This article examines the challenges experienced by very old individuals and their consequences for well-being and mental health. In order to capture unique issues experienced in very old age, 75 participants of the population-based Fordham Centenarian Study answered open-ended questions on everyday challenges. Theme-based coding was then used to categorize and quantify responses. The challenges mentioned most often were challenges faced in the functional (e.g., physical health/activities of daily living restrictions, mobility, sensory impairment), psychological (e.g., loss of well-liked activity, dependency, negative emotions, death), and social (e.g., family loss) life domains. Functional challenges were negatively associated with aging satisfaction and positively associated with loneliness. Psychological challenges were positively linked to aging satisfaction. Social challenges were marginally related to loneliness. Notably, challenges were not related to depression. In conclusion, the challenges experienced in very old age are multidimensional and multifaceted, unique in nature, and have differential relations to mental health. Functional, psychological, and social challenges affect very old individuals’ lives and therefore need to be better understood and addressed. Given their consequences, it is imperative for policy makers to develop an awareness for the different types of challenges faced by centenarians, as there may be unique policy implications related to each.

The assimilation of problematic experiences as operationalization of internal multiplicity has been studied as change processes in psychotherapies of different client populations. However, there is little research investigating the assimilation processes with a particular focus on clients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), as they engage in treatment. Internal multiplicity describes the presence, within the person, of different centers of experience, called inner “voices.” These may result from unresolved traumatic experiences associated with BPD. The current study is a theory-building case study, which aims at understanding the evolution of internal multiplicity in a short-term treatment over 10 sessions for a client with BPD, aiming at engagement in long-term treatment. The case, Louise, presents with a high potential of internal conflicts, showing 4 antagonistic problematic voices. The intensive assimilation analysis of these voices, with regard to the dominant voice, suggests that their assimilative change tends to pass from chaotic multivoice cacophony to a structuring 2-voice dialogue (i.e., a mutual elaboration of the conflicts). Our results underline that internal dialogue between previously opposed voices may be a productive way for clients with BPD to evolve in therapy and use their internal multiplicity as a resource. Narrative details and illustrations are presented to document Louise’s change processes over her process of engagement in therapy.

Using a large sample of employed adults (N ¼ 1,714) living in Switzerland, this study investigates the relationship between the five-factor model of personality dimensions and job satisfaction, considering the role of job strain as defined by Karasek’s job demand–control model and occupational self-efficacy. These relationships were assessed both within the overall sample of employed and specific occupational groups. The analyses on the overall sample show an effect of neuroticism and extroversion on job satisfaction. Furthermore, job strain and occupational self-efficacy are related to job satisfaction. The effect of neuroticism is partly mediated by job strain and occupational self-efficacy, while extroversion and conscientiousness have an indirect effect through occupational self-efficacy. When we consider the occupational groups, the results highlight differences between the groups showing variability in the relationship between personality, job strain and occupational self-efficacy, and their effects on job satisfaction.