Unpleasant situations elicit different emotional responses in younger and older adults

Stepfamily Variation in Parent-Child Relationship Quality in Later Life

Objective

We use a family systems approach to examine how stepfamily structure is associated with both positive and negative parent-child relationships while considering mothers' and fathers' discrepant reports.

Background

Two in five older couples with children are in stepfamilies. Past research on later-life stepfamily dynamics has focused mainly on positive aspects of relationships and compared reports of mothers and fathers from different families.

Method

Using the U.S. Health and Retirement Study, we estimated multilevel models with data from married couples in which both spouses reported living children and answered all questions about positive and negative parent-child relationships (N = 2,150).

Results

Couples in stepfamilies reported less positive and more negative relationships with their children than did couples in non-stepfamilies. Mothers reported more positive relationships than fathers, but there was no gender difference in reports of negative relationships. The patterns of perceived parent-child relationships and divergent reports between mothers and fathers also varied by stepfamily structure. Structural complexity was not consistently related to positive or negative relationships.

Conclusion

This study underscores the importance of considering mothers' and fathers' different points of view in the same family and examining both positive and negative parent-child interactions as negative relationships are not merely the reverse of positive relationships.

Patient-oncologist working alliance and its relation to locus of control

OBJECTIVES

In this study, we assessed the patient-oncologist relationship, conceptualized as the working alliance from a dyadic perspective, and its relation to locus of control.

METHODS

One hundred and three oncologist-patient dyads were recruited. Measures included a sociodemographic and medical questionnaire; the "internal, powerful others, and chance" locus of control scale; and the working alliance inventory.

RESULTS

Application of the actor-partner interdependence model yielded 2 actor effects: a positive association between oncologist "internal" locus of control and oncologist working alliance, and a negative association between oncologist "chance" locus of control and oncologist working alliance. It also yielded one partner effect: a positive association between oncologist "internal" locus of control and patient working alliance.

SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS

The actor-partner effect suggests that oncologists' locus of control has a role in the establishment of the patient-oncologist working alliance; oncologists' internal locus of control is a dominant factor affecting not only their own perceived alliance but patients' perceived alliance as well.

Not all negative emotions are equal - Sadness and anger develop differently and their adaptivity is age-graded

We argue that a comprehensive understanding of emotional development across adulthood must go beyond broad dimensions of affect and consider discrete emotions. Current evidence focuses on sadness and anger, two negative emotions that exert contrasting age trajectories because anger has high adaptive value in young adulthood, when people have abundant resources and need to carve out a niche in society, whereas sadness has high adaptive value in old age, a time of declining resources that requires adaptation to increasingly unattainable goals. We conclude that our position about the age-graded experience and adaptive value of emotions should hold for a variety of negative and positive emotions.

Impact of Cohabitation during Confinement on Older Adults' Negative Affect: What Specificity of Life as a Couple?

BACKGROUND

Social isolation is a risk factor for older adults' physical and psychological health. The beneficial effect of social connections in times of major health events is undeniable. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the positive effect of social support depends on the relationship type.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to investigate the influence of older adults' living conditions on the risk of experiencing negative affect during the first lockdown and post-lockdown.

DESIGN

An epidemiological study conducted during the COVID-19 crisis, at the time of the first lockdown, and 2 to 3 months following the lockdown.

SETTING

A subset sample of the PACOVID survey, a population-based survey of older adults.

PARTICIPANTS

Altogether, 277 participants were included into three groups depending on their living conditions: Group 1 "living alone" (n = 141); Group 2 "living with their spouse" (n = 106); Group 3 "living in cohabitation with relatives" (n = 30).

MEASUREMENTS

Mixed logistic regression analyses were used to study the change in the risk of experiencing negative affects over time according to the living conditions. The presence of negative affects during lockdown was assessed using three items from the 20-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale : «Do you feel sad?»; «Do you feel depressed?; «Do you feel lonely?

