@article{TschornSchulzeFoerstneretal.2022,
  author    = {Tschorn, Mira and Schulze, Susanne and F{\"o}rstner, Bernd Rainer and Holmberg, Christine and Spallek, Jacob and Heinz, Andreas and Rapp, Michael Armin},
  title     = {Predictors and prevalence of hazardous alcohol use in middle-late to late adulthood in Europe},
  series = {Aging \& mental health},
  volume    = {27},
  journal   = {Aging \& mental health},
  number    = {5},
  publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group},
  address   = {Abingdon},
  issn      = {1360-7863},
  doi       = {10.1080/13607863.2022.2076208},
  pages     = {1001 -- 1010},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Objectives: Even low to moderate levels of alcohol consumption can have detrimental health consequences, especially in older adults (OA). Although many studies report an increase in the proportion of drinkers among OA, there are regional variations. Therefore, we examined alcohol consumption and the prevalence of hazardous alcohol use (HAU) among men and women aged 50+ years in four European regions and investigated predictors of HAU. Methods: We analyzed data of N = 35,042 participants of the European SHARE study. We investigated differences in alcohol consumption (units last week) according to gender, age and EU-region using ANOVAs. Furthermore, logistic regression models were used to examine the effect of income, education, marital status, history of a low-quality parent-child relationship and smoking on HAU, also stratified for gender and EU-region. HAU was operationalized as binge drinking or risky drinking (<12.5 units of 10 ml alcohol/week). Results: Overall, past week alcohol consumption was 5.0 units (+/- 7.8), prevalence of HAU was 25.4\% within our sample of European adults aged 50+ years. Male gender, younger age and living in Western Europe were linked to both higher alcohol consumption and higher risks of HAU. Income, education, smoking, a low-quality parent-child relationship, living in Northern and especially Eastern Europe were positively associated with HAU. Stratified analyses revealed differences by region and gender. Conclusions: HAU was highly prevalent within this European sample of OA. Alcohol consumption and determinants of HAU differed between EU-regions, hinting to a necessity of risk-stratified population-level strategies to prevent HAU and subsequent alcohol use disorders.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SchlomannBuenningHippetal.2021,
  author    = {Schlomann, Anna and B{\"u}nning, Mareike and Hipp, Lena and Wahl, Hans-Werner},
  title     = {Aging during COVID-19 in Germany},
  series = {European journal of ageing : social, behavioural and health perspectives},
  volume    = {19},
  journal   = {European journal of ageing : social, behavioural and health perspectives},
  number    = {4},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Berlin},
  issn      = {1613-9372},
  doi       = {10.1007/s10433-021-00655-1},
  pages     = {1077 -- 1086},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {Existing theories of aging suggest that there may be similarities and differences in how COVID-19 impacts older people's psychosocial adaptation compared to younger age groups, particularly middle-aged individuals. To assess the degree to which these impacts vary, we analyzed data from 3098 participants between the ages of 40 and 79 from an online survey in Germany. Data were collected at three measurement occasions between the start of the nationwide lockdown in mid-March 2020 and the end of the lockdown in early August 2020. The survey focused on everyday experiences during the COVID-19 crisis and collected various satisfaction ratings (e.g., general life satisfaction, satisfaction with family life, satisfaction with social contacts). At baseline, participants also provided retrospective ratings of satisfaction for the period before the COVID-19 crisis. In our analyses, we compared satisfaction ratings of middle-aged (40-64 years) and older individuals (65-79 years) and found that both middle-aged and older participants experienced the greatest decreases in satisfaction with social contacts, with more pronounced decreases seen in middle-aged participants. A similar pattern was observed for general life satisfaction, but the overall decreases were less pronounced in both groups compared to the decreases in satisfaction with social contacts. We also observed a partial recovery effect in all measures at the last measurement occasion, and this effect was more pronounced in older adults. Findings were also confirmed using age as a continuous variable and checking for linear and nonlinear effects of outcomes across the age range. Although ageism arose during the pandemic in the sense that older adults were labeled as a "risk group," particularly at the start of the outbreak, we found consistently with other studies that middle-aged adults' satisfaction decreased to a greater extent than that of older adults.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{HeinzelLawrenceKalliesetal.2015,
  author    = {Heinzel, Stephan and Lawrence, Jimmy B. and Kallies, Gunnar and Rapp, Michael Armin and Heissel, Andreas},
  title     = {Using Exercise to Fight Depression in Older Adults},
  series = {GeroPsych : the journal of gerontopsychology and geriatric psychiatry},
  volume    = {28},
  journal   = {GeroPsych : the journal of gerontopsychology and geriatric psychiatry},
  publisher = {Hogrefe},
  address   = {Cambridge, Mass. ; G{\"o}ttingen [u.a.]},
  issn      = {1662-9647},
  doi       = {10.1024/1662-9647/a000133},
  pages     = {149 -- 162},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {Depression is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder in the general population. Despite a large demand for efficient treatment options, the majority of older depressed adults does not receive adequate treatment: Additional low-threshold treatments are needed for this age group. Over the past two decades, a growing number of randomized controlled trials (RCT) have been conducted, testing the efficacy of physical exercise in the alleviation of depression in older adults. This meta-analysis systematically reviews and evaluates these studies; some subanalyses testing specific effects of different types of exercise and settings are also performed. In order to be included, exercise programs of the RCTs had to fulfill the criteria of exercise according to the American College of Sports Medicine, including a sample mean age of 60 or above and an increased level of depressive symptoms. Eighteen trials with 1,063 participants fulfilled our inclusion criteria. A comparison of the posttreatment depression scores between the exercise and control groups revealed a moderate effect size in favor of the exercise groups (standardized mean difference (SMD) of -0.68, p < .001). The effect was comparable to the results achieved when only the eleven trials with low risk of bias were included (SMD = -0.63, p < .001). The subanalyses showed significant effects for all types of exercise and for supervised interventions. The results of this meta-analysis suggest that physical exercise may serve as a feasible, additional intervention to fight depression in older adults. However, because of small sample sizes of the majority of individual trials and high statistical heterogeneity, results must be interpreted carefully.},
  language  = {en}
}