Adaption in Very Old Age

data not included in the regular soep-is release. For access, please write an e-mail to soepmail@diw.de

Short Description: Of major interest for the current study module were the challenges of daily life in old age and how older partners help or hinder one another in handling these. From both partners, we concurrently collected data at physiological (e.g., cortisol), behavioral (e.g., cognitive performance), and experiential levels (e.g., self-reports about affect, activities, social interactions, stress and coping, body contact, and personality).

Experimental Details: To examine such questions, we obtained experience sampling data six to seven times throughout the day over seven consecutive days from 165 older heterosexual German couples (Mage = 72 years, range: 56-89) as these went about the routines of their daily lives. 38 of the couples were part of the SOEP Innovation Sample, the remaining 127 couples were from the SOEP Core Sample.

Incentives: Participants have been reimbursed with up to 100€ per person, depending on the number of questionnaires filled in within the daily protocol.

Available Papers

• Pauly, Theresa, Karolina Kolodziejczak, Johanna Drewelies, Denis Gerstorf, Nilam Ram, and Christiane A. Hoppmann. 2021. Political context is associated with everyday cortisol synchrony in older couples. Psychoneuroendocrinology 124, 105082. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.105082);

• Kolodziejczak, Karolina, Johanna Drewelies, Theresa Pauly, Nilam Ram, Christiane Hoppmann, and Denis Gerstorf. 2022. Physical Intimacy in Older Couples` Everyday Lives: Its Frequency and Links With Affect and Salivary Cortisol. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B 77 (8), 1416-1430. (https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbac037)

Contact	Syear	Respondents	Dataset	Variables	Availability	Field	Method	Replication
Denis Gerstorf (Humboldt University of Berlin)	2017	~60	Data available on request		04/2019	Psychology	Ambulatory assessments