Testing a self-determination theory perspective of informal caregiving: A preliminary study.
This study tested mediation models in a sample of 158 caregivers in the United States. Autonomous motivation was examined as a mediator of the (a) associations between caregivers’ need satisfaction with their care recipient and caregiver burden and depressive symptoms, and (b) associations between caregivers’ autonomy support received from their care recipients’ healthcare providers and caregiver burden and depressive symptoms. Next, specific types of motivation that vary in their relative autonomy were examined as unique mediators. Support was found for models using autonomous motivation as the mediator. Additionall...
Source: Psychology and Aging - October 14, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Future time perspective and personality trait change during the retirement transition: Insights from a six-wave longitudinal study in Sweden.
The present study examined associations between two future time perspective (FTP) dimensions (perceived opportunities and perceived time) and the Big Five personality traits during older adulthood, a developmental period that has received limited attention in personality development. Specifically, it tested whether FTP dimensions were cross-sectionally associated with personality traits, as well as if they predicted changes on those traits during a time when participants were transitioning to retirement. Participants from the Health, Ageing and Retirement Transitions in Sweden (HEARTS) study (N = 5,913, Mage = 63.09 years)...
Source: Psychology and Aging - October 4, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Does early-stage intervention improve caregiver well-being or their ability to provide care to persons with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Interventions for caregivers of persons with dementia are well supported, but it remains unclear whether caregivers benefit from early-stage intervention when caring for persons with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This systematic review and meta-analysis examined whether early-stage interventions for this population positively affect their well-being and ability to provide care and whether effectiveness varies based on intervention or caregiver/recipient characteristics. Searches of four databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PSYCINFO, and CINAHL) yielded 20,722 titles and 1,305 full texts were independently screen...
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 30, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Trajectories of attitude toward own aging and subjective age from 2008 to 2020 among middle-aged and older adults: Partial evidence of a “COVID-19 effect”.
In conclusion, our findings suggest that the early phase of the pandemic might have caused a change toward less favorable ATOA, whereas it did not affect subjective age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Psychology and Aging)
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 27, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Longitudinal associations between perceived stress and views on aging: Evidence for reciprocal relations.
In conclusion, the trend in prior subjective aging research to conceptualize stress in midlife and old age exclusively as a consequence of VoA needs reconsideration, as higher perceived stress levels also seem to be a risk factor for less favorable personal VoA. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Psychology and Aging)
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 13, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Do neuroticism and conscientiousness interact with health conditions in predicting 4-year changes in self-rated health among Swedish older adults?
Health conditions such as higher disease burden, pain, or lower functional health are associated with poorer self-rated health (SRH) in older age. Poorer SRH, in turn, is a predictor of morbidity and mortality. Personality traits are associated with SRH as well, but little is known about the interaction of personality and health conditions. In the present preregistered analyses, we used five annual waves of the Health, Aging and Retirement Transitions in Sweden (HEARTS) study (N = 5,823, M age = 63.09, SD = 2.01) to investigate the associations of personality (neuroticism and conscientiousness) and physical health indices ...
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 13, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Traits and treadmills: Association between personality and perceived fatigability in well-functioning community-dwelling older adults.
Physical fatigability, or susceptibility to physical fatigue, is strongly associated with aging, disease, and disability. Over the lifecourse, personality traits are also connected to numerous age-related vulnerabilities and resistance—yet, their longitudinal association with fatigability remains unknown. Well-functioning community-dwelling volunteers aged ≥50 (N = 995) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) were assessed over an average of 2 years on personality traits (NEO-PI-R; openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) and perceived fatigability [Borg Rating of Perceiv...
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 13, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Older adults remember more positive aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initial phase of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic changed our lives dramatically, with stay-at-home orders and extreme physical distancing requirements. The present study suggests that how adults remember these disruptions depends, in part, on their age. In two surveys collected from American and Canadian participants during Summer 2020 (n = 551) and Fall 2020 (n = 506), older age (across ages 18–90 years) was associated with greater reflections on positive aspects of the initial phase of the pandemic. While the pandemic is a shared experience, the way it is remembered may differ across generations, w...
