Berlin Aging Study (BASE): Introduction

The Berlin Aging Study is a multidisciplinary investigation of old people aged 70 to over 100 years who live in former West Berlin. In the main study (1990-1993), a core sample (see Samples) of 516 individuals was closely examined in 14 sessions covering their mental and physical health, their psychological functioning, and their social and economic situation. Since then, the study has been continued as a longitudinal study, and surviving participants have been reexamined seven times (see Methods).

BASE is a project conducted by several Berlin institutions in collaboration. It was supported by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (in German) and by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences' interdisciplinary research group "Aging and Societal Development" , and the participating institutions. Currently, it is sponsored by the Center of Lifespan Psychology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

Cooperating Institutions / General Characteristics / Theoretical Orientations / Prototypical Questions / Data /
Introductory Publications / Contact Address

Cooperating Institutions

Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin
Former Department of Psychiatry of the Benjamin Franklin School of Medicine and other departments of the Free University of Berlin , now Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Evangelisches Geriatriezentrum Berlin (in German)
Departments at the Humboldt University Berlin
Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (in German)

Note that the names and affiliations of the Department of Psychiatry and the Benjamin Franklin School have changed since their main involvement in BASE.

General Characteristics of BASE

A comprehensive and in-depth study of a locally representative and heterogeneous sample of 516 older adults with longitudinal follow-up over four times of measurement
A focus on the very old (aged 70 to over 100 years)
A broadly based multidisciplinary approach with the aim of obtaining baseline data across a wide range of domains
Examination of aging- and death-related changes in very old age

Research Units

Four research units cooperating closely in the conceptualization, planning, implementation, data analyses, and publications of the Berlin Aging Study:

Theoretical Orientations

Differential aging
Continuity vs. discontinuity
Plasticity and reserve capacity (range and limits)
Aging as a systemic phenomenon

Prototypical Questions

Scientific field

Life history
(retrospective)

Age/Cohort groups
70-74 75-79 80-84 85-89 90-94 95+

Internal Medicine/
Geriatrics

Psychiatry

Psychology

Sociology/
Social Policy

1.	Are individual age differences predictable on the basis of life history data?
2.	How large are age differences within domains, and which direction do they take?
3.	How are the transdisciplinary relationships across different domains?

Data

The data from all occasions of measurement are collected in a well-documented central database. Their documentation can be obtained from the Project Coordination office(at the address below). External scientists can apply for the use of data by submitting a written application for the transfer of BASE data for use in scientific analyses to the Project Coordination. The application should detail (a) the research questions to be examined and/or analyses to be carried out and (b) the variables required. The application is then forwarded to the Steering Committee of the Berlin Aging Study and assessed by all four research units. If they agree, data can be provided according to the rules of German data protection laws.

Introductory Publications

For further and more detailed information, see Publications:

Books (available through bookshops)

Baltes, P. B., & Mayer, K. U. (Eds.). (1999). The Berlin Aging Study: Aging from 70 to 100. New York: Cambridge University Press. Table of Contents

Mayer, K. U., & Baltes, P. B. (Eds.). (1996). Die Berliner Altersstudie. Berlin: Akademie Verlag. Table of Contents (in German)

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Baltes, P. B., Mayer, K. U., Helmchen, H., & Steinhagen-Thiessen, E. (1993). The Berlin Aging Study (BASE): Overview and design. Ageing and Society, 13, 483-515. Abstract

Baltes, P. B., & Smith, J. (1997). A systemic-wholistic view of psychological functioning in very old age: Introduction to a collection of articles from the Berlin Aging Study. Psychology and Aging, 12, 395-409. Abstract

Smith, J., & Delius, J. (2003). Die längsschnittlichen Erhebungen der Berliner Altersstudie (BASE): Design, Stichproben und Schwerpunkte 1990–2002. In F. Karl (Ed.), Sozial- und verhaltenswissenschaftliche Gerontologie: Alter und Altern als gesellschaftliches Problem und individuelles Thema (pp. 225-249). Weinheim: Juventa.

Smith, J., & Delius, J. A. M. (2006). Die Berliner Altersstudie. In W. D. Oswald, U. Lehr, C. Sieber & J. Kornhuber (Eds.), Gerontologie: Medizinische, psychologische und sozialwissenschaftliche Grundbegriffe (pp. 114-119). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

Smith, J., Maas, I., Mayer, K. U., Helmchen, H., Steinhagen-Thiessen, E., & Baltes, P. B. (2002). Two-wave longitudinal findings from the Berlin Aging Study: Introduction to a collection of papers. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 57B, P471-P473. Abstract

Imprint

Updated 07/2009

Contact Address: Berlin Aging Study (BASE)
c/o Max Planck Institute for Human Development,
Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Ph: +49-30-82406-661, Fax: +49-30-8249939

e-mail: basempi(at)mpib-berlin.mpg.de
Website: www.base-berlin.mpg.de