to impact on their experience of time, which is done th…

Self-Other Differentiation Scale: Dimensionality, IRT Parameterization, and Measurement Invariance

2018

The Self-Other Differentiation Scale (Olver, Aries, & Batgos, 1989) is a self-report instrument assessing the experience of a separate sense of self from others. The authors aimed to examine its dimensionality, reliability, and measurement invariance across gender. It was completed by 348 participants (48% men) from 17 to 30 years old in Study 1, 348 participants (40% men) from 18 to 28 years old in Study 2, and 1,068 participants (49% men) from 17 to 28 years old in Study 3. The results supported the hypothesis of just one factor underlying the scale; they also showed an appropriate internal consistency and a partial measurement invariance across gender. Results also showed evidence fo…

Children evoke similar affective and instructional responses from their teachers and mothers

2015

In the present study, we examined the extent to which the responses of teachers and mothers toward a particular child are similar in respect to their instructional support and affect, and whether child characteristics predict these responses. The data of 373 Finnish child–teacher–mother triads (178 girls, 195 boys) were analysed. Teachers and mothers reported their instructional support and affective responses toward a child in the school/homework context in Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. At the beginning of Grade 1, the children’s performance in reading and math was tested, and teachers evaluated the children’s externalizing and internalizing problem behaviour. The results demonstrated that mothe…

The elephant in the living room: Centenarians' autobiographies, co-authorship and narratives of extreme longevity.

2020

Everyday life and the new shapes of identities : The different meanings of ‘things that did not happen’ in the lives of Finnish older persons during …

2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our lives in many ways since the end of 2019. This paper investigates the everyday lives of Finnish older persons during the first three months of the pandemic when they were required to stay in “quarantine-like conditions.” The study utilises the ‘sociology of nothing’ in exploring the meanings of nothingness in the everyday lives of older people; that is, the things, events and people that were absent from their lives because of the pandemic. The main interest of the article is to reverse the typical analytical focus from ‘things that happened’ to ‘things that did not happen’ and to shed light on the experiences and descriptions of older persons' unlived…

Media portrayals of transitions from work to retirement in two ageing societies : the case of ageing baby boomers in Japan and Finland

2021

This article explores media portrayals of the transition from work to retirement under the circumstances of demographic change through a focus on newspaper discussions about ageing baby boomers in Japan and Finland. Due to their shared characteristics as a distinct population group that advances the rapid ageing of the population, media representations of Japanese and Finnish baby boomers during the transitional period to retirement give insight into the social perceptions of retirement and their implications on later life. Manifest content analysis and subsequent thematic analysis identify that the topic of “work, retirement and pension” dominates media discussions in both countries. Analy…

“I do those things to pass the time.”: Active ageing during fourth age

2021

Active ageing is a dominant but disputed discourse in the field of ageing. Since it is usually associated with the third age, this article will focus on the active ageing of older adults who need care and services, who are known as the fourth agers. Our data consists of interviews collected from 16 older adults. We analysed the data through content analysis that was guided by the Active Ageing Index (AAI) that is a measuring tool concerning active ageing. According to our results, active ageing during the fourth age can be understood through the lens of small actions and precarity. Although some actions had to be given up or modified, participants were active in various ways, and help from …