The study explores the meanings that family caregivers of people with dementia ascribe to the past, present, and future of their role as a caregiver, and how their integration into caregiving trajectories is related to caregivers’ burdens and gains. The sample was made up of 197 family caregivers (M age = 62.1, SD = 12.3, 70.1% females). They completed three incomplete sentences regarding their past, present, and future caring role, the Zarit Burden Interview and the Gains Associated with Caregiving scale. Sentence completions were content analyzed, and the associations between the resulting trajectories and burdens and gains were studied by means of a one-way ANOVA. Caregivers differed in the meanings ascribed to past, present, and future of their role. Stable-negative (M = 43.6, SD = 13.3), regressive (M = 43.3, SD = 12.7), and present-enhancing (M = 37.4, SD = 13.7) trajectories showed higher levels of burdens than progressive (M = 31.3, SD = 12.3) and/or stable-positive trajectories (M = 26.1, SD = 13.7). Progressive trajectories (M = 38.9, SD = 15.7) were related to more gains than regressive trajectories (M = 28.6, SD = 12.7). Family caregivers’ evaluations of their past, present, and future are not only important separately, but their combination into caregiving trajectories is also relevant. Such trajectories might be relevant when designing interventions to help caregivers reduce their burden levels and increase the benefits ascribed to their experience. The most adaptive trajectory identified was the progressive one, whereas the regressive trajectory was the most dysfunctional.

Research on later-life generativity has promoted a new view of older persons that, far from the traditional images of disability, dependence and frailty, recognises their capacities, and potential to continue growing, while underlining their participation and contributions to families, communities and society. The goal of this study was to carry out a scoping review on later-life generativity, the first one conducted on this topic as far as we know, to show how studies in this area have evolved, which aspects of generativity in later life have been studied, and the methodological and epistemological approaches that are dominant in this area of inquiry. Our scoping review shows that research into generativity in later life has grown steadily over the past 30 years, and particularly during the last decade. However, our results also show how such growing interest has focused on certain methodological approaches, epistemological frameworks and cultural contexts. We identify four critical gaps and leading-edge research questions that should be at the forefront of future research into generativity in later life, gaps that reflect biases in the existing literature identified in the study. These are classified as methodological, developmental, contextual and ‘dark-side’ gaps.

We explored post-traumatic growth (PTG) in older adults immediately after the forced lockdown in Spain during March to April, 2020, due to the COVID–19 pandemic. The study also tried to identify the variables that predict PTG, focusing on the experience of COVID, sociodemographic variables, and social resources. In total 1,009 people aged 55 years and older participated in the study and completed an online questionnaire comprising the following elements: The short form of the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-SF), sociodemographic and social resources questions, and their experiences of COVID–19 (if they had been infected themselves or if they had experienced the loss of someone close). Results showed that only a quarter of the participants experienced higher PTG after the forced lockdown, with only age and social resources being correlated with scores on the PTGI-SF. Looking at the strengths that older adults put into action to combat the pandemic and its social and health consequences could be an important consideration when planning future social policies for this and other pandemics.

In recent years, there has been an increasing number of studies addressing older people's political participation. Much of this literature, however, can be criticised for neglecting important aspects of seniors’ political participation, such as its dynamics across the lifecourse, its gendered nature and the influence of the particular socio-political contexts in which participation occurs. In this paper we bring together all these issues to explore the relation between lifecourse transitions and participation in political organisations in Spanish men and women. We conducted life-story interviews with 40 highly engaged older political activists regarding their lifetime story of political commitment, and identified eight different lifecourse transitions affecting their participation in political organisations. Three of these transitions were related to the work domain and five to the family domain. Most of them were clearly gender-dependent, affecting men's and women's engagement in political organisations in different ways and to different degrees. Our study expands on previous research on lifespan-related aspects of political participation by showing that considering biographical, gendered and historical aspects is key to understanding the relationships between life transitions and participation in political organisations across the lifecourse.

It has been argued that older people's civic engagement has benefits for both individuals themselves and the community more broadly. Removing barriers to participation is, therefore, essential. However, the multi-dimensional nature of civic participation, as well as the different issues raised by recruitment and retention, complicate this. This study explores the barriers to retention of Spanish older people in political organisations, as one important type of participation that has received little attention in the literature to date. A total of 192 people aged 65 and over and actively engaged in three kinds of political organisation participated in this study. Participants answered an open-ended question regarding perceived barriers to continued involvement. Results show a range of reasons for potential future disengagement from political organisations. These barriers fit into three overarching categories related to changes in means, motives or the opportunity context for participation. Means-related barriers were by far the most frequently identified type of barrier. Both the type of organisation and some socio-demographic and participatory characteristics have an impact on the reasons respondents indicated they may potentially stop participating in future. Results suggest the necessity of a more nuanced and multi-faceted approach to understanding barriers to participation. Particularly, the development of retention strategies by political organisations should take into account the specific characteristics of the individuals and organisations they are targeting.

This study is aimed at exploring daily and desired activity patterns in a sample of older people living in a rural context, as well as at examining the effect of some influential factors and their relationships with life satisfaction. Our sample was made of 216 retired people and was recruited from 12 villages from Catalonia and Valencia with populations of less than 1000 inhabitants. Data were gathered by means of an interview that included daily and ideal activities and life satisfaction (by applying the Life Satisfaction Index). Our results show that yesterday's pattern of activities is similar to an ideal pattern, although in the ideal day, our sample allocated more time to social activities and less time to passive activities such as watching TV or resting. In both cases, leisure activities and time spent working seem to play an important role in older people's life. Gender has a remarkable influence on patterns of activity, as women devoted more time to instrumental activities and less time to leisure. In general, differences between yesterday's and ideal activities were not related to life satisfaction.

This paper examines the contributions that generativity in older age may make to the concept of successful ageing. To this end, two perspectives on successful ageing are described: successful ageing as a set of clinical criteria, and successful ageing as the application of adaptive processes aimed at achieving efficient functioning. After showing the limitations of the first perspective, particularly from a developmental point of view, the paper argues that the adaptive version of successful ageing helps to put ageing into a developmental frame, but needs to be complemented by identifying specific content and goals that guide these adaptive processes and establish new feasible gains for older people. Generativity in older age could play that role and provides a conceptual framework that enriches the concept of successful ageing, both by emphasising the social context in which people age and by highlighting a personal growth component.

This study examines both the motives for and the benefits of attending a university programme for older people (UPOP) in Spain, and how they vary with the type of UPOP. Two UPOP models were assessed: The ‘Older People's Classes’ of the University of Barcelona, which is organised as a lecture course, and the ‘University of Experience’ at the University of Valencia, which is a three- or four-year variant of regular university degrees. A sample of 321 older students (mean age 67.5 years) was gathered from the two UPOPs, 161 participants from the former and 157 from the latter. The findings suggest that expressive motives such as acquiring knowledge, expanding the mind or learning for the joy of learning were the most important reasons for joining a UPOP, and that among the perceived benefits from taking classes at university featured ‘gaining more friends’, ‘enhanced self or life-satisfaction’ and ‘joy in life’. Perceived benefits were particularly high among the less educated and the older students. While students participating in the Older People's Classes were older and included relatively more women, differences between the two models in motives and benefits did not exist or were slight. These results are discussed in the context of new strategies to improve university courses aimed at older students.