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Background: previous research has shown that tendencies to tenaciously pursue goals (TGP) and flexibly adapt goals (FGA) relate to well-being of older people., Objectives: this study aimed to identify subpopulations of elderly people with different coping profiles, describe change in participants' profiles over time and determine the influence of coping profiles on well-being over a 5-year period., Methods: latent profile transition analysis (LPTA) was used in a three-wave longitudinal data collection measuring flexibility, tenacity, depression, self-rated health and life satisfaction among an elderly population over 65 years old., Results: three coping profiles were identified. Profile 1 was characterised by participants with high flexibility and tenacity scores, Profile 2 with moderate flexibility and low tenacity scores and Profile 3 with low flexibility and moderate tenacity scores. Results indicate stability of these profiles over time, with Profile 1 being the most adaptive in terms of ageing well., Conclusion: high flexibility and tenacity in older people is a stable coping profile that is associated with successful ageing., (© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

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There are three competing conceptions concerning the relationship between positive illusions and mental health: the 'traditional' mental health model, according to which an accurate perception of the self and the world is a cornerstone of psychological well-adjustment; Taylor and Brown's Social Psychological Model on mental health, which assumes that positive illusions promote good mental health; and Baumeister's Optimal Margin Theory, which states that too much accuracy is harmful to mental health, as are exaggerated illusions. These three models were evaluated in the elderly ( n = 857 retirees ages 60-95) using the youthful bias, which is the illusion of being younger than one's real age. As a whole, the Social Psychological Model obtained the strongest support. Retirees who harboured an exaggerated youthful bias (more than 15 years) reported more satisfaction with leisure time, higher self-esteem, better perceived health, and less boredom proneness than those who felt as old as they were or who, except for perceived health, entertained a moderate youthful bias (between 1 and 15 years). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]