Attributing illness to ‘old age:’ Consequences of a self-directed stereotype for health and mortality

Abstract

Stereotypic beliefs about older adults and the aging process have led to endorsement of the myth that ‘to be old is to be ill.’ This study examined community-dwelling older adults’ (N = 105, age 80+) beliefs about the causes of their chronic illness (ie, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.), and tested the hypothesis that attributing the onset of illness to ‘old age’ is associated with negative health outcomes. A series of multiple regressions (controlling for chronological age, gender, income, severity of chronic conditions, functional status and health locus of control) demonstrated that ‘old age’ attributions were associated with more frequent perceived health symptoms, poorer health maintenance behaviours and a greater likelihood of mortality at 2-year follow-up. The probability of death was more than double among participants who strongly endorsed the ‘old age’ attribution as compared to those who did not (36% vs. 14%). Findings are framed in the context of self-directed stereotypes and implications for potential interventions are considered.

Keywords:

• attribution
• health
• mortality
• older adults
• self-directed stereotype

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) postdoctoral fellowship to the first author, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) operating grant and a SSHRC standard grant to the second author. The results and conclusions presented are those of the authors. No official endorsement by Manitoba Health is intended or should be inferred. Parts of this research were presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology, 2010. Please address correspondence to Tara L. Stewart, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3T 2N2, or [email protected]

Notes

1. For interested readers, the main analyses were replicated among the larger sample of n = 183 at an attenuated one-tailed significance level of p < .05.

2. The correlations between the ‘old age’ attribution and each covariate were examined to rule out potential collinearity. Endorsement of the ‘old age’ attribution was unrelated to chronological age (r ₁₀₄ = 0.12, p = 0.22), gender (r ₁₀₄ = 0.01, p = 0.96), income (r ₁₀₄ = 0.03, p = 0.77), severity of chronic conditions (r ₁₀₄ = 0.02, p = 0.85), functional status (r ₁₀₄ = −0.12, p = 0.22), and health locus of control (r ₁₀₂ = 0.10, p = 0.27).