RESULTS

Participants living with their relatives or partner were significantly less likely to experience negative affect than those living alone during lockdown. Moreover, over time, only those living with their spouse had this lesser risk compared to those living alone.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight the protective effect of social support over time and more specifically of that provided by the spouse. Couple functioning ought to be given consideration when studying the impact of health crisis situation on the mental health of older adults.

Democrats are better than Republicans at discerning true and false news but do not have better metacognitive awareness

Insight into one's own cognitive abilities is one important aspect of metacognition. Whether this insight varies between groups when discerning true and false information has yet to be examined. We investigated whether demographics like political partisanship and age were associated with discernment ability, metacognitive efficiency, and response bias for true and false news. Participants rated the veracity of true and false news headlines and provided confidence ratings for each judgment. We found that Democrats and older adults were better at discerning true and false news than Republicans and younger adults. However, all demographic groups maintained good insight into their discernment ability. Although Republicans were less accurate than Democrats, they slightly outperformed Democrats in metacognitive efficiency when a politically equated item set was used. These results suggest that even when individuals mistake misinformation to be true, they are aware that they might be wrong.

Patient-Reported Mental Health Outcomes After Single-Digit Non-thumb Traumatic Amputation in Adults

Background

Though traumatic digital amputations are common, outcomes data are scarce. The FRANCHISE study clarified functional outcomes after digital amputation, but little information is available regarding mental health outcomes. The aims of this study were to document patient-reported mental health outcomes after traumatic digital amputation, elucidate the relationship between mental health and functional outcomes, and determine which patient/injury attributes conferred risk of unfavorable mental health outcomes.

Methods

This was a descriptive, retrospective study of 77 patients with history of single digit, non-thumb traumatic amputation. Eligible patients completed Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Upper Extremity, Pain Interference, Anger, Anxiety, and Depression computer adaptive tests, and a short questionnaire recorded handedness, demographics, and worker's compensation status.

Results

Correlation across the 3 PROMIS mental health domains (Anger, Anxiety, Depression) was uniformly strong and statistically significant. Correlation between the PROMIS mental health and functional (Upper Extremity and Pain Interference) scores was statistically significant but much weaker. Multivariable analysis revealed younger age and a worker's compensation claim had independent statistically significant predictive value for worse PROMIS Anger, Anxiety, and Depression scores. Female sex was also found to independently predict PROMIS Anxiety.

Conclusions

By identifying patients at increased risk for feelings of anger, anxiety, and depression after digital amputation, anticipatory counseling can be provided. Anger, anxiety, and depression are very likely to coexist in the same patient; when responding to a patient who exhibits 1 element of this triad, the surgeon should be aware that the other 2 elements are likely to be present, even if not obvious.

Role of Emotion Reactivity to Predict Facial Emotion Recognition Changes with Aging

Emotional intelligence includes an assortment of factors related to emotion function. Such factors involve emotion recognition (in this case via facial expression), emotion trait, reactivity, and regulation. We aimed to investigate how the subjective appraisals of emotional intelligence (i.e. trait, reactivity, and regulation) are associated with objective emotion recognition accuracy, and how these associations differ between young and older adults. Data were extracted from the CamCAN dataset (189 adults: 57 young/118 older) from assessments measuring these emotion constructs. Using linear regression models, we found that greater negative reactivity was associated with better emotion recognition accuracy among older adults, though the pattern was opposite for young adults with the greatest difference in disgust and surprise recognition. Positive reactivity and depression level predicted surprise recognition, with the associations significantly differing between the age groups. The present findings suggest the level to which older and young adults react to emotional stimuli differentially predicts their ability to correctly identify facial emotion expressions. Older adults with higher negative reactivity may be able to integrate their negative emotions effectively in order to recognize other's negative emotions more accurately. Alternatively, young adults may experience interference from negative reactivity, lowering their ability to recognize other's negative emotions.

