Paths of psychological health: Examination of 40-year trajectories from the Intergenerational Studies

Patterns of stability and change in psychological health, as assessed via the California Psychological Inventory’s v3 scale, are examined in two long-term longitudinal samples (N = 279). Longitudinal hierarchical linear modeling analyses indicate a modest, but significant, linear increase in v3 from age 33 to 75 for the sample as a whole, with significant individual differences in v3 change also evident. When psychological health is categorized as either high or low, using a v3 cut-off score of 36, the majority of individuals show stable high psychological health from age 33 to 75; significant minorities show stable low, increased, and decreased psychological health with age. Differential patterns of psychological health change are successfully predicted by preadult psychological health resources, adult cognitive and social resources, and early adult norm-orientation. Overall, results illustrate the complexity of normal adult development, and the differential mechanisms involved in maintaining, attaining, and losing psychological health over a 40-year period.