Psychology and Aging最新文献

The mechanisms by which older adults maintain large, complex social networks are not well understood. Prior work has primarily focused on general cognitive ability (e.g., executive function, episodic memory), largely overlooking social cognition-the ability to process, store, and remember social information. Because social cognition plays a key role in navigating social interactions and is distinct from general cognition, we examined whether general and social cognition uniquely predicted the nature of older adults' personal social networks. Our study leveraged comprehensive measures of general cognition (executive function, episodic memory), social cognition (face memory and dynamic measures of cognitive and affective theory of mind), and a rigorous measure of personal social networks from 143 community-dwelling older adults. We found that, when modeled together and controlling for sociodemographic variables, only executive function and dynamic cognitive theory of mind positively predicted having social networks with relatively unfamiliar, loosely connected others, accounting for 17% of the unique variance in older adults' social connectedness. Interestingly, having a social network comprised primarily of close, tightly knit relationships was negatively associated with affective theory of mind performance. Findings are discussed in the context of the social-cognitive resource framework-which suggests that social cognition may be more engaged in relatively unfamiliar, versus close, interactions. Specifically, our results show that social-cognitive processes may be relatively automatic for individuals whose primary social relationships are very close but may be more strongly engaged for individuals whose interactions include at least some relatively less close relationships. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Both older and younger employees are stereotyped at work, making them susceptible to age-based stereotype threat or the concern about being negatively stereotyped based on their age. To date, there is limited understanding of the workplace events that spark age-based stereotype threat and the mechanisms through which they do so. The current daily diary study aimed to assess the frequency with which older and younger employees experience various events that have been identified as potential antecedents of age-based stereotype threat (e.g., being overlooked for training or development opportunities, feeling excluded from informal socializing) as well as their association with experiences of stereotype threat. As predicted, we found that employees who reported more frequent experiences of these events subsequently reported greater feelings of stereotype threat. This association was partially mediated by the capacity of these events to increase the salience of a participant's age. There was also evidence of reciprocal association, whereby employees who felt more stereotype threat were also more likely to subsequently report experiencing these events. Employee age did not moderate the relationship between daily feelings of stereotype threat and daily outcomes, suggesting that everyday feelings of stereotype threat may be equally problematic for both older and younger employees. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Eating disorders (EDs) have historically been thought of as afflictions of younger women, but EDs do occur in midlife/older adults, and the incidence of EDs among older women may be increasing. The present study sought to examine outcomes for patients with anorexia nervosa needing to weight restore across four age groups: under 18, 18-25, 26-39, and 40+. Based on prior research, it was hypothesized that there would be no differences between the age groups in percent of expected body weight (%EBW) gained during treatment. Participants were 2,491 patients receiving treatment for an ED at a large multisite treatment facility offering higher levels of care. At this treatment facility, EBW is individualized for each patient, considering a patient's premorbid body weight and historical weight trends. Adult patients ages 26-39 (t = -3.58, p < .001) and ages 40+ (t = -4.70, p < .001) had significantly lower improvements in %EBW compared to adult patients ages 18-25. Child and adolescent patients (under 18) had significantly greater improvements in %EBW than adult patients (t = 14.30, p < .001). Findings from the present study suggest that targeted treatments may need to be developed to increase weight gain in midlife/older adults. In addition, efforts may need to be strengthened to keep adults in treatment longer than they may initially want to, particularly when treatment and weight gain become difficult. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Past research shows that social networks get smaller with age. But not all types of relationships may shrink at the same rate or for similar reasons. In the present study, we used a unique data set from a sample of 235 men who were followed longitudinally for 71 years to examine how the general pattern of network shrinkage documented in previous research generalizes to the number of emotional support providers in people's networks. We additionally examined early-life predictors of the size of later-life support network. Growth curve analyses revealed that, mirroring the more general pattern of network shrinkage, emotional support networks shrink by as much as 50% between the ages of 30 and 90, reflecting an average reduction from two to one support providers. Examining the associations between prospectively collected measures of childhood family environment and later-life emotional support, we also found that men who grew up in warmer family environments had larger support networks in adulthood. In contrast, childhood family socioeconomic status was not connected to the size of emotional support networks later in life. The generalizability of this work is limited