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Everyday Competence in Old and Very Old Age: An Inter-disciplinary Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Margret M. Baltes ,
Ulrich Mayr ,
Markus Borchelt ,
Ineke Maas  and
Hans-Ulrich Wilms
Margret M. Baltes
Affiliation:
Department of Gerontopsychiatry, Free University of Berlin, Ulmenallee 32, 14050, Berlin.
Ulrich Mayr
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education, Berlin.
Markus Borchelt
Affiliation:
Academy of Science and Technology, Berlin.
Ineke Maas
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education, Berlin.
Hans-Ulrich Wilms
Affiliation:
Department of Gerontopsychiatry, Free University of Berlin, Ulmenallee 32, 14050, Berlin.
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Abstract

In the present paper the focus is on structural aspects of everyday competence and its relationship with various personal resources, such as health, social status, self concept and cognition. The findings support the hypothesis that two distinct, albeit intercorrelated, components of everyday competence are differentially related to the various resources examined in this paper. The two components are a basic level of competence (BaCo) which is defined mainly by self-care related activities, and an expanded level of competence (ExCo) associated mostly with leisure and social activities and advanced instrumental activities of daily living. In general, BaCo is more strongly related to health-related resources, and ExCo is more strongly associated with behavioural, psychological and social resources. 90.6% of the reliable variance in ExCo and 82.4% in BaCo are explained by these selected resources. Furthermore, all of the age-related variance in everyday competence is accounted for by these health-related and socio-behavioural resources.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , December 1993 , pp. 657 - 680
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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