Falling hard, but recovering resoundingly: Age differences in stressor reactivity and recovery

Strength and vulnerability integration (SAVI) theory (Charles, 2010) posits that age differences in emotional experiences vary based on the distance from an emotionally eliciting event. Before and after a stressor, SAVI predicts that older age is related to motivational strivings that often result in higher levels of well-being. However, during stressor exposure, age differences are predicted to be attenuated or disappear completely. The present study examined how younger (n = 85; Mage = 22.56 years) and older (n = 85; Mage = 71.05 years) adults reacted to and recovered from a cognitive stressor using repeated positive and negative emotion probes. Results showed that both age groups were negatively impacted by the stressor, and both reported an initial boost in recovery afterward. However, older adults continued to improve across the recovery period compared with younger adults. This work elucidates that older adults are significantly impacted by stress but exhibit a resounding recovery. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Prevalence and risk factors of anxiety and depression in adult patients with epilepsy: a multicenter survey-based study

Background

Depression and anxiety are the most common psychiatric comorbidities in patients with epilepsy (PWE). However, they are often unrecognized and consequently untreated.

Objective

The study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of anxiety and depression among Chinese adult PWE.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

Adult PWE were recruited from 13 tertiary epilepsy centers from February to September 2022. Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 and Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy were applied to evaluate anxiety and depression, respectively. Both univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses models were performed to explore the risk factors of anxiety and depression.

Results

A total of 1326 PWE were enrolled in this study. The prevalence of anxiety and depression was 31.45% and 27.30%, respectively. Being female [odds ratio (OR) = 1.467, 95% CI: 1.134-1.899; p = 0.004], focal and focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures (TCSZ) (OR = 1.409, 95% CI: 1.021-1.939; p = 0.036), and seizure occurrence in the last 3 months (OR = 1.445, 95% CI: 1.026-2.044; p = 0.036) were the risk factors for anxiety. Focal and focal to bilateral TCSZ (OR = 1.531, 95% CI: 1.094-2.138; p = 0.013) and seizure occurrence in the last 3 months (OR = 1.644, 95% CI: 1.130-2.411; p = 0.010) were the risk factors for depression. In addition, for every 1-year increment of age, the odds of developing depression were decreased by 3.8% (p = 4.12e-5). Nevertheless, up to 70% of PWE did not receive any treatment for comorbidity.

Conclusion

There were approximately 30% of PWE screened positive for anxiety or depression. Both focal and focal to bilateral TCSZ and seizure occurrence in the last 3 months were estimated as risk factors for anxiety and depression. However, the current status of treatment was not optimal.

Validation of the Japanese version of the quality of life-Alzheimer's disease for nursing homes

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to validate the Japanese version of Quality of Life-Alzheimer's Disease for Nursing Homes (QOL-AD NH). This is the modified version of QOL-AD, initially developed for residents living with dementia in long-term care settings.

METHODS

Psychometric assessment was conducted in a sample of 101 residents and their professional care staff to obtain self-ratings and proxy-ratings of QOL, respectively. Residents' behavior was observed using Dementia Care Mapping (DCM) method, and their mood/engagement (ME) value was evaluated as a proxy measure of QOL.

RESULTS

Self-ratings were higher than proxy-ratings (t = 10.22, p<.001), with moderate correlation (r=.51, p<.001) and strong internal consistency (α=.87 for both). The exact agreement between the two groups was 38.23%. Convergent validity was confirmed with ME value and positive engagements of DCM. Exploratory factor analysis was performed for further validity testing. Three factors - self and life overall, social environment, and physical and psychological health, accounted for 85.9% of the total variance with Cronbach's α of .87, .73, .90, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Using a validated Japanese version of the QOL-AD NH may help assess the QOL of older residents living in long-term care settings to improve the continuum of care for dementia.

Emotional and Affective Disorders in Cognitive Aging

The increased aging population who have aging-related diseases poses a serious challenge to health services, including mental health services. Due to the changes of body, brain, living environment, and lifestyle, the elderly will have different psychological changes from other age stages, some of which would develop into mental disorders, and affect the cognition of the elderly in turn. This elderly mental health condition has drawn wide attention from scientists. This chapter introduces the two most common emotional and affective disorders, late-life depression and anxiety, and focuses on their epidemiology and impact on the elderly. Furthermore, this chapter also reviews the effects of these two disorders on cognitive function and cognitive impairment in the elderly, and tries to explain the underlying mechanism of this effect from the perspective of related disease, cerebral circuit, and molecular biology.

