This book presents the results of an extensive study of old age and aging, ranging from 70 to 100 years, that was carried out by psychologists, sociologists, physicians, and scientists from a variety of other disciplines. A random sample of more than 500 senior residents of the former West Berlin were examined in depth. Topics investigated include intellectual abilities, self and personality, social relationships, physical health, medical treatment and care, mental disorders such as depression and dementia, socioeconomic conditions, everyday competence, subjective well-being, and gender differences.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Part I. Theoretical Orientations and Methods: 1. The Berlin Aging Study: sample, design, and overview of measures Paul Baltes, Karl Ulrich Mayer, Hanfried Helmchen and Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen; 2. Sample selectivity and generalizability of the results from the Berlin Aging Study Ulman Lindenberger, Reiner Gilberg, Todd D. Little, Reinhard Nuthmann, Ulrich Potter and Paul Baltes; 3. Generational experiences of old people in Berlin Ineke Maas, Markus Borchelt and Karl Ulrich Mayer; 4. Six individual biographies from the Berlin Aging Study Yvonne Schutze, Clemens Tesch-Romer and Cornelia Borchers; Part II. Major Results from the Four Research Units: 5. Morbidity, medication, and functional limitations in old age Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen and Markus Borchelt; 6. Psychiatric illnesses in old age Hanfried Helmchen, Margret M. Baltes, Bernhard Geiselmann, Siegfried Kanowski, Michael Linden, Friedel M. Reischies, Michael Wagner, Thomas Wernicke and Hans-Ulrich Wilms; 7. Trends and profiles of psychological functioning in very old age Jacqui Smith and Paul Baltes; 8. Socioeconomic conditions and social inequalities in old age Karl Ulrich Mayer, Ineke Maas and Michael Wagner; Part III. Interdisciplinary Findings: 9. Men and women in the Berlin Aging Study Margret M. Baltes, Alexandra M. Freund and Ann L. Horgas; 10. Social relationships in old age Michael Wagner, Yvonne Schutze and Frieder R. Lang; 11. Self, personality, and life regulation: facets of psychological resilience in old age Ursula M. Staudinger, Alexandra M. Freund, Michael Linden and Ineke Maas; 12. Limits and potentials of intellectual functioning in old age Ulman Lindenberger and Friedel M. Reischies; 13. Sensory systems in old age Michael Marsiske, Julia Delius, Ineke Maas, Ulman Lindenberger, Hans Scherer and Clemens Tesch-Romer; 14. Everyday competence in old and very old age: theoretical considerations and empirical findings Margret M. Baltes, Ineke Maas, Hans-Ulrich Wilms, Markus Borchelt and Todd D. Little; 15. On the significance of morbidity and disability in old age Markus Borchelt, Reiner Gilberg, Ann L. Horgas and Bernhard Geiselmann; 16. Utilization of medical and nursing care in old age Michael Linden, Reiner Gilberg, Ann L. Horgas and Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen; 17. Sources of well-being in very old age Jacqui Smith, William Fleeson, Bernhard Geiselmann, Richard A. Settersten Jr and Ute Kunzmann; Part IV. Overview and Outlook: 18. What do we know about old age and aging? Conclusions from the Berlin Aging Study Karl U. Mayer, Paul Baltes, Margret M. Baltes, Markus Borchelt, Julia Delius, Hanfried Helmchen, Michael Linden, Jacqui Smith, Ursula M. Staudinger, Elisabeth Steinhagen-Thiessen and Michael Wagner.