TY - JOUR
T1 - The Accumulation of Adversity in Midlife
T2 - Effects on Depressive Symptoms, Life Satisfaction, and Character Strengths
AU - Infurna, Frank J.
AU - Staben, Omar E.
AU - Gardner, Molly J.
AU - Grimm, Kevin J.
AU - Luthar, Suniya S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Psychological Association
PY - 2023/2/16
Y1 - 2023/2/16
N2 - Middle-aged adults are a central pillar of society because they comprise large segments of the workforce and bridge younger and older generations. Given the significant role that middle-aged adults play for the greater good of society, more research is warranted to evaluate in which ways adversity could accumulate or pile-up to impact pertinent outcomes. We used data from a sample of middle-aged adults (n = 317, age 50–65 at baseline, 55% women) who were assessed monthly for a period of 2 years to examine whether the accumulation of adversity was predictive of depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and character strengths (generativity, gratitude, the presence of meaning, and search for meaning). Greater accumulation of adversity was associated with reporting more depressive symptoms, lower life satisfaction, and the lower presence of meaning and the effects remained for depressive symptoms when accounting for concurrent adversity. More concurrent adversity was associated with reporting more depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction and lower levels of generativity, gratitude, and the presence of meaning. Analyses that targeted specific domains of adversity showed that the accumulation of adversity associated with close family members (i.e., spouse/partner, children, and parents), and financial, and work domains showed the strongest (negative) associations across each outcome. Our findings demonstrate that monthly adversity take its toll on pertinent midlife outcomes and points to future research targeting mechanisms underlying our findings as well as resources that promote positive outcomes.
AB - Middle-aged adults are a central pillar of society because they comprise large segments of the workforce and bridge younger and older generations. Given the significant role that middle-aged adults play for the greater good of society, more research is warranted to evaluate in which ways adversity could accumulate or pile-up to impact pertinent outcomes. We used data from a sample of middle-aged adults (n = 317, age 50–65 at baseline, 55% women) who were assessed monthly for a period of 2 years to examine whether the accumulation of adversity was predictive of depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and character strengths (generativity, gratitude, the presence of meaning, and search for meaning). Greater accumulation of adversity was associated with reporting more depressive symptoms, lower life satisfaction, and the lower presence of meaning and the effects remained for depressive symptoms when accounting for concurrent adversity. More concurrent adversity was associated with reporting more depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction and lower levels of generativity, gratitude, and the presence of meaning. Analyses that targeted specific domains of adversity showed that the accumulation of adversity associated with close family members (i.e., spouse/partner, children, and parents), and financial, and work domains showed the strongest (negative) associations across each outcome. Our findings demonstrate that monthly adversity take its toll on pertinent midlife outcomes and points to future research targeting mechanisms underlying our findings as well as resources that promote positive outcomes.
KW - accumulation of adversity
KW - challenges in midlife
KW - lifespan development
KW - midlife
KW - stressors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150811903&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1037/pag0000725
DO - 10.1037/pag0000725
M3 - Article
C2 - 36795424
AN - SCOPUS:85150811903
SN - 0882-7974
VL - 38
SP - 230
EP - 246
JO - Psychology and aging
JF - Psychology and aging
IS - 3
ER -