Previous research has suggested that negative self-perceptions of aging and lower sense of control were significantly associated with worse physical and mental health, including physical limitations and feelings of guilt for perceiving oneself as a burden. However, no study has analyzed the associations of these variables when jointly considered and assessed the potential differences in the associations between people aged 40 to 59 years and people aged 60 years and older. The objective of this study was to assess the potential differences in the associations mentioned above between people aged 40 to 59 years and people aged 60 years and older.

Participants were 377 people over 40 years (206 aged 40 to 59 years and 171 participants aged 60 years and older) who answered an online survey. The association between negative self-perceptions of aging, perceived control, physical limitations, and guilt for perceiving oneself as a burden was tested through path-analyses, with differences between age groups tested through multigroup analysis.

Significant differences between age groups were obtained. The results suggest that the influence of negative self-perceptions of aging on guilt for perceiving oneself as a burden is indirect through lower sense of control in participants aged 40 to 59 years; in participants aged 60 and over, negative self-perceptions of aging had a direct and indirect effect on guilt through greater physical limitations.

Negative self-perceptions of aging seem to be a relevant variable to understand feelings of guilt for perceiving oneself as a burden in both middle-aged adults and older adults. However, this study documents potential differences in the correlates of guilt for perceiving oneself as a burden between participants aged 40 to 59 years and individuals aged 60 years and older. Specifically, the results suggest that the associations between negative self-perceptions of aging and guilt for perceiving oneself as a burden are modulated by lower sense of control in middle-aged and by greater physical limitations in older adults. These results support the relevance of social and cognitive processes related with aging for understanding feelings of guilt for perceiving oneself as a burden.