When scientists compare older and younger adults, stress is shown to decrease with increasing age. However, the stress and age relationship has been greatly misunderstood due to two main factors 1) questionnaires which adress everyday stressors are often more prone to catch the stressors which are more prevalent in young and middle aged adults and 2) very old and frail adults are rarely included in studies of stress.
In our study, by using a more representative age population, we have discovered that stress increases with age in adults aged 66-96. We also discovered that psychosocial factors did not modify the association, but health related factors and depressive symptoms did.
Almira Osmanovic-Thunström’s blog post on the British Geriatric Society: When the golden years are not so golden
Publication
Do levels of perceived stress increase with increasing age after age 65? A population-based study
Almira Osmanovic-Thunström, Enrico Mossello, Torbjörn Åkerstedt, Laura Fratiglioni and Hui-Xin Wang
Age Ageing, First published online: July 17, 2015, doi: 10.1093/ageing/afv078