Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42625387›Full record

ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2026

Health, cognitive, and psychosocial trajectories over nearly a decade as distal antecedents of awareness of age-related change in old age.

Jana Koch, Laura Buchinger, Brooke Brady, Johanna Drewelies, Sandra Duezel, Ulman Lindenberger, Paolo Ghisletta, Nilam Ram, Ilja Demuth, Valentin Vetter and 2 more

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Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Jana KochSchool of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-3060-094X
Laura BuchingerDepartment of Psychology, Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-8052-4634
Brooke BradySchool of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-6084-5027
Johanna DreweliesCenter for Environmental Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Sandra DuezelCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Ulman LindenbergerMax Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, Berlin, Germany and London, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-8428-6453
Paolo GhislettaDepartment of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-7731-2406
Nilam RamDepartment of Communication, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, United States.
Ilja DemuthCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-4340-2523
Valentin VetterCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-5003-7766
Kaarin J AnsteySchool of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-9706-9316
Denis GerstorfDepartment of Psychology, Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-2133-9498

Funding

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesAwareness of age-related change (AARC) reflects how individuals perceive age-related gains and losses, with positive perceptions consistently predicting better health and well-being. The Awareness of Age-Related Change theoretical framework has long highlighted physical and psychosocial health as distal antecedents of AARC, but their actual importance remains poorly understood. In this preregistered study, we empirically test this key model component.

methodsWe operationalize distal antecedents as 9-year trajectories in physical health (morbidity, grip strength, hearing, vision), cognitive functioning (recall, processing speed, working memory), and self-reported loneliness. We apply structural equation modeling to 3-wave longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study II (N = 753, aged 61-81 at baseline, 49% female) and test if these trajectories predict late-life AARC.

resultsOlder adults with better baseline recall and grip strength reported fewer AARC losses, whereas those with higher baseline loneliness perceived more losses and fewer gains. Steeper declines in recall and stronger increases in morbidity were associated with heightened awareness of losses. Processing speed, working memory, hearing, and vision were not associated with AARC. DISCUSSION: Our results suggest several refinements of the Awareness of Age-Related Change framework: (a) within a given construct space (e.g., cognition), some dimensions (e.g., recall) are more strongly associated with perceiving age-related losses than others (e.g., processing speed), (b) long-term trajectories of recall memory and morbidity (rather than status alone) are particularly relevant for loss-focused awareness of aging, and (c) higher levels of loneliness are most consistently associated with awareness of age-related gains.

Indexed as

AgingAwarenessCognitionHealth StatusLonelinessAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMental RecallMiddle AgedProcessing SpeedCognitive impairmentHealth trajectoriesLonelinessLongitudinalMorbidity

Identifiers

PMID42625387
PMCPMC13654195

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.