Associations of awareness of age-related change with emotional and physical well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and Objectives: This systematic review aimed to synthesize and quantify the associations of awareness of agerelated change (AARC) with emotional well-being, physical well-being, and cognitive functioning. Research Design and Methods: We conducted a systematic review with a correlational random effects meta-analysis. We included quantitative studies, published from January 1, 2009 to October 3, 2018, exploring associations between AARC and one or more of the following outcomes: emotional well-being, physical well-being, and cognitive functioning. We assessed heterogeneity (I2) and publication bias. Results: We included 12 studies in the review, 9 exploring the association between AARC and emotional well-being and 11 exploring the association between AARC and physical well-being. No study explored the association between AARC and cognitive functioning. Six articles were included in the meta-analysis. We found a moderate association between a higher level of AARC gains and better emotional well-being (r = .33; 95 CI 0.18, 0.47; p <.001; I2= 76.01) and between a higher level of AARC losses and poorer emotional (r = -.31; 95 CI -0.38, -0.24; p < .001; I2= 0.00) and physical well-being (r = -.38; 95 CI -0.51, -0.24; p < .001; I2= 83.48). We found a negligible association between AARC gains and physical well-being (r = .08; 95 CI 0.02, 0.14; p < .122; I2= 0.00). Studies were of medium to high methodological quality. Discussion and Implications: There is some indication that AARC gains and losses can play a role in emotional well-being and that AARC losses are associated with physical well-being. However, the number of included studies is limited and there was some indication of heterogeneity. PROSPERO Registration: CRD42018111472. © 2020 Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved.