CIGEV, area gerontology: Research on Lifespan, Multidirectionality and Plasticity – Director: Matthias Kliegel

Life Course Mechanisms of Well-Being and Health in Old Age

Goals

In this project we investigate the life course determinants and mechanisms that help to preserve well-being and health in old and very old age. Thereby, we target the following research questions:

  • What are the predictors of well-being and health across the life course?
  • Which detailed processes enable certain individuals to maintain a relatively high level of well-being and health, even in very old age?
  • Is this universal for all aspects of well-being and health or does this differ with regard to e.g. psychological versus physical aspects?
  • Does this differ across individuals?
  • Which role do individual reserves (e.g., cognitive, relational, etc.) play in this regard?
  • How do context factors shape these effects?

Selected publications in peer-reviewed journals

  • Miranda, K. A., Gouveia, É. R., Gouveia, B. R., Marques, A., Campos, P., Tinôco, A., Jurema, J., Kliegel, M., & Ihle, A. (in press). Sarcopenia and Physical Activity Predict Falls in Older Adults from Amazonas, Brazil. Retos.
  • Gouveia, É. R., Gouveia, B. R., Marques, A., Peralta, M., França, C., Lima, A., Campos, A., Jurema, J., Kliegel, M., & Ihle, A. (2021). Predictors of Metabolic Syndrome in Adults and Older Adults from Amazonas, Brazil. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(3): 1303. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031303
  • Gouveia, É. R., Smailagic, A., Ihle, A., Marques, A., Gouveia, B. R., Cameirão, M., Sousa, H., Kliegel, M., & Siewiorek, D. (2021). The Efficacy of a Multicomponent Functional Fitness Program Based on Exergaming on Cognitive Functioning of Healthy Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 29(4), 586-594. https://doi.org/10.1123/japa.2020-0083
  • Ihle, A., Ghisletta, P., Gouveia, É. R., Gouveia, B. R., Oris, M., Maurer, J., & Kliegel, M. (2021). Lower Executive Functioning Predicts Steeper Subsequent Decline in Well-Being Only in Young-Old But Not Old-Old Age. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 45(2), 97-108. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025420937076
  • Ihle, A., Gouveia, B. R., Gouveia, É. R., Cheval, B., Nascimento, M. D. M., Conceição, L., Marconcin, P., Peralta, M., Ferrari, G., Oliveira, D., & Kliegel, M. (2021). Physical Activity Dimensions Differentially Predict Physical and Mental Components of Health-Related Quality of Life: Evidence from a Sport for All Study. Sustainability, 13(23): 13370. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132313370
  • Marconcin, P., Ihle, A., Werneck, A. O., Gouveia, É. R., Ferrari, G., Peralta, M., & Marques, A.  (2021). The Association of Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors with Overweight and Obesity among Older Adults from 21 Countries. Nutrients, 13(2): 315. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13020315
  • Marconcin, P., Marques, A., Henriques-Neto, D., Gouveia, É. R., Ferrari, G., Peralta, M., & Ihle, A. (2021). Grip strength as a predictor of depressive symptoms among vulnerable elderly Europeans with musculoskeletal conditions. Scientific Reports, 11: 21329. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00751-3
  • Marques, A., Henriques-Neto, D., Peralta, M., Marconcin, P., Gouveia, É. R., Ferrari, G., Martins, J., & Ihle, A. (2021). Exploring grip strength as a predictor of depression in middle-aged and older adults. Scientific Reports, 11: 15946. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95566-7
  • Gouveia, É. R., Ihle, A., Gouveia, B. R., Kliegel, M., Marques, A., & Freitas, D. L. (2020). Muscle mass and muscle strength relationships to balance: The role of age and physical activity. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 28(2), 262-268. https://doi.org/10.1123/japa.2018-0113
  • Ihle, A., Oris, M., Sauter, J., Spini, D., Rimmele, U., Maurer, J., & Kliegel, M. (2020). The Relation of Low Cognitive Abilities to Low Well-Being in Old Age is Attenuated in Individuals with Greater Cognitive Reserve and Greater Social Capital Accumulated over the Life Course. Aging & Mental Health, 24(3), 387-394. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2018.1531370
  • Perna, L., Zhang, Y., Matías-García, P. R., Ladwig, K.-H., Wiechmann, T., Wild, B., Waldenberger, M., Schöttker, B., Mons, U., Ihle, A., Kliegel, M., Schwettmann, L., Peters, A., & Brenner, H. (2020). Subjective mental health, incidence of depressive symptoms in later life, and the role of epigenetics: results from two longitudinal cohort studies. Translational Psychiatry, 10: 323. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-00997-x
