Age differences in control strategies in everyday life fabrics

This study aims to investigate age differences in (1) control strategies in positive and negative everyday life events and (2) the association of control strategies with positive and negative affect in everyday life. Upon giving their writ-ten informed consent, matched samples of Chinese younger and older participants reported momentary events, control strategies, and positive and negative affect, five times a day for seven days. Multilevel modeling revealed that in positive everyday life events, older adults demonstrated higher secondary selective control. In negative everyday life events, older adults demonstrated lower primary compensatory control but higher secondary selective and compensatory control. Significant interaction between age and secondary compensatory control suggested that the effect of secondary compensatory control on positive affect was weaker among older adults. The findings delineated age differences in control strategies in everyday life events, pointing to feasible directions for enhancing older adults’ coping with daily stressors.