1.When you imagine an older person, what sort of picture pops into your head? 

如果讓你想象一個老人的樣子，你腦中會出現(xiàn)什么樣的形象呢？

2.Do you see someone walking stooped over a cane? 

會想到拄著拐棍蹣跚前行的人嗎？

3.Do you imagine them in a long-term care facility sitting in a wheelchair? 

會想到他們坐在輪椅上住在養(yǎng)老中心嗎？

4.Or do you imagine someone competing in a track meet, like the athletes who participated in last month’s National Senior Games track and field competition?

或者你會想象有人參加田徑比賽，就像上個月參加全國老年運動會田徑比賽的運動員一樣?

5.A sizeable body of research demonstrates that how you view aging — your personal perceptions and ideas about what it means to get older — can affect your health and well-being as you age.

大量的研究表明，隨著年齡的增長，你對衰老的看法——你對變老意味著什么的個人看法和想法——會影響你的健康和幸福。

6.In one of the most well-known studies on this topic, Yale Public Health Professor Becca Levy followed 660 people aged 50 and older living in a small Ohio town for more than two decades. 

在這方面最著名的一項研究中，耶魯大學(xué)公共衛(wèi)生教授貝卡·利維對生活在俄亥俄州一個小鎮(zhèn)上的660名50歲以上的人進行了20多年的跟蹤調(diào)查。

7.Over the years, participants responded to statements about aging, such as “things keep getting worse as I get older” or “I am as happy now as when I was younger.” 

多年來，參與者對關(guān)于衰老的言論做出了回應(yīng)，比如“隨著年齡的增長，事情變得越來越糟”或“我現(xiàn)在和年輕時一樣快樂”。

8.They also answered questions about their functional health, such as whether they could climb stairs, walk half a mile, and perform household chores.

他們還回答了關(guān)于他們功能性健康的問題，比如他們是否能爬樓梯、行走半英里、做家務(wù)。

9.Participants with positive self-perceptions of aging lived 7.5 years longer than those with negative self-perceptions, even after researchers factored out other variables including age, gender, socioeconomic status, loneliness, and functional health. 

即使研究人員排除了年齡、性別、社會經(jīng)濟地位、孤獨感和功能健康等其他變量，對衰老持積極看法的參與者比持消極看法的參與者多活了7.5年。

10.In addition, people with more positive perceptions maintained better functional health in their older years.

此外，擁有更積極看法的人在晚年保持了更好的功能健康。

11.Since then, Levy has authored and contributed to research that demonstrates how our perceptions about aging have broad influences on our health and longevity. 

從那時起，列維撰寫并參與了一些研究，這些研究表明，我們對衰老的看法對我們的健康和壽命有廣泛的影響。

12.A systematic review published in 2020, which included more than 600 studies, found that ageism, i.e., our stereotypes and prejudices surrounding aging, led to significantly worse health outcomes in 95.5% of the studies on this topic in 45 countries and across 11 different areas of health.

2020年發(fā)表的一項包括600多項研究的系統(tǒng)綜述發(fā)現(xiàn)，在45個國家、11個不同健康領(lǐng)域中，關(guān)于老齡化的95.5%的研究中，年齡歧視(即我們對老齡化的刻板印象和偏見)導(dǎo)致了顯著惡化的健康結(jié)果。

13.The details are fascinating. 

細節(jié)則很有意思。

14.One study found that having positive beliefs about aging reduced participants’ likelihood of developing dementia. 

一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，對衰老抱有積極的信念會降低參與者患癡呆癥的可能性。

15.This was true even for study participants with a variant of the APOE gene, the strongest risk factor for dementia.

即使是攜帶APOE基因變體的研究參與者也是如此，APOE基因是癡呆癥的最大風(fēng)險因素。

16.Another study followed participants for 50 years and found that people with negative views on aging were more likely to experience a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or a stroke. 

另一項研究對參與者進行了50年的跟蹤調(diào)查，發(fā)現(xiàn)對衰老持負(fù)面看法的人更有可能經(jīng)歷心血管事件，如心臟病發(fā)作或中風(fēng)。

17.Another found that negative perceptions of aging are linked to poorer memory. 

另一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，對衰老的負(fù)面看法與較差的記憶力有關(guān)。

18.And older adults with positive views about aging were 44 percent more likely to recover from severe disability compared to those with negative perceptions. 

對衰老持積極看法的老年人從嚴(yán)重殘疾中恢復(fù)的可能性比持消極看法的人高出44%。

19.And there’s more. 

還有更多。

20.People with more positive views on aging perform better on hearing tests and are less likely to develop mental health problems.

對衰老持積極看法的人在聽力測試中表現(xiàn)更好，也不太可能出現(xiàn)心理健康問題。

21.The evidence is clear: Your views on aging matter to your own health. 

證據(jù)已經(jīng)很明確：你對衰老的看法會影響你的健康。

22.But what can you do about it? 

那我們應(yīng)該怎么做呢？

23.Levy published a book this year titled Breaking the Age Code that includes some suggestions about how you can change your perceptions.

今年，列維出版了一本名為《打破年齡密碼》的書，書中就如何改變自己的認(rèn)知提出了一些建議。

24.She suggests paying attention to ageist stereotypes that you encounter on television, in movies, in news, or in person. 

她建議要注意你在電視、電影、新聞或個人生活中遇到的年齡歧視刻板印象。

25.It’s important to identify them in your mind. 

很重要的就是要在心里去識別出它們。

26.If you notice someone making an ageist comment, challenge the stereotype if you can.

如果你注意到有人發(fā)表了年齡歧視的評論，如果可以的話，就去挑戰(zhàn)這種刻板印象。

27.It can also help to seek out relationships with older adults that you respect and admire. 

它也可以幫助你建立起與你尊敬和欣賞的老年人的關(guān)系。

28.Ask co-workers or neighbors of different ages to socialize or join you in an activity you enjoy.

可以邀請不同年齡的同事或鄰居與你交往或參加你喜歡的活動。

29.The take-home message: Your personal viewpoints on aging have a significant impact on your health and longevity. 

需要記下的信息:你對衰老的個人觀點對你的健康和壽命有重大影響。

30.There are steps you can take to improve your own perceptions of aging, such as noticing stereotypes and making friends with older adults.

你可以采取一些措施來改善自己對衰老的看法，比如注意到刻板印象，以及和老年人交朋友。