by the use of an archival all-male sample from the United States. Despite this limitation, these findings make important contributions to our understanding of adult socioemotional development and underscore the importance of prospectively collected longitudinal data in developmental research. Additional research is needed to examine the consequences of changing emotional support across the lifespan for health and well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Although perceived control is a well-established predictor of cognitive aging, less is known about how and under what developmental circumstances these beliefs about personal influence may protect against cognitive declines. Our study examined light physical activity (LPA) as an unexplored mechanism that may link changes in two facets of perceived control (personal mastery, perceived constraints) to longitudinal trajectories of cognitive functioning. We also examined whether mediated pathways were moderated by age (i.e., differed across the adult lifespan). We analyzed two-wave, 9-year data from the national Midlife in the United States Study (n = 2,456; M_age = 56 years, range = 30-84; 56% female) using autoregressive mediation and moderated mediation models. Mediation models showed that changes in personal mastery and perceived constraints predicted episodic memory and executive functioning via self-reported change in LPA. Only the mediated effects of constraints remained significant in a model that included both mastery and constraints as predictors. Moderated mediation models showed that, for episodic memory, the mediated pathways were strongest in old age and emerged only for constraints: For older but not younger adults, declines in constraints were associated with less decline in episodic memory, as mediated by increases in LPA. Results were consistent in sensitivity analyses that controlled for levels and change in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Findings inform lifespan theories of control and provide initial evidence that change in a largely overlooked health behavior (LPA) may underlie the link between perceived constraints and cognitive functioning, with this pathway becoming more pronounced in late life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The present study aimed to characterize profiles of cognitive aging and how these can be predicted from interindividual differences in demographic, lifestyle, health, and genetic factors. The participants were 1,966 older adults (mean baseline age = 71.6 years; 62.9% female), free from dementia at baseline and with at least two cognitive assessments over the 15-year follow-up, from the population-based Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen. The cognitive assessment comprised tests of semantic and episodic memory, letter and category fluency, perceptual speed, and executive function. First, we estimated the level and change within each of the cognitive domains with linear mixed effect models, based on which we grouped our sample into participants with "maintained high cognition," "moderate cognitive decline," or "accelerated cognitive decline." Second, we analyzed determinants of group membership within each cognitive domain with multinomial logistic regression. Third, group memberships within each cognitive domain were used to derive general cognitive aging profiles with latent class analysis. Fourth, the determinants of these profile memberships were analyzed with multinomial logistic regression. Follow-up analyses targeted profiles and predictors specifically related to the rate of cognitive change. We identified three latent profiles of overall cognitive performance during the follow-up period with 31.6% of the sample having maintained high cognition, 50.6% having moderate cognitive decline, and 17.8% having accelerated cognitive decline. In multiadjusted analyses, maintained high cognition was predicted by female sex, higher education, and faster walking speed. Smoking, loneliness, and being an ε4 carrier were associated with a lower likelihood of maintained high cognition. Higher age, diagnosis of diabetes, depression, and carrying the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele increased the likelihood of accelerated cognitive decline. Factors at baseline that could significantly predict profile membership within the specific cognitive domains included age, sex, years of education, walking speed, diabetes, and the ε4 allele. Of note, these factors differed across cognitive domains. In sum, we identified demographic, lifestyle, health, and genetic factors of interindividual differences in domain-specific and general cognitive aging profiles, some of which are modifiable. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

To contribute to our understanding of cohort differences and the Flynn effect in the cognitive decline among older Americans, this study aims to compare rates of cognitive decline between two birth cohorts within a study of older Americans and to examine the importance of medical and demographic confounders. Analyses used data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (2011-2019), which recruited older Americans in 2011 and again in 2015 who were then followed for 5 years. We employed mixed-effect models to examine the linear and quadratic main and interaction effects of year of birth while adjusting for covariates such as annual round, sex/gender, education, race/ethnicity, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, test unfamiliarity, and survey design. We analyzed data from 11,167 participants: 7,325 from 2011 to 2015 and 3,842 from 2015 to 2019. The cohort recruited in 2015 was born, on average, 5.33 years later than that recruited in 2011 and had higher functioning than the one recruited in 2011 across all observed cognitive domains that persisted after adjusting for covariates. In multivariable-adjusted analyses, a 1-year increase in year of birth was associated with increased episodic memory (β = 0.045, SE = 0.001, p < .001), orientation (β = 0.034, SE = 0.001, p < .001), and executive function (β = 0.036, SE = 0.001, p < .001). Participants born 1 year later had slower rates of decline in episodic memory (β = 0.004, SE = 0.000, p < .001), orientation (β = 0.003, SE = 0.000, p < .001), and executive function (β = 0.001, SE = 0.000, p = .002). Additionally, sex/gender modified this relationship for episodic memory (-0.007, SE = 0.002, p < .001), orientation (-0.005, SE = 0.002, p = .008), and executive function (-0.008, SE = 0.002, p < .001). These results demonstrate the persistence of the Flynn effect in old age across cognitive domains and identified a deceleration in the rate of cognitive decline across cognitive domains. