H W Wahl, S Becker, D Burmedi
The German Centre for Research on Ageing, Department of Social and Environmental Gerontology, Heidelberg, Germany
Research has clearly shown that vision loss in later life is among those chronic conditions which negatively impact on behavioral competence as well as emotional adjustment. Psychological reactions to vision loss vary greatly, however, and the factors influencing outcome are still not well understood. This study employs a control theoretical framework to address this research issue. Heckhausen and Schulz's (1995) distinction between primary and secondary control, as well as Brandtstädter and Renner's (1990) differentiation between tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment, are used to predict outcomes in the behavioral and emotional domain of aging individuals with severe vision impairment. 90 elders with age-related macular degeneration (mean age 79.5 years; 64 women, 26 men; mean visual acuity 20/200) underwent a standardized measurement program addressing - besides control-related mediators - a broad range of behavioral and emotional outcomes (such as positive / negative affect, ADL-IADLs). Assessment includes "face-to-face" interviews at t1 and t2 (12-month interval) as well as telephone interviews at interim 1,2 and 3 (exerted in 3-month intervals). Findings referring to t1 measurements show primary selection, a coping strategy characterized by the investment of time and effort to solve problems on one's own, to be a rather consistent predictor of behavioral outcomes. Secondary selection played a predictive role for some of the emotional outcomes. Tenacious goal pursuit predicted positive affect, but not other outcomes. Results confirm the heuristic usefulness of a control-theoretical framework to better understand the psychosocial adaptational dynamics of older adults faced with macular degeneration.
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