  • Perna, L., Zhang, Y., Wild, B., Kliegel, M., Ihle, A., Schöttker, B., Mons, U., & Brenner, H. (2020). Childhood exposure to hunger: Associations with health outcomes in later life and epigenetic markers. Epigenomics, 12(21), 1861-1870. https://doi.org/10.2217/epi-2019-0333
  • Gouveia, É. R., Gouveia, B. R., Ihle, A., Kliegel, M., Marques, A., & Freitas, D. L. (2019). Balance and mobility relationships in older adults: A representative population-based cross-sectional study in Madeira, Portugal. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 80, 65-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2018.10.009
  • Ihle, A., Kliegel, M., Ballhausen, N., Da Silva Coelho, C., Haas, M., Hering, A., Künzi, M., Laera, G., Mikneviciute, G., Tinello, D., & Zuber, S. (2019). Prospective Memory Relates to Attentional Control: Differential Patterns in Old Age. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 48(1-2), 79-82. https://doi.org/10.1159/000502639
  • Gouveia, B. R., Gouveia, É. R., Ihle, A., Jardim, H. G., Martins, M. M., Freitas, D. L., & Kliegel, M. (2018). The effect of the ProBalance Programme on health-related quality of life of community-dwelling older adults: A randomised controlled trial. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 74, 26-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2017.08.012
  • Gouveia, B. R., Ihle, A., Kliegel, M., Freitas, D. L., Maia, J. A., Gouveia, É. R. (2018). Sex differences in relation patterns between health-related quality of life of older adults and its correlates: a population-based cross-sectional study in Madeira, Portugal. Primary Health Care Research & Development, 20: e54. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1463423618000233
  • Ihle, A., Albiński, R., Gurynowicz, K., & Kliegel, M. (2018). Four-Week Strategy-Based Training to Enhance Prospective Memory in Older Adults: Targeting Intention Retention Is More Beneficial than Targeting Intention Formation. Gerontology, 64(3), 257-265. https://doi.org/10.1159/000485796
  • Gouveia, É. R., Gouveia, B. R., Ihle, A., Kliegel, M., Maia, J. A., Badia, S. B., & Freitas, D. L. (2017). Correlates of health-related quality of life in young-old and old-old community-dwelling older adults. Quality of Life Research, 26(6), 1561-1569. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1502-z
  • Gouveia, É. R., Ihle, A., Kliegel, M., Freitas, D. L., Jurema, J., Tinôco, M. A., Odim, A., Machado, F. T., Muniz, B. R., Antunes, A. A., Ornelas, R. T., & Gouveia, B. R. (2017). The relationship of physical activity to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level in a sample of community-dwelling older adults from Amazonas, Brazil. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 73, 195-198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2017.08.004
  • Ihle, A., Gouveia, É. R., Gouveia, B. R., van der Linden, B. W. A., Sauter, J., Gabriel, R., Oris, M., Fagot, D., & Kliegel, M. (2017). The Role of Leisure Activities in Mediating the Relationship between Physical Health and Well-Being: Differential Patterns in Old and Very Old Age. Gerontology, 63(6), 560-571. https://doi.org/10.1159/000477628
  • Ihle, A., Inauen, J., Scholz, U., König, C., Holzer, B., Zimmerli, L., Battegay, E., Tobias, R., & Kliegel, M. (2017). Prospective and retrospective memory are differentially related to self-rated omission and commission errors in medication adherence in multimorbidity. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 24(6), 505-511. https://doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2016.1209675
  • Ihle, A., Oris, M., Fagot, D., & Kliegel, M. (2017). No cross-sectional evidence for an increased relation of cognitive and sensory abilities in old age. Aging & Mental Health, 21(4), 409-415. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1109055
  • Ihle, A., Jopp, D. S., Oris, M., Fagot, D., & Kliegel, M. (2016). Investigating Discontinuity of Age Relations in Cognitive Functioning, General Health Status, Activity Participation, and Life Satisfaction between Young-Old and Old-Old Age. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(11): 1092. https://doi.org/10.3390/Ijerph13111092

Methodology

In this project we use data from several large-scale interdisciplinary datasets such as VLV, SEVAAI, SHARE, and ESS. Besides that, we collect own data in our labs.