Brooke Brady

Objectives: Awareness of age-related change (AARC) reflects how individuals perceive age-related gains and losses, with positive perceptions consistently predicting better health and well-being. The Awareness of Age-Related Change theoretical framework has long highlighted physical and psychosocial health as distal antecedents of AARC, but their actual importance remains poorly understood. In this preregistered study, we empirically test this key model component. Methods: We operationalize distal antecedents as 9-year trajectories in physical health (morbidity, grip strength, hearing, vision), cognitive functioning (recall, processing speed, working memory), and self-reported loneliness. We apply structural equation modeling to 3-wave longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study II (N = 753, aged 61–81 at baseline, 49% female) and test if these trajectories predict late-life AARC. Results: Older adults with better baseline recall and grip strength reported fewer AARC losses, whereas those with higher baseline loneliness perceived more losses and fewer gains. Steeper declines in recall and stronger increases in morbidity were associated with heightened awareness of losses. Processing speed, working memory, hearing, and vision were not associated with AARC. Discussion: Our results suggest several refinements of the Awareness of Age-Related Change framework: (a) within a given construct space (e.g., cognition), some dimensions (e.g., recall) are more strongly associated with perceiving age-related losses than others (e.g., processing speed), (b) long-term trajectories of recall memory and morbidity (rather than status alone) are particularly relevant for loss-focused awareness of aging, and (c) higher levels of loneliness are most consistently associated with awareness of age-related gains.

We investigated how different forms of intersectional discrimination-that is, discrimination based on "who you are"-contribute to suicidality across the adult lifespan. We focused on the mediating role of depressive symptoms and explored whether human connection (operationalized as social network size) acts as a potential moderator. Data were from 1,570 Australian adults (M_age = 52.9, range = 18-93, 72.9% female) participating in the Resilient Minds study. Discrimination was measured on the Intersectional Discrimination Index, capturing anticipated, day-to-day, and major discrimination in the past year and lifetime. Suicide ideation and attempts in the past year were measured using binary items (yes/no). Depressive symptoms and social network size were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and Lubben Social Network Scale, respectively. Logistic regressions and moderated mediation models (Hayes' PROCESS macro) were conducted to explore the associations. Anticipated (OR = 1.64, p < .001), day-to-day (past year) (OR = 1.62, p < .001), and major (lifetime) (OR = 1.24, p < .001) discrimination were significantly associated with suicide ideation. Only day-to-day (past year) discrimination was associated with suicide attempts (OR = 2.99, p < .001). These associations were partially mediated by heightened depressive symptoms. Although the size of one's close social network was not found to be a moderator of the discrimination-suicidality associations, a larger social network reduced the effect of discrimination on depressive symptoms. The current results support the role of intersectional discrimination as a risk factor for suicide ideation and attempts, partly through increased depressive symptoms. Reducing persistent day-to-day discrimination and promoting human connection may be important targets for future suicide prevention strategies.

Subjective age—how old individuals feel, look, behave, think, identify based on interests, and wish to be—is a multidimensional construct linked to health and wellbeing. We examined whether stable (self-perceptions of aging, aging expectations) and daily (stress, affect) factors predict six subjective age dimensions: Felt, Look, Behave, Mental, Interest, and Ideal Ages. A community sample of 209 Australian adults (19–84 years; M _age = 54.56, SD = 17.49; 64.59% female) completed two 7-day diary bursts 4 weeks apart, providing 2,385–2,419 observations collected near the end of COVID-19 restrictions. Multilevel models estimated between-person (stable) and within-person (daily) associations and tested moderation by chronological age. Between persons, lower positive affect was associated with older subjective age across all dimensions except Ideal Age. More negative self-perceptions of aging predicted older Ideal Age. Age moderated the relationship between self-perceptions of aging and Interest Age: negative self-perceptions were linked to younger Interest Ages, especially among older adults. Within persons, days with higher positive affect predicted feeling younger for all except Ideal Age, whereas higher negative affect predicted older Felt Age. On days with more stress, people reported older Felt, Mental, and Interest Ages. Findings support subjective age as a dynamic, multidimensional construct in understanding aging.

Objective: This study evaluated the Labs Without Walls app and paired Apple Watch devices for remote research among Australian adults aged 18–84.Methods: The study app, built using Apple's open-source ResearchKit frameworks, uses a multi-timescale measurement burst design over 8-weeks. Participants downloaded the app, completed tasks over 8 weeks, and wore Apple Watch devices. Feasibility was assessed by recruitment, remote consent, and data collection without training. Adherence was measured by task completion rates. Usability was assessed by response times, a post-study survey, and qualitative feedback.Results: 228 participants (mean age 53, age range 18–84; 62.7% female) were recruited nationwide, consented remotely, and provided data. 201 (88.16%) completed the 8-week protocol. Task adherence ranged from 100% to 70.61%. Health, environmental, and sleep data were collected passively. Usability feedback was excellent, with 84% rating the app as “extremely” or “a lot” user-friendly, 88% finding alert frequency “just right,” and 95.7% finding the schedule manageable. Few age or sex differences were found.Conclusions: The Labs Without Walls app and paired Apple Watch devices are user-friendly and enable adults aged 18–84 to complete surveys, cognitive and sensory tasks, and provide passive health and environmental data. The app can be used without formal training by males and females living in Australia, including older adults. Future iterations should consider gamification and strategies to improve daily-diary survey user experience.

With recent technical advances, many cognitive and sensory tasks have been adapted for smartphone testing. This study aimed to assess the criterion validity of a subset of self-administered, open-source app-based cognitive and sensory tasks by comparing test performance to lab-based alternatives. An in-person baseline was completed by 43 participants (aged 21 to 82) from the larger Labs without Walls project (Brady et al., 2023) to compare the self-administered, app-based tasks with researcher-administered equivalents. 4 preset tasks sourced from Apple’s ResearchKit (Spatial Memory, Trail Making Test, Stroop Test, and dBHL Tone Audiometry) and 1 custom-built task (Ishihara Color Deficiency Test) were compared. All tasks except the Spatial Memory task demonstrated high comparability to the researcher-administered version. Specifically, the Trail Making Tests were strongly correlated (.77 and .78 for parts A and B, respectively), Stroop correlations ranged from .77 to .89 and the Ishihara tasks were moderately correlated (r = .69). ICCs for the Audiometry task ranged from .56 to .96 (Moderate to Excellent) with 83% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Bland–Altman plots revealed a mean bias between -5.35 to 9.67 dB for each ear and frequency with an overall bias of 3.02 and 1.98 for the left and right ears, respectively, within the minimum testing interval. Furthermore, all app-based tasks were significantly correlated with age. These results offer preliminary evidence of the validity of four open-source cognitive and sensory tasks with implications for effective remote testing in non-lab settings.

Objectives: This systematic review aimed to synthesise the evidence on potential differences in financial, social, health and safety-related decision-making between younger and older adults. Methods: Trial, experimental, and prospective studies including older (60+) and younger adults that reported on quantitative decision-making outcome measures (i.e., performance in relation to achieving a specific prespecified goal) were included. Results: Decision-making was significantly poorer (i.e., further from prespecified goals) in older compared to younger adults (k = 57, d _random = -0.17, 95% CI -0.29, -0.04, I ² = 92.92%), with high heterogeneity between studies. Age differences were observed for financial and social but not health decision-making domains. Discussion: Older adults performed more ‘poorly’ on financial and social decision-making than younger adults. Reasons for observed differences may vary (e.g., different motivation and values) and require exploration in future research. This has implications for how people of different ages are supported, especially at times of important decision-making.