Depression among COVID-19 survivors in Colombia

The COVID-19 survivors are at high risk of meeting the criteria for depression. However, few studies have explored its prevalence and associated factors. The study aimed to know the frequency and variables associated with depression among COVID-19 survivors in Santa Marta, Colombia. A sample of COVID-19 survivors was included. Depression was quantified with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9, α = 0.85). Three hundred and thirty survivors participated in the research. They were aged between 18 and 89 years, 61.5% were women, and 49.7% of participants scored above the cut-off point for depression. Depression was associated with female gender, younger age, COVID moderate or severe, and having presented symptoms for more than three weeks. In conclusion, depression occurs in half of the COVID-19 survivors and is higher in younger, women and who report more severe symptoms. Longitudinal studies can provide further information on the long-term impact on the mental health of COVID-19 survivors.

The Undoing Effect of Positive Emotions: A Meta-Analytic Review

The undoing hypothesis proposes that positive emotions serve to undo sympathetic arousal related to negative emotions and stress. However, a recent qualitative review challenged the undoing effect by presenting conflicting results. To address this issue quantitatively, we conducted a meta-analytic review of 16 studies ( N = 1,220; 72 effect sizes) measuring sympathetic recovery during elicited positive emotions and neutral conditions. Findings indicated that in most cases, positive emotions did not speed sympathetic recovery compared to neutral conditions. However, when a composite index of cardiovascular reactivity was used, undoing effects were evident. Our findings suggest the need for further work on the functions of positive emotions.

The destabilization and destandardization of social roles across the adult life course: Considering aggregate social role instability and its variability from a historical-developmental perspective

Existing research focused on social role destabilization (historical increases in role instability) and destandardization (historical increases in variability of role instability) has primarily focused on discrete social roles during discrete periods of development. Building on this work, we applied a macro approach to elucidate the extent to which historical trends toward destabilization and destandardization are occurring at the aggregate among a key set of social roles (union formation, education, residential independence, and employment) and across the whole of adulthood. Applying a historical-developmental approach, we also document how historical trends toward destabilization and destandardization vary by age. We used 3 historical, longitudinal data sets: the Monitoring the Future study (N = 69,464; 55.4% women; 75.5% white), the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 45,001; 51.4% women; 54.3% white), and The Health and Retirement Study (N = 30,913; 53.6% women; 75.6% white) that collectively cover the entire adult life course and over a century of U.S. birth cohorts. We found that aggregate destabilization and destandardization have occurred across the entirety of adulthood, although trends appear more pronounced at either end of the adult life course and the specific roles driving both trends vary across the adult life course. Findings were robust for educational attainment, and destabilization and destandardization were more pronounced among women. Findings highlight the importance of considering social role changes at the aggregate and singularly, and the need to evaluate social role changes in any 1 period of adulthood in conjunction with those occurring in other periods of adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Individual Variation Exists Within the Psychological Response to Hypoxic Bed Rest: A Retrospective Analysis

Individual variation is of interest to Space Agency's, which cannot be explored with astronauts due to anonymity. We retrospectively analysed data collected throughout three projects (LunHab: 10-day male, PlanHab: 21-day male, and FemHab: 10-day female) to elucidate the potentially masked individual variation in the psychological responses to bed rest. The Profile of Mood State (POMS) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) - instruments used to asses psychological state - and Lake Louise Mountain Sickness (LLMS) scores were collected prior to, following and throughout three interventions: 1: normoxic bed rest 2: hypoxic bed rest and 3: hypoxic ambulatory confinement. Total Mood Disturbance (TMD) was calculated from the POMS results, positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) from PANAS. The three instruments were included in a latent class mixed model. TMD, NA, and LLMS were included in a four-class model, with each class representing a specific type of response (Class 1: descending, Class 2: flat, Class 3: somewhat flat, Class 4: ascending). Responses for PA were assigned to only two classes (Classes 1 and 2). 54.55% or 24 participants were included in Class 2 (TMD, NA, and LLMS), where the responses did not change and neither hypoxia or activity level had a significant effect on emotional state. The remaining participants were allotted to Class 1, 3, or 4, where hypoxia was a significant covariate, while activity (bed rest) was significant only for class 3. For PA, 84.09% or 37 participants were assigned to class 2 indicating a significant effect of hypoxia on the participants responses with no effect of physical activity. Class 1 participants (n = 7) were not affected by hypoxia, however, physical activity improved their PA. Participants undergoing confinement, hypoxia and bed rest do not exhibit a uniform emotional response and may be categorised into 2-4 distinct classes. These results indicate significant individual emotional responses, that may be masked and underreported by traditional statistical approaches like means ± SD. The emotional state of our participants is a complex construct likely influenced by past experiences and different coping mechanisms which allowed some to adapt to the experimental environment more readily.

