How to build the mindset now proven to slow ageing (ScienceFocus)

#1

How much could a change of attitude change your life?

Think, for a moment, about your hopes and fears for the future. Do you see your 60s, 70s or 80s as a time of growth and opportunity?

Will ageing bring wisdom, status and friendship? Or do you see yourself becoming more lonely, helpless and grumpy as you get older?

Will the last years of your life be – in the words of Shakespeare – “…mere oblivion/Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything”?

Quite incredibly, those beliefs may predict how you fare in the decades ahead, determining everything from the health of your memory to your risk of cardiovascular disease through a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. Your views about ageing may even influence your lifespan by as much as 7.5 years.

Read the full story: How to build the mindset now proven to slow ageing (ScienceFocus)

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#2

Gemini helped me identify the full list of questions they used to help identify people’s attitudes:

The Study: Longitudinal benefit of positive self-perceptions of aging on functional health - PubMed

The Full research paper: Sci-Hub. Longitudinal Benefit of Positive Self-Perceptions of Aging on Functional Health / The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 2002

Based on the study provided, here are the specific questions participants were asked to measure their attitudes toward aging, along with the other survey items used to track their health and perceived control.

1. Questions Measuring Attitudes Toward Aging

To measure “self-perceptions of aging,” the study used the five-item Attitude Toward Own Aging subscale of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (PGCMS). Participants were asked to agree or disagree with the following statements (or choose a comparative option for the final question):

  1. “Things keep getting worse as I get older”
  2. “I have as much pep as I did last year”
  3. “As you get older, you are less useful”
  4. “I am as happy now as I was when I was younger”
  5. “As I get older, things are (better, worse, or the same) as I thought they would be”

2. Other Questions Asked in the Study

The researchers also asked questions to measure other factors, including functional health, perceived control, and loneliness.

  • Functional Health (Outcome Variable):
    Participants were asked to use the Health Scale for the Aged (HSA) to check which of the following six tasks they were physically able to do:

    • Heavy work around the house (shoveling snow, washing, etc.)
    • Work at a full-time job
    • Ordinary work around the house
    • Walk half a mile
    • Go out to a movie, to church, to a meeting, or to visit friends or relatives
    • Walk up and down stairs

  • Perceived Control (Mediator Variable):
    Participants were asked to rate their agreement with three statements:

    • “I can do just about anything that I set my mind to”
    • “If I want something, I go out and get it”
    • “I am a go-getter”

  • Covariates (Control Variables):

    • Self-Rated Health: “Is your health improving, declining or remaining about the same?”
    • Loneliness: “How much do you feel lonely?”

3. Links to the Full Questionnaires

The study utilized standard gerontological scales rather than a single custom document. You can find the full text of these scales at the following locations:

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