TY - JOUR
T1 - Subjective Age and Health in Later Life
T2 - The Role of Posttraumatic Symptoms
AU - Avidor, Sharon
AU - Benyamini, Yael
AU - Solomon, Zahava
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/5/1
Y1 - 2016/5/1
N2 - Objectives: We examined: (a) long-term effects of war-related trauma and captivity on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), physical health, and subjective age; and (b) the moderation effect of PTSS and health on subjective age among ex-prisoners of war (ex-POWs) and war veterans. Method: Israeli veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War (mean age 57 years), including 111 ex-POWs and 167 matched veterans were assessed for subjective age, war-related PTSS, and health-related measures (physical symptoms, somatization, health-risk behaviors, and self-rated health). Results: Controlling for age, ex-POWs endorsed higher subjective age than controls, and ex-POWs with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) endorsed higher subjective age than ex-POWs and controls without PTSD. PTSS and health measures besides health-risk behaviors predicted subjective age. Significant interactions were found between PTSS and each health measure, suggesting that health only predicts subjective age for those reporting high PTSS. Discussion: PTSS appear to be implicated in the link between health measures and subjective age in later life, pointing to the long-term effect of captivity and war-induced traumatic distress on aging.
AB - Objectives: We examined: (a) long-term effects of war-related trauma and captivity on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), physical health, and subjective age; and (b) the moderation effect of PTSS and health on subjective age among ex-prisoners of war (ex-POWs) and war veterans. Method: Israeli veterans of the 1973 Yom Kippur War (mean age 57 years), including 111 ex-POWs and 167 matched veterans were assessed for subjective age, war-related PTSS, and health-related measures (physical symptoms, somatization, health-risk behaviors, and self-rated health). Results: Controlling for age, ex-POWs endorsed higher subjective age than controls, and ex-POWs with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) endorsed higher subjective age than ex-POWs and controls without PTSD. PTSS and health measures besides health-risk behaviors predicted subjective age. Significant interactions were found between PTSS and each health measure, suggesting that health only predicts subjective age for those reporting high PTSS. Discussion: PTSS appear to be implicated in the link between health measures and subjective age in later life, pointing to the long-term effect of captivity and war-induced traumatic distress on aging.
KW - Captivity
KW - Physical health
KW - Posttraumatic stress symptoms
KW - Subjective age
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84965122371&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/geronb/gbu150
DO - 10.1093/geronb/gbu150
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AN - SCOPUS:84965122371
SN - 1079-5014
VL - 71
SP - 415
EP - 424
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
IS - 3
ER -