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the Residential Care Transition Module, a six-session, psychosocial, and psychoeducational telehealth intervention for family caregivers of cognitively impaired relatives living in a residential long-term care setting. Eligible participants (including care recipients, regardless of time since admission) were randomized to treatment or usual care control conditions. Survey data were collected at baseline, 4 months, 8 months, and 12 months (N = 240). Primary analytic outcomes included caregiver subjective stress (a stress process mechanism) and depressive symptoms (a measure of global well-being). Secondary analytic outcomes included secondary role strains, residential care stress, caregiver sense of competence, and self-efficacy (additional mechanisms of action). General linear models tested for the main effects of the intervention at 4 months, and longitudinal mixed models examined the 12-month effects of the intervention. Post hoc analyses also examined the influence of moderators. No significant differences between the treatment and control groups for any primary analytic outcome were apparent. Caregivers in the treatment group whose relatives were admitted to residential long-term care in the prior 3 months were more likely to indicate reductions in depressive symptoms over the first 4 months of participation. Over the 12-month study period, caregivers in the treatment group who were employed reported increased self-efficacy over time. The heterogeneity of dementia care requires a broader consideration of key contextual factors that may influence the efficacy of nonpharmacological interventions. Aligning measures with the preferences, goals, and values of dementia caregivers may further demonstrate the direct benefits of interventions such as the Residential Care Transition Module. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Little is known about birth cohort differences in the impact of stroke on cognitive aging. Given improved poststroke rehabilitation and better treatments for vascular health risk, we may expect a reduction in the stroke impact in later-born cohorts. We tested this prediction using data from two cohorts, born in 1901-1907 (n = 1,155) and 1930 (n = 919), identified from the same city population at the same age of 70 and subsequently measured on the same cognitive outcomes (i.e., spatial ability, perceptual-motor speed, and reasoning) at ages 70, 75, 79, and 85. We fitted multiple-group second-order latent growth curve models to the data, regressing the first-order cognitive factor on the time-varying stroke variable and controlling for relevant covariates. Findings revealed moderate to large average cognitive decline (d = -.45) following stroke, and the impact was relatively similar across cohorts (1901-1907: d = -.52; 1930: d = -.39). However, there was a stroke by age by cohort interaction, implying that the stroke impact increased with age in the 1901-1907 cohort (d_age ≤ 75 = -.42; d_age ≥ 79 = -.70) but decreased in the 1930 cohort (dage ≤ 75 = -.53; d_age ≥ 79 = -.17). We found no evidence for lagged effect of stroke beyond the impact on measures following the incidence. Our hypothesis was only partially supported, as the impact of stroke was reduced in the later-born cohort but solely at higher ages. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Appearance is an indicator of age and life stage, which are linked to socially salient stereotypes and prejudices. Older adults' appearance-related perceptions and behaviors may affect their experiences of aging within broader society, which may in turn influence health. This study examined associations between two measures related to aging appearance-assessment of one's aging appearance relative to same-age peers and investing time or effort to look younger-positive and negative experiences of aging, and health using multivariable regression. Cross-sectional data were from a nationally representative sample of 2006 U.S. adults ages 50-80 (M_age = 63, 52% women, 71% White) who completed Wave 6 of the National Poll on Healthy Aging in 2019. The majority (59%) reported appearing relatively younger than peers, while fewer reported appearing the same age (35%) or older (6%). About a third (35%) reported investing in looking younger. Appearing relatively younger was associated with more positive (p < .001) and less negative experiences of aging (p = .019). Appearing relatively older showed the opposite relationships (p values < .001). Investing in looking younger was associated with more positive and more negative experiences of aging (p values < .001). Few sociodemographic variations were detected. More positive and less negative experiences of aging were associated with better physical and mental health (p values < .001). While aging appearance is often the basis for jokes, it may affect the quality of older adults' experiences of aging and associated health outcomes. Nuanced findings caution against framing youthful biases in aging appearance and investments in looking younger as solely negative (or positive). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).