Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g7rbq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-26T14:00:16.477Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Berlin Aging Study (BASE): Overview and Design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Paul B. Baltes ,
Karl Ulrich Mayer ,
Hanfried Helmchen  and
Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen
Paul B. Baltes
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education.
Karl Ulrich Mayer
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education.
Hanfried Helmchen
Affiliation:
Free University Berlin.
Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen
Affiliation:
Free University Berlin.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article, the introduction to a collection of six related articles, describes the general rationale and design of the Berlin Aging Study (BASE). The distinguishing features of BASE are: (1) a special focus on the very old (70–105 years), (2) broad inter-diciplinarity (medicine, psychiatry, psychology, sociology and economics), and (3) sample heterogeneity achieved by local (West Berlin) representativeness. In addition to discipline-specific topics, four theoretical orientations guide the study: (1) differential ageing, (2) continuity versus discontinuity of ageing, (3) range and limits of plasticity and reserve capacity, and (4) ageing as an inter-disciplinary and systemic phenomenon. To provide a foundation and framework for the remaining articles, this paper outlines the protocols, designs, and measurement procedures of fourteen data collection sessions. In addition, information is given on the samples used for empirical analysis. Two samples from the first wave of the Berlin Aging Study are addressed in this collection of articles. The first (N = 360), uses data from the BASE Intake Assessment Protocol (Session 1). The second (N = 156), employs data from the entire 14-session full protocol of BASE. Selectivity analyses involving 22 comparison variables are reported in this paper and demonstrate that, with the exception of 12-month mortality, these two samples displayed the intended sample heterogeneity. Those results suggest that data from BASE hold high generalizability.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , December 1993 , pp. 483 - 515
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alber, J. 1992. Social and economic policies for the elderly in Germany. Department of Administration Services, University of Constance.Google Scholar
Antonucci, T. C. and Akiyama, H. 1987. Social networks in adult life and a preliminary examination of the convoy model. Journal of Gerontology, 42, 519–527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, M. M. 1987. Erfolgreiches Altern durch Verhaltenskompetenz und Umweltqualität (Successful aging as a function of behavioural competence and environmental quality). In Niemitz, C. (ed.), Der Mensch im Zusammenspiel von Anlage und Umwelt, pp. 353–377. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/Main.Google Scholar
Baltes, M. M., Mayr, U., Borchelt, M., Maas, I. and Wilms, H.-U. 1993. Everyday competence in old and very old age: An interdisciplinary perspective. Ageing and Society, this issue.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P. B. 1968. Longitudinal and cross-sectional sequences in the study of age and generation effects. Human Development, 11, 145–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P. B. 1987. Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23, 611–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P. B. 1991. The many faces of human aging: toward a psychological culture of old age. Psychological Medicine, 21, 837–854.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P. B. and Baltes, M. M. 1990. Psychological perspectives on successful aging: the model of selective optimization with compensation. In Baltes, P. B. and Baltes, M. M. (eds), Successful Aging: Perspectives from the Behavioral Sciences, pp. 1–34. Cambridge University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P. B. and Mittelstraß, J. (eds) 1992. Zukunft des Alterns und gesellschaftliche Entwicklung (Future of aging and societal development). De Gruyter, Berlin.Google Scholar
Baltes, P. B., Reese, H. W. and Nesselroade, J. R. 1977/1988. Life-Span Developmental Psychology: Introduction to Research Methods. Brooks Cole, Monterey, CA (reprinted in 1988: Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NY).Google Scholar
Berkman, L. F. in press. Successful, usual and impaired functioning in community-dwelling elderly: findings from the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Aging. Journal of American Medical Association.Google Scholar
Binstock, R. H. and Shanas, E. (eds) 1985. Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.Google Scholar
