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Objectives: Research on the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among older adults has primarily focused on relatively acute virus outcomes, but it is likely financial hardships during this time have eroded the adaptive capacity of older adults. It is also possible these impacts vary by race and ethnicity. We examine changes in psychological resilience (PR) among older adults before and during the pandemic to determine whether financial hardships and other stressors have altered this resource for White, Black, and Hispanic older adults., Method: Using the COVID-19 module released by the Health and Retirement Study (n = 735), we examined changes in PR between 2016 and 2020 related to financial hardships during COVID-19. We tested interactions to determine whether the effects were patterned by race and ethnicity., Results: Consistent with previous literature, resilience was relatively stable during this time on average. Financial hardship during COVID-19 diminished resilience, but this effect was concentrated primarily among White Americans., Discussion: The results suggest that PR is a relatively stable resource in later life, even during the pandemic. However, this resource may be affected in the face of specific challenges in later life. Policies related to financial hardship during the pandemic should be seen as supporting the capacity for older adults to adapt to current as well as future challenges., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: Research on life course inequality and successful aging has sought to understand how events and challenges may lead to poor outcomes in later life for some individuals, while others fare well in the face of adversity. Among internalized resources, research suggests psychological resilience is protective in the face of challenges, but little is known about the predictive efficacy of this measure compared to other resources such as mastery. This paper examines connections between psychological resilience and later life health compared to other internalized resources., Method: Standardized associations between 4 resources (resilience, mastery, optimism, hopelessness) and 5 health outcomes were tested using short-term health transitions and longer term health trajectories in a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework using the Leave Behind Questionnaire (LBQ) and linked Health and Retirement Study (HRS) between 2006/2008 and 2014/2016 (n = 11,050-12,823)., Results: Psychological resilience had consistent and robust associations with health transitions and trajectories. Further, the effects of this resource were generally 4-10 times greater than for mastery, optimism, and hopelessness in combined models. Trajectory analyses replicate these findings and suggest the beneficial associations of resilience over time were persistent for some health outcomes, and cumulative for others., Discussion: The results suggest that psychological resilience is powerfully associated with health in later life, with substantially greater predictive efficacy than other commonly used resource measures. Future research should establish how this intrapersonal resource works alongside structural and interpersonal resources to promote and protect health and functioning in the face of challenges and adversity., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: Increased loneliness is a common consequence of widowhood in later life. However, individuals with high levels of perceived social support from friends tend to cope more effectively following major social losses like widowhood. Military service is associated with cultivation of strong social support structures. This effect may not only influence those who serve, but also their spouses. Roughly half of older women today are married to veterans, which could shape how they cope with widowhood. We tested two hypotheses: (a) widows of veterans will be less lonely following widowhood compared to their nonveteran counterparts, and (b) this effect will be explained by perceived social support from friends., Methods: We used the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine changes in loneliness following widowhood among wives of veterans and nonveterans. We used Ordinary Least Squares regression and mediation tests to address our hypotheses., Results: Net of baseline differences, widows of veterans reported statistically lower levels of loneliness (p < .05) following widowhood compared to widows of nonveterans. Widows of veterans retained the same level of perceived social support from friends pre- and postwidowhood, whereas nonveteran wives experienced a loss. Perceived social support from friends mediated the association between veteran status of the deceased spouse and loneliness., Discussion: Our findings suggest wives of veterans may have more resilient social support structures than nonveteran spouses, helping them cope at widowhood. Future research should explore whether these effects persist in association with other major stressful events in later life., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: Drawing from cumulative inequality (CI) theory, the current study examined racial disparities in impairment as individuals approached death to determine whether proposed mechanisms hypothesized to fuel or diminish racial disparities at late ages were at work at the end of individualized life spans., Method: Black-white disparities were analyzed among decedents using latent growth curves based on the data from the North Carolina Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE) (N = 1,926)., Results: Consistent with previous literature, racial inequalities in functional disparities diminish at late ages. However, significant black-white disparities emerge as older adults approach death, exponentially increasing within the 2 years immediately preceding death. Further, these disparities are not fully mediated by socioeconomic status., Discussion: The results confirm that CI in health outcomes is observable in late life among individual life spans, suggesting the years surrounding death may be a particularly vulnerable period for health inequality. Future research should examine how advantaged statuses translate to increased access to health-related resources that aid in maintaining greater functional independence until the last stage of life., (© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: This study evaluated (a) whether the association between chronic conditions and functional limitations vary by race/ethnicity, and (b) whether socioeconomic status accounted for any observed racial variation in the association between chronic conditions and functional limitations., Method: The Health and Retirement Study data were used to assess whether race/ethnicity moderated the association between chronic conditions and functional limitations, and whether education, income, and/or wealth mediated any of the observed moderation by race/ethnicity., Results: Results from structural equation models of latent growth curves with random onset indicated that (a) the positive association between chronic conditions and functional limitations onset was larger for African Americans and Hispanics than it was for Whites, but (b) this difference largely persisted net of socioeconomic status., Discussion: African Americans and Hispanics endure a multiplicative double disadvantage in the early stages of the disablement process where they experience (a) a more rapid onset and higher levels of functional limitations, and (b) greater risk of functional limitation onset associated with chronic conditions compared to their White counterparts. Moreover, basic economic policies are unlikely to curtail the greater risk of functional limitations onset associated with chronic conditions encountered by African Americans and Hispanics., (© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: Drawing on the life course framework and theoretical concept of resilience, we examine the impact of early-life service-related exposures (SREs) on later-life functional impairment trajectories among older U.S. male veterans. We conceptualize resilience as a psychological resource potentially moderating the lasting negative consequences of traumatic military exposures., Method: Using the 2013 Veterans Mail Survey linked to the Health and Retirement Study 2006-2014 Leave Behind Questionnaire and RAND Data File (v.N), we estimate latent growth curve models of functional impairment trajectories., Results: SRE to death has a persistent positive effect on functional limitations and activities of daily living limitations. Psychological resilience significantly moderates this association, such that veterans maintaining higher levels of resilience in the face of adverse exposures have considerably less functional impairment over time compared to their counterparts with low levels of resilience., Discussion: Our findings point to the importance of psychological resilience in later life, especially within the realm of traumas occurring in early life. We discuss implications for current military training programs, stressing the importance of research considering individual resources and processes that promote adaptation in the face of adverse life events., (© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: Drawing on life-course perspective and cumulative advantage theory, we examined whether service related exposures (SREs)-combat and exposure to death-have lasting impacts on depressive symptom and psychiatric problem trajectories of aging veterans., Methods: The Health and Retirement Study and linked 2013 Veterans Mail Survey were used to examine SREs and mental health among older veterans between 2002 and 2012 (N = 1,662). Latent growth curves were used to measure how individuals vary from average mental health trajectories based on SREs and other important covariates., Results: Exposure to death had a significant and lasting effect on depressive symptoms for veterans in late life but was reduced to nonsignificance when physical health trajectories were included. Combat and exposure to death had independent and robust impacts on psychiatric problems, which were robust in final models., Discussion: SREs presented varied and significant impacts, suggesting that combat does not work alone in driving poor mental health trajectories, and that exposure to death is a more robust risk marker for later outcomes.

