Metacognitive Awareness of Older Adult Drivers with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Relationships with Demographics, Subjective Evaluation of Cognition, and Driving Self-Efficacy

(1) Self-regulation of driving is a means of maintaining one's driving identity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which older drivers with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are metacognitively aware of the requirements of specific demanding driving conditions and whether this awareness is linked to subjective assessments of cognition. (2) One hundred seventeen (117) older MCI drivers participated in a telephone survey in which they reported their metacognitive experiences in nine driving conditions, listed as an aim of self-regulation. The analyses included the participants' subjective cognitive assessments, both in terms of their cognitive state and their perceived driving self-efficacy. (3) The analyses pointed out a direct and negative effect of age on the formation of the metacognitive feeling of certainty. Furthermore, an indirect effect of sex through driving self-efficacy was established. This effect was negative in the case of the metacognitive feeling of difficulty and the estimation of effort and positive in the case of the metacognitive feeling of certainty. (4) This position points out the need to establish appropriate levels of the perceived self-efficacy of older drivers with MCI, and it raises issues when it moves to fictitious levels.

Two models of mind blanking

Mind blanking is a mental state in which attention does not bring any perceptual input into conscious awareness. As this state is still largely unexplored, we suggest that a comprehensive understanding of mind blanking can be achieved through a multifaceted approach combining self-assessment methods, neuroimaging and neuromodulation. In this article, we explain how electroencephalography and transcranial magnetic stimulation could be combined to help determine whether mind blanking is associated with a lack of mental content or a lack of linguistically or conceptually determinable mental content. We also question whether mind blanking occurs spontaneously or intentionally and whether these two forms are instantiated by the same or different neural correlates.

Subjective memory in adults over 50 years of age: associations with affective and physiological markers of emotion regulation

OBJECTIVES

To examine associations among subjective memory reports, psychophysiological markers of emotion regulation, and cognitive performance in healthy adults over 50 years of age.

METHOD

A cross-sectional laboratory study was conducted with healthy, community-dwelling, non-depressed adults (M age = 60.4 years, SD = 8.4). The Metamemory in Adulthood (MIA) questionnaire provided reports of subjective memory capacity and stability (versus decline) and anxiety about memory. Poorer emotion regulation was marked by greater negative affect (NA) and lower high frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) responses to a challenging working memory task. Regression models were used to identify associations between subjective memory and emotion regulation markers, and structural equation modeling was used to explore whether emotion regulation mediated associations between subjective memory and objective task performance.

RESULTS

A total of 115 participants were included in the final sample. Subjective memory decline (indicated by lower scores on memory stability) was associated with lower HF-HRV response and worse working memory performance. Poorer subjective memory capacity and more anxiety about memory were both associated with greater negative affect in response to the working memory task. There was an indirect effect of subjective memory capacity on working memory performance through negative affect response.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings here suggest that worse subjective memory may signal reduced capacity for emotion regulation. Along with known cognitive risks of depression and anxiety, more subtle emotion regulation difficulties may be involved in pathways of poor cognitive aging.

The Relationships between Character Strengths and Subjective Wellbeing: Evidence from Greece under Lockdown during COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 was first identified in December 2019. As long as this type of coronavirus was new, the main way for governments to avoid the spread of the infection was enforced quarantine. Besides public health protection, quarantine can have a psychological impact on the residents, with main symptoms being angst, anxiety, depressive, and PTSD symptoms. As it has been found that character strengths can promote subjective wellbeing, the purpose of the study was to examine this relationship under the new situation of quarantine in the Greek population in adults who were in quarantine for at least two weeks. The total sample consisted of 354 participants who were aged 18–72-years-old. A total of 263 participants were women (74.3%), 91 were men (25.7%), and 94.6% of them were highly educated. The sample was a convenience sample. The tools used were PANAS, PERMA and finally VIA-114GR. The data analysis was completed using SPSS software version 26.0 (IBM Corp. Released 2019. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Armonk, NY, USA: IBM Corp) and EQS 6.1 (Multivariate Software Inc.: Encino, CA, USA, 2006). The results showed that love, curiosity, persistence, hope, and zest are strongly associated with subjective wellbeing, even in conditions such as quarantine, and can support specific aspects of it.

Subjective Cognitive Impairment and Affective Symptoms: A Systematic Review

PURPOSE OF STUDY

Subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) has been argued to reflect affective symptoms (i.e., depression and anxiety) rather than actual cognitive issues. Although a number of studies exist that look at the associations between SCI and affective symptoms, no review is available to aggregate this disparate literature. We addressed this gap by conducting a systematic review to better understand the relationships among SCI and affective symptoms among older adults in both community and clinical settings.

DESIGN AND METHODS

We reviewed available literature per the criteria of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Weight of evidence (WoE) ratings and narrative synthesis were completed for 58 articles.

RESULTS

A majority of studies focused on community-based samples (n = 40). Approximately half (53%) of the articles reviewed met high WoE criteria for the current review. Cross-sectional findings consistently identified a positive relationship among SCI and affective symptoms. Findings from available longitudinal studies (n = 9) were mixed but suggested a possible reciprocal relationship among SCI and depression. The relationship between SCI and anxiety appeared to be driven by fears over loss of function. Following consultation with health professionals, the association between SCI and anxiety was diminished or eliminated.

IMPLICATIONS

Although SCI is consistently related to affective symptoms in older adults cross-sectionally, more longitudinal work is needed to understand their temporal relationship. Improved measurement of SCI would support a deeper understanding of the impact of SCI on psychological well-being.

Evidências de Validade de uma Escala Destinada à Avaliação da Metacognição Infantil

RESUMO Pensamentos e conhecimentos que os indivíduos possuem sobre seus próprios processos cognitivos definem o termo metacognição. O objetivo deste trabalho foi continuar o processo de validação da Escala de Metacognição (EMETA) analisando evidências baseadas na estrutura e na consistência internas, bem como a realização de comparação entre as médias para investigar as influências das variáveis gênero, tipo de escola e idade. Os resultados encontrados em amostra de 196 participantes entre 9 e 12 anos apontaram a presença de um único fator denominado Metacognição e a possibilidade de redução dos itens de 67 para 40. Não foi encontrada diferença significativa influenciada pelas variáveis analisadas. Apesar dos resultados favoráveis ao acúmulo das evidências de validade, outros parâmetros psicométricos ainda devem ser avaliados.