The Relationship Between Awareness of Age-Related Change, Cognitive Functioning, and Psychological Well-being of Older Adults

Abstract Awareness of age-related change (AARC) is a dimension of subjective aging that describes how older adults feel about changes in their own functioning, both positive and negative, that are due to growing older (Diehl & Wahl, 2010). Diehl and Wahl (2010) proposed a theoretical model that outlined the antecedents and outcomes of AARC in older adults, which included cognitive abilities and psychological well-being. The current study investigated the relationship between AARC, cognitive functioning, and psychological well-being due to their connection with successful aging. Specifically, a structural equation model was tested in which (a) AARC gains and AARC losses were hypothesized to predict both cognitive functioning and psychological well-being and (b) cognitive functioning was hypothesized to predict psychological well-being. An alternative structural equation model was examined in which cognitive functioning was hypothesized to predict AARC gains and losses, as specified in Diehl and Wahl�s theoretical model; both cognitive functioning and AARC were hypothesized to be predictive of psychological well-being. A sample of older adults aged 60 and older were recruited from Amazon MTurk, and an online Qualtrics survey was used to gather the data. The results indicated greater support for the first model, in which AARC predicted cognitive functioning and psychological well-being. Several direct effects were statistically significant. Specifically, AARC losses was negatively and significantly related to inductive reasoning, processing speed, and psychological well-being and was positively and significantly related to verbal memory, while AARC gains was positively and significantly related only to psychological well-being. The current study�s findings have implications for both clinical work and research. The results may inform the work of geropsychologists in their work with older adults to promote successful aging by highlighting aspects to consider within conceptualization and interventions, such as AARC, cognitive functioning, and PWB. Additionally, the findings add to the growing body of literature about how older adults� awareness of age-related changes (i.e., AARC) relates to other key variables such as cognitive functioning and psychological well-being that impact successful aging.