Successful Aging and Subjective Well-Being Among Oldest-Old Adults

Since Rowe and Kahn (1997, 1998) suggested that successful aging includes three main components—low probability of disease and disease-related disability, high cognitive and physical functional capacity, and active engagement with life—considerable research has been conducted on its determinants, conceptualization, and application; furthermore, commentary and debate on successful aging have also been published (McLaughlin, Connell, Heeringa, Li, & Roberts, 2010). Several additional concerns relate to the components of successful aging; for example, Rowe and Kahn’s (1997) model did not include subjective perceptions of well-being or meaning of life as determinants (Aldwin, Spiro, & Park, 2005; George, 2006; Lawton, 1999). In addition, in terms of life-span development, human development is a life-long process; and adaptation in the later years is linked to earlier parts of the life course (Crosnoe & Elder, 2002; Elder & Johnson, 2002). This suggests that earlier experience in the life span matters for later life. Rowe and Kahn’s model, nevertheless, did not address losses, gains, and the balance between losses and gains in later life (Aldwin et al., 2005). In a number of adult development models, earlier experiences in childhood and their long-term consequences in adjustment and functioning in later life have been emphasized (Block, 1993; Elder & Johnson, 2002; Settersten, 1999). Martin and Martin’s (2002) developmental adaptation model provided a framework for synthesizing past experiences (i.e., distal influences) with available current resources and adaptational outcomes (i.e., proximal influences; Martin & Martin, 2002; Martin, Deshpande-Kamat, Poon, & Johnson, 2011). Proximal influences refer to current individual, social, or economic resources; whereas distal influences are defined as past personal experiences in cumulative life events or achievements (e.g., education) and historical events (Brown & Anderson, 1991; Martin & Martin, 2002; Wheaton, 1994). Adaptation refers to psychosocial adjustment to changing situations (Martin & Martin, 2002). For decades, many developmental scholars suggested the importance of investigating the association of early experiences and developmental trajectories in research on aging (e.g., Martin & Martin, 2002); nevertheless, multiple pathways and compensation mechanisms for successful aging still need to be explored, particularly how older adults can modify aging-related physiological changes or functional deterioration by compensating with psychological or social components (Young, Frick, & Phelan, 2009). A significant number of oldest-old adults, including centenarians who do not satisfy the definitions of Rowe and Kahn’s successful aging model, still show high levels of psychological components (Cho, Martin, & Poon, 2012). The overall objective of this study, therefore, was to evaluate an integrative model of individuals’ past and current experiences with aging well that combines the successful aging model and the developmental adaptation model. Reasons for integrating both models include the following: First, Rowe and Kahn’s model of successful aging does not include the proximal and distal influences as outlined in the developmental adaptation model. Individual resources highlighted in the developmental adaptation model correspond with low probability of disease and disease-related disability as well as high cognitive and physical functional capacity in Rowe and Kahn’s model. Second, the active engagement component in Rowe and Kahn’s model corresponds with one of the proximal influences and with past life experiences (i.e., social resources, past life experiences). Third, even though Rowe and Kahn (1997, 1998) suggested including three essential components for optimal aging, the focus of their model did not include developmental perspectives on aging. This weakness might be turned into strength by combining with the developmental adaptation model, which provides a view of the aging process from a broader developmental perspective (Martin & Martin, 2002). As shown in Figure 1, the purpose of this study was to expand the concept of aging to a spectrum of past and current individual life influences by examining successful developmental adaptation among oldest-old adults. The three components outlined in Rowe and Kahn’s model of successful aging (i.e., low probability of disease and disease-related disability, high cognitive and physical functional capacity, and active engagement with life) has been proposed as a predictor of subjective well-being (i.e., Bradburn’s [1969] positive affect), viewed as a developmental outcome. Perceived economic status has been included as another predictor of positive affect. In addition, education and past life experiences have been proposed as direct predictors of successful aging components and indirect predictors of a developmental outcome (see Figure 1). Figure 1. Hypothesized model: Relationships among distal influences, proximal influences, and outcome.