Objectives: To test different forms of private insurance coverage as mediators for racial disparities in onset, persistent level, and acceleration of functional limitations among Medicare age-eligible Americans., Method: Data come from 7 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (1996-2008). Onset and progression latent growth models were used to estimate racial differences in onset, level, and growth of functional limitations among a sample of 5,755 people aged 65 and older in 1996. Employer-provided insurance, spousal insurance, and market insurance were next added to the model to test how differences in private insurance mediated the racial gap in physical limitations., Results: In baseline models, African Americans had larger persistent level of limitations over time. Although employer-provided, spousal provided, and market insurances were directly associated with lower persistent levels of limitation, only differences in market insurance accounted for the racial disparities in persistent level of limitations., Discussion: Results suggest private insurance is important for reducing functional limitations, but market insurance is an important mediator of the persistently larger level of limitations observed among African Americans., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: Research shows declining disability rates, but little is known about whether cohort differences are due to delayed onset, increased recovery, or reduced severity of impairment. Furthermore, disease is considered the proximate cause of disability yet chronic conditions rates are increasing, making it unclear whether the conditions predicting specific disability trajectories are changing., Methods: We use a latent class analysis of disability trajectories and corresponding mortality with three birth cohorts of the National Long-Term Care Survey to determine how long-term experiences of disablement differ by cohort and chronic conditions., Results: More recent cohorts were more likely to experience a decade free of disablement compared with all other disability trajectories. Sensory problems and hypertension correspond to trajectories of non-disablement, whereas hip fracture, stroke, arthritis, and diabetes predict more disabled experiences., Discussion: Later life disability is measured nonparametrically to distinguish patterns among long-term trajectories. Findings suggest that more recent cohorts are more likely to forego or delay disability over a decade rather than experience prolonged periods of mild to severe disablement. Serious health events such as stroke, along with diabetes, characterize trajectories of high impairment, warranting future research.

Objectives: Disability is conceptualized as a life course process and measured using either transitions or trajectories. Previous research does not simultaneously explore both aspects of disablement, accounting for timing and trajectory. The role of education is noted in disability research, but its independent effects over time have not been fully examined. I investigate the effects of education and income on disability onset and progression over a decade., Methods: I use a latent curve modeling approach with four waves of the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly data to independently test the preventive and mediating effects education and income provide for disability., Results: Education has a preventive effect for disability onset but no significant effect on progression once income is held constant. Income has both a preventive and mediating effect on disability, although preventive effects are stronger for education., Discussion: Later life disability is measured here using both onset and trajectory. Findings are consistent with health research suggesting that education and income work through shared and independent mechanisms to affect disability over time. These findings also highlight the importance of modeling timing when studying health trajectories.

Objective: Research has increasingly focused on the dynamic nature of disability and depressive symptoms in later life. Little research, however, has modeled disability and depressive symptoms as dynamic, related processes. Furthermore, virtually no research has considered social support as dynamic across age. Here, we investigate the relationship between long-term patterns of disability, perceived and received social support, and depressive symptoms in later life., Methods: We use random coefficient (growth) models of four waves of Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly data to determine whether disability, support, and depressive symptoms follow linear trajectories across age and whether support mediates the relationship between disability and depressive symptoms., Result: The results show that (a) trajectories of disability are strongly related to trajectories of depressive symptoms and (b) trajectories of perceived support mediate the relationship between trajectories of disability and depressive symptoms, whereas trajectories of received support do not., Discussion: Disability, social support, and depressive symptoms are strongly interrelated processes in later life. Our results are consistent with previous research in showing that perceived, rather than received, support mediates the relationship between disability and depressive symptoms, but our results extend previous research in showing that this mediation occurs across time.