Abstract

Older adults often experience an increase in low-grade chronic inflammation. Purpose in life could act as a potential protective factor as it has been linked with beneficial health outcomes, including lower levels of chronic inflammation. Purpose in life may exert part of its adaptive function by promoting engagement and persistence in goal pursuit. During older adulthood, however, when many people experience an increase in intractable stressors, declining resources, and unattainable goals, the adaptive function of purpose could become reduced. To test this possibility, the current study examined whether the association between inter- and intra-individual differences in purpose in life and chronic inflammation differed across older adulthood. The study assessed four waves of data among 129 older adults (63-91 years old) across six years. Results from hierarchical linear models demonstrated that within-person increases in purpose in life predicted reduced levels of chronic inflammation in early old age (coefficient = -.017, p < .01), but not in advanced old age (coefficient = .002, p = .67). Between-person differences in purpose were not related to chronic inflammation. These results suggest that greater within-person increases in purpose in life may protect health-relevant physiological processes particularly in early old age but may become less effective in advanced old age.