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 13, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Explaining age differences in the memory-experience gap.
In this study, we examined age differences in the memory-experience gap for emotional (positive and negative affect), social (loneliness), and physical (pain, fatigue) well-being. We also tested four variables that could plausibly explain age differences in the gap: (a) episodic memory and executive functioning, (b) the age-related positivity effect, (c) variability of daily experiences, and (d) socially desirable responding. Adults (n = 477) from three age groups (21–44, 45–64, 65+ years old) participated in a 21-day diary study. Participants completed daily end-of-day ratings and retrospective ratings of the same con...
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 13, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Internet use by middle-aged and older adults: Longitudinal relationships with functional ability, social support, and self-perceptions of aging.
In an increasingly digital world, those who remain offline may face greater challenges across multiple contexts of everyday life. Besides being less likely to be internet users, older age groups go online less frequently and for fewer activities. Understanding which factors facilitate or prevent internet use in later life is therefore essential to minimize existing age-based digital inequalities. Based on the 2014 and 2017 waves of the German Ageing Survey, comprising 3,479 respondents aged 40 years and older, this study examined the longitudinal relationships of a wide range of often overlooked, yet potentially relevant f...
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 9, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Measuring age differences in executive control using rapid motor decisions in a robotic object hit and avoid task.
Age-related declines in executive control are commonly assessed with neuropsychological tests that also rely on sensory and motor processes that are not typically measured in those tasks. It is therefore difficult to isolate the cognitive contributions from sensorimotor contributions to performance impairments. Rapid motor decision-making tasks may also be sensitive to age differences in executive control but allow for the measurement of sensorimotor contributors to task performance. Recently developed object hit (OH) and object hit and avoid (OHA) tasks using a robotic manipulandum are sensitive to motor and cognitive asp...
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 9, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Self-perceptions of aging: A systematic review of longitudinal studies.
As the population of older adults increases, it is important to understand what may assist every older person to live well and longer. Using a systematic review, this study examined the longitudinal consequences of self-perceptions of aging (SPA), a measure of internalized stereotypes of aging, in participants 50 years or older. The sample comprised 21 studies published in English that used the Attitudes Toward Own Aging (ATOA) scale to measure SPA. Studies were conducted in the United States (10), Germany (7), Australia (2), and one each from Israel and Switzerland. Risk of bias was low, study design and assessment showed...
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 9, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Age-group differences in instructed emotion regulation effectiveness: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Several theories of emotional development in adulthood provide the rationale for anticipating enhanced emotion regulation effectiveness (i.e., successful, goal-consistent regulation of emotions) with age. However, the existing empirical evidence is ambiguous. The aims of the present systematic review and meta-analysis were to investigate age-group differences in instructed emotion regulation effectiveness, and to explore whether age-group differences in instructed emotion regulation effectiveness vary according to person factors (i.e., age gap between age groups, gender distribution), the specific strategy (i.e., type of e...
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 2, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Age differences in intuitive moral decision-making: Associations with inter-network neural connectivity.
In this study, younger adults (YAs; n = 117, Mage = 22.11) and OAs (n = 82, Mage = 67.54) made decisions in hypothetical moral dilemmas and completed resting-state multi-echo functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. Relative to YAs, OAs were more likely to endorse deontological decisions (i.e., decisions based on adherence to a moral principle or duty), but only when the choice was immediately compelling or intuitive. By contrast, there was no difference between YAs and OAs in utilitarian decisions (i.e., decisions aimed at maximizing collective well-being) when the utilitarian choice was intuitive. Enhanced con...
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 2, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Verbatim and gist memory in aging.
The ability to remember episodic details of prior events declines with normal aging. The present study aimed to determine whether these declines are restricted to verbatim traces of items per se or extend to gist traces of their meaning. Younger (n = 63) and older adults (n = 46) studied a list including related (strong gist activation) and unrelated words (weak gist activation) and performed a recognition test consisting of targets, related distractors, and unrelated distractors. Gist memory increased from the strong relative to the weak gist condition in both age groups. Whereas both younger and older adults could retrie...
Source: Psychology and Aging - September 2, 2021 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
