Primary and secondary control-enhancing strategies: Implications for health in later life

Objectives: The major goal of this article was to assess the link between:c ontrol-enhancing strategies and health in an older population. In particula r, the use of primary-control strategies, which involve modifying the envir onment (e.g., actively persisting) and compensatory secondary-control strat egies, which involve modifying the-self (e.g. expecting less of oneself) wa s studied. Methods: Participants (n = 241) in a large-scale longitudinal st udy were interviewed to assess their use of strategies:and their health. Re sults: Health (physical and perceived) was found to:vary for those using pr imary- and compensatory secondary-control strategies; however, the nature o f this variation depended on age. Discussion: The findings may indicate tha t primary-control strategies have positive health implications for the youn g-old but that these same strategies become detrimental to health in late l ife. The findings could further suggest that compensatory secondary-control strategies become increasingly more adaptive in late life.