Abstract

EXCEED THE SPACE PROVIDED. #9. Basic Research in Behavioral Medicine. The proposed project examines the role of personality, coping efforts, perceived psychological control, and 3ositive and negative aspects of social relations in adaptation to chronic osteoarthritis (OA) in older adults. OA is a significant cause of chronic pain and activity limitations among older adults and the prevalence of OA increases with age. Osteoarthritis is a painful, debilitating, and progressive condition that is not easily treated. Commonly used medications and surgical approaches are not uniformly effective. As such, OA represents a significant stressor that many older adults encounter. Living with OA involves mild to major physical and psychological adaptation and coping skills. However, little work has addressed the potential relationship of negative aspects of social relations with personality, coping efforts, control beliefs, and well-being in the context of OA, and longitudinal work is particularly scarce. Therefore, the proposed project is designed to investigate the contribution of personality measures, control beliefs, coping efforts and social relations to baseline physical and psychological well being, and changes in well-being over one year, for older adults with OA. The design of the proposed project is a short-term longitudinal study of 220 older adults who have OA. The two-wave survey will include reliable, validated measures of personality, perceived control, coping behavior, social support, social strain, depressive symptoms, self-esteem, quality of life, and perceived physical disability. The survey will be administered via the Medialab computer program by trained research assistants. In addition, observations of participants' physical functioning will be made at both time points. Multiple regression models will be used to evaluate the contribution of personality, social relations, coping, and control beliefs to physical and psychological well-being using cross-sectional data. Longitudinal data will be evaluated with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques. The results of the proposed study have the potential to impact the millions of older Americans who experience pain, discomfort, and limitations in valued activities due to OA. Given the current limitations of available medical treatments, it is vital to assess the role of existing psychosocial resources that people use in adapting to their condition over time. PERFORMANCE SITE ========================================Section End===========================================

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Small Research Grants (R03)
Project #
5R03AG023322-02
Application #
6950862
Study Section
National Institute on Aging Initial Review Group (NIA)
Program Officer
Stahl, Sidney M
Project Start
2004-09-30
Project End
2007-09-30
Budget Start
2005-07-01
Budget End
2007-09-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2005
Total Cost
$69,300
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
Brandeis University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
616845814
City
Waltham
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02454