Autonomic Nervous System Activity During Positive Emotions: A Meta-Analytic Review

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity is a fundamental component of emotional responding. It is not clear, however, whether positive emotional states are associated with differential ANS reactivity. To address this issue, we conducted a meta-analytic review of 120 articles (686 effect sizes, total N = 6,546), measuring ANS activity during 11 elicited positive emotions, namely amusement, attachment love, awe, contentment, craving, excitement, gratitude, joy, nurturant love, pride, and sexual desire. We identified a widely dispersed collection of studies. Univariate results indicated that positive emotions produce no or weak and highly variable increases in ANS reactivity. However, the limitations of work to date – which we discuss – mean that our conclusions should be treated as empirically grounded hypotheses that future research should validate.

Psychophysiology of positive and negative emotions, dataset of 1157 cases and 8 biosignals

Subjective experience and physiological activity are fundamental components of emotion. There is an increasing interest in the link between experiential and physiological processes across different disciplines, e.g., psychology, economics, or computer science. However, the findings largely rely on sample sizes that have been modest at best (limiting the statistical power) and capture only some concurrent biosignals. We present a novel publicly available dataset of psychophysiological responses to positive and negative emotions that offers some improvement over other databases. This database involves recordings of 1157 cases from healthy individuals (895 individuals participated in a single session and 122 individuals in several sessions), collected across seven studies, a continuous record of self-reported affect along with several biosignals (electrocardiogram, impedance cardiogram, electrodermal activity, hemodynamic measures, e.g., blood pressure, respiration trace, and skin temperature). We experimentally elicited a wide range of positive and negative emotions, including amusement, anger, disgust, excitement, fear, gratitude, sadness, tenderness, and threat. Psychophysiology of positive and negative emotions (POPANE) database is a large and comprehensive psychophysiological dataset on elicited emotions.

Social Relationships and Adaptation in Later Life

Social relations encompass a complex and dynamic set of characteristics that have been shown to distinctly affect health and quality of life across the lifespan and especially in older adulthood. In this chapter we begin with a brief review of several prominent theories of social relations. Next, we consider how social relations can be understood based on the resource they provide (e.g., contact frequency, social support), the relationship they stem from (e.g., friends, family), the strength of the tie (e.g., strong, weak) as well as the means of communication (e.g., offline, online). We briefly summarize how these characteristics have been shown to uniquely influence health and quality of life in older adulthood. Finally, we contemplate potential clinical applications, provide recommendations for the future and offer final concluding comments.

A Cross-Sectional Study to Evaluate the Effects of Age and Duration of HIV Infection on Anxiety and Depression in Cisgender Men

This observational cross-sectional study of 152 people with HIV (PWH) examined the effects of age and estimated duration of HIV infection (EDI) on depressive and anxiety symptoms. All participants were cisgender men and completed the Profile of Moods State (POMS), a self-report inventory of current (i.e., past week) mood states. Overall, study results confirmed higher levels of anxiety and depression in PWH compared to individuals without HIV. Age group (< 50 or ≥ 50 years) moderated the effect of EDI (< 3 or ≥ 3 years) on mood disturbance. Specifically, younger PWH with early diagnosed infection exhibited the highest levels of depression and anxiety, whereas depression and anxiety were attenuated in older PWH with early infection such that their POMS scores did not significantly differ from the HIV-negative and chronically HIV-infected groups. Despite the small sample size and other important limitations in our study design, our preliminary findings confirm previous observations that older people may have some adaptive ability to better handle the acute psychological stressors associated with recent HIV infection.

