New Directions in the Sociology of Aging (2013) / Chapter Skim
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2 A Conceptual Model of Aging for the Next Generation of Research
2 A Conceptual Model of Aging for the Next Generation of Research
Pages 14-30
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From page 14... ...
between the two." Grasping the changes in lives, structures, and contexts across the aging process requires conceptual models that can encompass the whole. It also calls for models that can capture heterogeneity, fluidity, and indeterminacy within larger patterns.
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The critical period model posits a definite time during development in which a biological system changes durably in response to the environment; the sensitive period model also posits a specific time span for the period of heightened plasticity, but it views change as possible at other periods as well. The chains of risks model suggests that risks (such as low socioeconomic status)
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Social Socioeconomic Health Cognition Disability isolation status Older adult Middle adult Young adult Youth Gestation and early Level childhood Macrosocial National, political organizations and institutions Social institutions Neighborhood/ household/family Individual Biological and physiological FIGURE 2-1 Conceptual model for studying social processes in aging over the life course.
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Linking Multiple Levels Smaller Social Institutions (e.g., Dyad, Small Social Group) Individual Biological and Physiological FIGURE 2-2 Changing social processes and social context in an aging society -- The conceptual model: how the social sciences see the world.
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Macrodemographic trends are the consequences of population aging and also influence the social experiences of aging. Some key demographic trends include the rapidly increasing number of the "oldest old," a more racially and ethnically diverse older population, more immigrants and foreign-born citizens among the elderly, changing causes of death, and greater human capital (education and work experience)
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Social networks, often measured as the others or "alters"
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. Perhaps for this reason, social conditions, such as isolation, poverty, low social status, or lack of social support, are strongly and consistently associated with poor health, and social risk factors rival or exceed traditional biomedical factors, such as smoking and cholesterol levels, in their power to predict poor health
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. Linking biological and social processes is complex, because each of the processes is itself complicated, and because some research suggests interactions among these levels, so that the association between social risk factors and illness differs across states, regions, or countries (see Gruenewald, Chapter 10; Weinstein, Glei, and Goldman, Chapter 11; Shanahan, Chapter 12; Schnittker, Chapter 13)
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-- has enabled researchers to directly examine individual outcomes at multiple observation points, to situate lives within historical periods, and to trace trajectories of individual lives. As empirical evidence demonstrating the impact of childhood social experiences and biological exposures on adult outcomes accumulates, scholars have begun to more explicitly connect very early with very late stages in the life course.
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The ages demarcating entry to a particular life course stage may vary by social class and cohort. For example, the age demarcations for middle age is usually defined as age 45, but depending on social class and educational attainment, age 45 can be the age at which one has a first birth, or when one enters the "empty nest" stage.
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found that women who have been divorced face increased risks of developing cardiovascular disease, perhaps due to the stresses accompanying marital breakdown. Some research suggests that middle-aged adults might be particularly vulnerable to sudden system changes, such as those that occur during major wars or the transition of former socialist countries (Mayer, 2009)
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Outcomes in the Conceptual Model Outcomes constitute the third dimension in the conceptual model. Figure 2-1 lists five outcomes of interests across the top of the cube: health, cognition, disability, social isolation, and socioeconomic status (SES)
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. Social demography and social epidemiology have long-standing interests in health, including morbidity and mortality, and on health disparities.
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. There are a number of indicators of social isolation, including living alone, having a small social network, infrequent participation in social activities, that may be associated with health risks (Cornwell and Waite, 2009)
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. Theorizing the Conceptual Model The three-dimensional conceptual model enables the consideration of, but does not articulate, relationships, causal mechanisms, interacting effects, or translation mechanisms that connect the different levels, stages, and outcomes.
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Recommendation 1. The National Institute on Aging should engage researchers in the development of a conceptual model, or a number of conceptual models, for social processes in aging over the life course in multiple dimensions.
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The conceptual model, or models, should be used by the National Institute on Aging to serve as the basis for developing a standard set of key measures, across disciplines, for use in surveys and other types of data collections and analyses that focus on aging issues. The process for obtaining those measures from databases is discussed in Chapter 3.
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