Birren, J. E. (ed) 1959. Handbook of Aging and the Individual: Psychological and Biological Aspects. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Birren, J. E. 1988. A contribution to the theory of the psychology of aging: As a counterpart of development. In Birren, J. E. and Bengtson, V. L. (eds), Emergent Theories of Aging, pp. 153–176. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Birren, J. E. and Bengtson, V. L. (eds) 1988. Emergent Theories of Aging. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Birren, J. E. and Schaie, K. W. (eds) 1985. Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, second edition. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.Google Scholar
Bortz, W. M. 1991. Living Short and Dying Long. Bantam, New York.Google Scholar
Brim, O. G. Jr., and Kagan, J. 1980. Constancy and change: A view of the issues. In Brim, O. G. Jr., and Kagan, J. (eds), Constancy and Change in Human Development, pp. 1–25. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Bromley, D. B. 1988. Approaching the limits. Social Behavior, 3, 71–84.Google Scholar
Coper, H., Jänicke, B. and Schulze, G. 1985. Adaptivität (Adaptivity). In Bente, D., Coper, H. and Kanowski, S. (eds), Hirnorganische Psychosyndrome im Alter: Methoden zur Objektivierung pharmakotherapeutischer Wirkungen, Vol. 2, pp. 159–170. Springer, Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cotman, C. W. (ed.) 1985. Synoptic Plasticity. Guilford Press, New York.Google Scholar
Cowdry, E. V. 1939. Problems of Ageing. Williams and Wilkins Co, Baltimore, MD.Google Scholar
Finch, C. E. 1990. Longevity, Senescence, and the Genome. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Finch, C. E. and Schneider, E. L. (eds) 1985. Handbook of the Biology of Aging, second edition. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.Google Scholar
Fries, J. F. 1989. Aging Well. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.Google Scholar
Fries, J. F. 1990. Medical perspectives upon successful aging. In Baltes, P. B. and Baltes, M. M. (eds), Successful Aging: Perspectives from the Behavioral Sciences, pp. 35–49. Cambridge University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geiselmann, B. and Helmchen, H. In press. Demented subjects' competence to consent to participate in field studies: The Berlin Aging Study (BASE). Medicine and Law.Google Scholar
Gerok, W. and Brandtstädter, J. 1992. Normales, krankhaftes und optimales Altern: Variationen und Modifikation (Normal, pathological, and optimal aging: Variations and range of modifiability). In Baltes, P. B. and Mittelstraß, J. (eds), Zukunft des Alterns und gesellschaftliche Entwicklung. De Gruyter, Berlin.Google Scholar
Häfner, H. 1992. Psychiatrie des höheren Lebensalters (Psychiatry of old age). In Baltes, P. B. and Mittelstraß, J. (eds), Zukunft des Alterns und gesellschaftliche Entwicklung, pp. 151–179. De Gruyter, Berlin.Google Scholar
Helmchen, H. and Linden, M. 1993. The differentiation between depression and dementia in the very old. Ageing and Society, this issue.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleemeier, R. W. 1962. Intellectual Change in the Senium, pp. 290–295. Proceedings of the Social Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association.Google Scholar
Kliegl, R. and Baltes, P. B. 1986. Theory-guided analysis of mechanisms of development and aging through testing-the-limits and research on expertise. In Schooler, C. and Schaie, K. W. (eds), Social Structure and Individual Aging Processes, pp. 95–119. Ablex, Norwood, NJ.Google Scholar
Kohli, M. and Meyer, J. W. 1986. Social structure and social construction of life stages. Human Development, 29, 145–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kruse, A., Lindenberger, U. and Baltes, P. B. In press. Longitudinal research on human aging: The power of combining real-time, microgenetic, and simulation approaches. In Magnusson, D. (ed.), Methodological Research and Research-Strategical Issues in Longitudinal Research. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lehr, U. and Thomae, H. (eds) 1987. Formen seelischen Alterns: Ergebnisse der Bonner Gerontologischen Längsschnittstudie (BOLSA) (Forms of psychological aging: Results of the Bonn Gerontological Longitudinal Study). Enke, Stuttgart.Google Scholar
Lerner, R. M. 1984. On the Nature of Human Plasticity. Cambridge University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindenberger, U., Little, T. D., Gilbert, R. and Baltes, P. B. 1993. Selectivity and Representativeness of the Berlin Aging Study. Manuscript in preparation.Google Scholar
Maddox, G. L. 1987. Aging differently. Gerontologist, 27, 557–564.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Magnusson, D. and Bergman, L. (eds) 1990. Data Quality in Longitudinal Research. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Mayer, K. U. 1986. Structural constraints on the life course. Human Development, 29, 163–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, K. U. (ed.) 1990. Lebensverläufe und soaialer Wandel (The life course and social change). Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, K. U. 1991. Soziale Ungleichheit und die Differenzierung von Lebensverläufen (Social inequality and the differentiation of the life course). In Zapf, W. (ed.), Die Modernisierung moderner Gesellschaften. Campus, Frankfurt/Main and New York.Google Scholar