Mental health and motor efficiency of older adults living in the Sardinia's Blue Zone: a follow-up study

OBJECTIVES

The main aim of this study was to examine the impact of age-related changes on mental health, metacognitive, and motor functioning in late adulthood, while controlling for the effect of gender. Additionally, this investigation intended to study the association between motor efficiency indexes and self-reported psychological well-being, depression and cognitive failures over a period of 24 months.

DESIGN

Prospective longitudinal study: post hoc analysis.

PARTICIPANTS

Ninety-one community-dwelling older participants (mean age = 78.7 years, SD = 5.6) were recruited in a rural village of the Sardinian Blue Zone - an area of exceptional longevity located in the central-eastern region of Sardinia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea.

MEASUREMENTS

All respondents completed a battery of tests and questionnaires assessing motor and general cognitive efficiency, self-reported psychological well-being, negative affect, and cognitive failures.

RESULTS

The adoption of a multilevel modeling approach highlighted the significative impact of time on psychological well-being, as well as on mobility parameters like gait speed and cadence, while controlling for the gender effect. Overall, psychological well-being and motor swing significantly increase at follow-up, whereas the further above-mentioned measures decreased after 24 months. Moreover, compared to the national cut-off, at baseline and follow-up, participants reported higher perceived emotional well-being. Finally, significant relationships between motor scores and self-reported mental health and metacognitive measures were found both at baseline and follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

The maintenance of motor efficiency and preserved mental health seems to contribute to the successful aging of older people living in the Sardinian Blue Zone.

Adult Aging Moderates the Relationship Between Trait Cognitive Anxiety and Subjective Everyday Cognitive Difficulties

The present aim was to determine, across the adult lifespan, the extent to which different dimensions of trait anxiety might affect subjective cognitive difficulties in everyday life. Following Attentional Control Theory (ACT; Eysenck et al., 2007), we predicted that trait anxiety would have a greater effect on attention and verbal abilities than on visual abilities. We also expected trait cognitive anxiety to exhibit more robust relationships with cognition than trait somatic anxiety. Importantly, we predicted that effects of anxiety would be greater in older adults, in line with the Strength and Vulnerability Integration model (SAVI; Charles, 2010). The sample comprised 286 United Kingdom-based adults aged 18–93 years. Participants completed self-report measures of trait cognitive and somatic anxiety (the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety; STICSA, Ree et al., 2008) and everyday cognitive difficulties (the Multiple Abilities Self-Report Questionnaire; MASQ, Seidenberg et al., 1994). Moderated regression models were constructed, including trait cognitive or somatic anxiety as a predictor of cognitive difficulties, and age as the moderator variable. Covariates included depression, stress (the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales—short form; DASS-21, Lovibond and Lovibond, 1995), gender, current mental health treatment status, and physical health status. When cognitive anxiety was the predictor variable, somatic anxiety was also included as a covariate, and vice-versa. Trait cognitive anxiety and age interacted to predict all MASQ subscales other than visual-perceptual ability. Difficulties with attention, verbal memory, and language abilities were significantly greater at higher levels of anxiety for all age groups, with the effect greatest in older adults. Difficulties with visual-spatial memory were significantly greater at higher levels of anxiety in middle-aged and older adults only. Higher trait somatic anxiety predicted difficulties with verbal memory and language ability independently of age, and interacted with age to predict language difficulties. Interestingly, age also significantly predicted less subjective difficulty with attention, independently of anxiety level. The results show that trait cognitive and somatic anxiety are both related to subjective, everyday cognitive difficulties. However, effects of trait cognitive anxiety are more robust across cognitive domains and tend to increase, or first appear, over the course of the adult lifespan.

