Subjective Views of Aging and Objective Aging Biomarkers: Achievements and Questions in an Emerging Research Area

Views of aging (VoA) are subjective evaluations of the aging process. Using a range of operationalizations, VoA have gained remarkable popularity in social-behavioral aging research, owing partly to their established associations to health-related parameters. Emerging research makes a strong attempt to tie subjective evaluations to objective biological processes, mainly by employing so-called biomarkers of aging. A major hope is to better understand by these means potential pathways operating between VoA and health-related outcomes. In this chapter, we present a brief introduction to the concept of biomarkers of aging with a focus on their application in VoA research. We then outline and synthesize previous and current evidence pointing to an interrelation between VoA and biomarkers of aging such as, for example, the relationship between VoA and inflammatory markers. We arrive at the conclusion that research on VoA and biomarkers of aging has surpassed a first stage of evidence generation in which a “proof of concept” in terms of ties between VoA and selected biomarkers has been successfully accumulated. Still, whereas some more differentiated and specific insights into the causal pathways between VoA and health outcomes emerged, more coordinated and elaborate research efforts, employing simultaneously multiple biomarkers of aging as well as multidimensional measures for VoA in longitudinal and ideally also interventional designs, are a much-needed future research goal.