Mayer, K. U. 1992. Bildung und Arbeit in einer alternden Bevölkerung (Education and work in an aging population). In Baltes, P. B. and Mittelstraß, J. (eds), Zukunft des Alterns und gesellschaftliche Entwicklung. De Gruyter, Berlin.Google Scholar
Mayer, K. U. and Brückner, E. 1989. Lebensverläufe und Wohlfahrtsentwicklung. Materialien aus der Bildungsforschung Nr. 35. Max-Planck-Institute for Human Development and Education, Berlin.Google Scholar
Mayer, K. U. and Huinink, J. 1990. Age, period, and cohort in the study of the life course: A comparison of classical A-P-C analysis with event history analysis or farewell to Lexis? In Magnusson, D. and Bergman, L. (eds), Data Quality in Longitudinal Research, pp. 211–232. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Mayer, K. U. and Schoepflin, U. 1989. The state and the life course. Annual Review of Sociology, 15, 187–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, K. U. and Wagner, M. 1993. Socio-economic resources and differential aging. Ageing and Society, this issue.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meinlschmidt, G., Imme, U. and Kramer, R. 1990. Sozialstrukturatlas Berlin (West). Senatsverwaltung für Gesundheit und Soziales, Berlin.Google Scholar
Nelson, A. E. and Dannefer, D. 1992. Aged heterogeneity: fact or fiction? The fate of diversity in gerontological research. Gerontologist, 32, 17–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nesselroade, J. R. and Baltes, P. B. (eds) 1979. Longitudinal Research in the Study of Behavior and Development. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Neugarten, B. L. 1969. Continuities and discontinuities of psychological issues into adult life. Human Development, 12, 121–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neugarten, B. L. 1974. Age groups in American society and the rise of the young-old. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 9, 187–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nuthmann, R. 1992. Die Berliner Altersstudie (BASE) -ein Überblick (The Berlin Aging Study: An overview). In Schütz, R.-M., Kuhlmey, A. and Tews, H. P. (eds), Altern in Deutschland (Ageing in Germany), pp. 201–215. Theuberger, Berlin.Google Scholar
Perlmutter, M. (ed). 1990. Late-Life Potential. The Gerontological Society of America, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Radloff, L. S. 1977. The CES-D Scale. A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurements, 1, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riegel, K. F. and Riegel, R. M. 1972. Development, drop, and death. Developmental Psychology, 6, 306–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riley, M. W. 1973. Aging and cohort succession: interpretations and misinterpretations. Public Opinion Quarterly, 37, 35–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riley, M. W. 1987. On the significance of age in sociology. American Sociological Review, 52, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riley, M. W. and Riley, J. W. Jr., (eds) 1989. The quality of aging: strategies for interventions. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Vol. 503. Sage, Newbury Park, CA.Google Scholar
Rowe, J. W. and Kahn, R. L. 1987. Human aging: usual and successful. Science, 237, 143–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schaie, K. W. 1965. A general model for the study of developmental problems. Psychological Bulletin, 64, 92–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shock, N. W. 1977. System integration. In Finch, C. E. and Hayflick, L. (eds), Handbook of the Biology of Aging, pp. 639–665. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.Google Scholar
Smith, J. and Baltes, P. B. 1993. Differential psychological aging: profiles of the old and very old. Ageing and Society, this issue.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staudinger, U. M., Cornelius, S. W. and Baltes, P. B. 1989. The aging of intelligence: potential and limits. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 503, 43–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinhagen-Thiessen, E. and Borchelt, M. 1993. Health differences in advanced old age. Aging and Society, this issue.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinhagen-Thiessen, E., Gerok, W. and Borchelt, M. 1992. Innere Medizin und Geriatrie (Internal medicine and geriatrics). In Baltes, P. B. and Mittelstraß, J. (eds), Zukunft des Alterns und gesellschaftliche Entwicklung, pp. 124–150. De Gruyter, Berlin.Google Scholar
Thomae, H. 1976. Patterns of Aging: Findings from the Bonn Longitudinal Study of Aging: Contributions to Human Development, Vol. 3. Karger, Basel.Google Scholar
Thomae, H. 1992. Emotion and personality. In Birren, J., Sloan, B. and Cohen, G. (eds), Handbook of Mental Health and Aging, second edition, pp. 355–375. Academic Press, San Diego.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willis, S. L. 1987. Cognitive training and everyday competence. In Schaie, K. W. (ed.), Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Vol. 7, pp. 159–188. Springer, New York.Google Scholar