COVID-19 Associated Suicidal Ideation in Older Adults: Two Case Reports With a Review of the Literature

The COVID-19 pandemic may profoundly harm the mental health and emotional well- being of many older adults. Public health interventions to minimize the spread of the virus have had the unintended consequences of worsening social isolation, financial stress, and unemployment. Results of early research efforts assessing the impact of these interventions on the mental health of older adults have been mixed. Available findings suggest that a subset of community-dwelling older adults have been less negatively impacted than younger adults, while people of color, the poor, residents of nursing homes and other communal living environments, and those living with dementia and their caregivers are more likely to suffer from COVID-related health problems. This manuscript describes two older adults for whom COVID-19 associated stresses caused significant worsening in their psychiatric illnesses, including the emergence of suicidal ideation, summarizes the literature on the impact of interactions between psychosocial stresses and biological factors on the mental health and well-being of older adults, and discusses interventions to help older adults whose mental health has worsened due to COVID-19. Timely and accurate diagnosis, prompt provision of individualized care using both pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic interventions, adoption of new technologies that permit care to be provided safely at a distance and which allow for virtual social interactions, coupled with ongoing advocacy for policy changes that address significant health care disparities and provide older adults continued access to health care and relief from financial hardship, will help older adults remaining as healthy as possible during the pandemic.

Mental Health and Social Connectedness Across the Adult Lifespan in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had profound consequences on collective mental health and well-being, and yet, older adults appear better off than younger adults. The current study examined mental health impacts of the pandemic across adult age groups in a large sample (n = 5,320) of Canadians using multiple hierarchical regression analyses. Results suggest older adults are experiencing better mental health and more social connectedness relative to younger adults. Loneliness predicted negative mental health outcomes across all age groups, while the negative association between social support and mental health was only significant at average and high levels of loneliness in the 65–69 age group. Results point towards differential mental health impacts of the pandemic across adult age groups and indicate that loneliness and social support may be key intervention targets during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research should further examine mechanisms of resiliency among older Canadian adults during the pandemic.

The relationship between perceived support and depression in spousal care partners: a dyadic approach

OBJECTIVES

Caregiving within a spousal partnership marks a novel relationship stage for couples. Caregiving introduces new stressors and affects couples' ability to cope, and potentially alters perceptions of emotional support. Prior research on older married couples illustrates how perceived support not only affects an individual's mental health, but also that of their partner. To date, the dyadic relationship between emotional support and mental health is largely unexamined among caregiving partners, where support expectations may differ.

METHOD

Actor partner interdependence models using linear mixed modeling were applied to data from spouses where one partner received caregiving within the 2014 and 2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. We examined the cross-sectional and lagged associations between perceived emotional support and strain from a spouse on actor and partner depression scores, as well as whether one was the caregiver or the care recipient moderated associations.

RESULTS

More positive perceptions of support were associated with lower depression scores for oneself (b= -0.55, p < 0.001) and one's partner (b= -0.24, p < 0.001). Actor effects-how one's own perceptions of support associate with one's own depressive symptomology-were stronger for care recipients than for caregivers (b= -0.83, p < 0.001 v. b= -0.26, p < 0.05). Higher perceptions of strain were also associated with higher depression scores for oneself (b = 0.57, p < 0.001) and one's partner (b = 0.39, p < 0.001), associations that remained even in lagged models.

CONCLUSIONS

The observation of both actor and partner effects in this study suggests opportunities to improve care recipient outcomes through intervention with caregivers or both members of the care dyad.

Greater negative affect and mixed emotions during spontaneous reactions to sad films in older than younger adults

Older adults may be better able to regulate emotion responses to negative experiences than younger persons when provided instructions, but age group differences in spontaneous emotion responses are poorly understood. The current study determined age group differences in spontaneous reactivity and recovery in negative and positive affects, as well as the co-occurrence of negative and positive affects, following a laboratory mood induction. Younger (n = 71) and older adults (n = 44) rated negative and positive affects before and several times after a negative mood induction involving sad film clips. ANCOVA and multilevel longitudinal modeling in HLM were utilized to determine age group differences in spontaneous reactivity to and recovery from the mood induction, as well as age group differences in co-occurrence of negative and positive affects. Relative to younger adults, older adults reported greater negative affect reactivity to and recovery from the mood induction. Older adults also reported greater co-occurrence of negative and positive affects in response to the mood induction, as compared to younger adults. Thus, older adults reacted more strongly to sad film clips than younger persons, exhibited efficient recovery, and reported greater co-occurrence of negative and positive affects. A fruitful line of future research might determine whether affect co-occurrence facilitates effective emotion regulation.

