Do Specific Diseases Matter?

Abstract

Abstract: Although extensive research has examined the link between subjective aging (i.e., individuals’ subjective age and their self-perceptions of aging) and health-related outcomes, little is known about the role of specific chronic diseases in shaping long-term trajectories of subjective aging. This longitudinal study examined the role of three common chronic diseases (diabetes, cancer, and mental health conditions) in subjective aging trajectories across 7 years of follow-up time, using data from the German Ageing Survey ( N = 4,349; age range: 40-85 years). Results from adjusted linear mixed-effects models indicated that individuals with mental health conditions evaluated their aging more negatively than their nondiseased counterparts, whereas subjective aging did not significantly differ between those with or without cancer or diabetes. None of the three diseases was linked to more negative changes over time, which, according to posthoc analyses, are rather attributable to multimorbidity; that is, individuals reporting more overall diseases exhibited a steeper decrease in self-perceptions of aging (SPA) related to ongoing development and a steeper increase in SPA related to social losses. Our findings therefore suggest a meaningful link between specific diseases and subjective aging, particularly for mental health conditions. Yet, changes in subjective aging trajectories rather appear to be shaped by the accumulation of co-occurring conditions than by single diseases. Future research may benefit from focusing on incidental health events and from additionally considering the severity and progression of disease-related symptom burden.