Primary and secondary control strategies for managing health and financial stress across adulthood.

Abstract

The study examined the relation among three types of control strategies (persistence, positive reappraisals, lowering aspirations) and subjective well-being across adulthood (N -3,490).Specifically, the authors investigated whether age-adapted endorsement of control strategies is conducive to subjective well-being if individuals experience health or financial stress.The results reveal an overall enhanced reliance on control strategies in older as compared with younger adults.In addition, persistence showed a stronger positive relation to subjective well-being in young adulthood as compared with old age.In midlife and old age, positive reappraisals had a stronger positive relation to subjective well-being than persistence.Lowering aspirations was negatively related to subjective well-being, independent of age.Age differences in the relation of control strategies to subjective well-being were particularly salient in individuals who faced either health or financial stress.This study addressed the endorsement and predictive value of individuals' control strategies across the lifespan.Specifically, we examined age differences in the relation between control strategies and subjective well-being.Moreover, we investigated whether age-adapted investment of control strategies is particularly beneficial for individuals who face specific types of stressors (health stress and financial stress).We proposed that individuals' endorsement of primary and secondary control is functionally tailored to age-graded constraints and opportunities for development.Primary control strategies are directed at attaining personal goals and overcoming obstacles (Heckhausen & Schulz, 1995;Rothbaum, Weisz, & Snyder, 1982).Primary control strategies should thus be most efficient at younger ages when life-course related opportunities are favorable for a wide range of developmental pathways.At older ages, by contrast, individuals have less control over intended outcomes of behavior; the opportunities for goal attainment in many domains (e.g., health, career, family) have become sharply reduced.Therefore, we proposed that in older adults selfprotective secondary control (e.g., positive reappraisals) is more necessary and thus predictive of successful development.Finally, we hypothesized that age differences in the effectiveness of control