The Appraisal Approach to Aging and Emotion: An Integrative Theoretical Framework

To advance our understanding of how emotional experience changes across the adult life span, we propose an integrative theoretical framework: the appraisal approach to aging and emotion (AAAE). AAAE posits that (a) age-related cognitive, motivational, and physical changes fundamentally change the appraisal system in certain ways, and that (b) older adults often deploy appraisal processes in different ways relative to their younger counterparts. As such, we hypothesize that these age-related changes to the appraisal process underlie the finding that older and younger adults tend to experience different emotions. In this paper we integrate findings from the aging literature with appraisal theory, grounding AAAE in theoretical and empirical work relevant to the relationship between aging and appraisal processes. Using our theoretical framework, it is possible to identify critical points of investigation for aging and emotion researchers to further develop our understanding of the proximal-level determinants of age differences in emotion.

Effects of acute stress on cognition in older versus younger adults

Does acute stress differentially alter cognitive functioning in older versus younger adults? While older adults may be better at handling stress psychologically, their physiological systems are less elastic, potentially impairing the cognitive functioning of older adults after a stressor. We examined cognition following an acute stressor among older (n = 65; ages 60-79) and younger (n = 61; ages 25-40) adults. Participants were randomized to complete the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) in one of three conditions: (a) negative feedback, (b) positive feedback, or (c) no feedback. Participants reported mood states and appraisals of the speech task and we measured cortisol via saliva throughout the study. After the TSST, participants completed standard cognitive tasks to evaluate cognitive flexibility, problem solving, and short-term memory. Results showed that after the TSST, older adults took longer to solve problems compared with younger adults, though they were able to solve the same number of problems. Older adults showed less cognitive flexibility compared with younger adults in all conditions, a finding that was partially exaggerated in the positive feedback condition. There were no age-group differences in short-term memory; however, for older adults greater perceived resources and positive affect were associated with better memory performance. In sum, older and younger adults were both affected by acute stress, and older adults were not more (or less) vulnerable to the effects of stress on cognition, though they did show stronger associations between self-reported affective states and memory performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-related differences in valence and arousal of emotion concepts

Emotion concepts are representations that enable people to make sense of their own and others’ emotions. The present study, theoretically driven by the conceptual act theory, explores the overall spectrum of emotion concepts in older adults and compares them with the emotion concepts of younger adults. Data from 178 older adults (⩾55 years) and 176 younger adults (20–30 years) were collected using the Semantic Emotion Space Assessment task. The arousal and valence of 16 discrete emotions – anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, hope, love, hate, contempt, guilt, compassion, shame, gratefulness, envy, disappointment, and jealousy – were rated by the participants on a graphic scale bar. The results show that (a) older and younger adults did not differ in the mean valence ratings of emotion concepts, which indicates that older adults do not differ from younger adults in the way they conceptualise how pleasant or unpleasant emotions are. Furthermore, (b) older men rated emotion concepts as more arousing than younger men, (c) older adults rated sadness, disgust, contempt, guilt, and compassion as more arousing and (d) jealousy as less arousing than younger adults. The results of the present study indicate that age-related differentiation of conceptual knowledge seems to proceed more in the way that individuals understand how arousing their subjective representations of emotions are rather than how pleasant they are.

Losing Money and Motivation: Effects of Loss Incentives on Motivation and Metacognition in Younger and Older Adults

Incentives are usually expected to increase motivation and cognitive control and to thereby improve performance. A small but growing number of studies have begun to investigate whether the effects of incentive on cognitive performance differ for younger vs. older adults. Most have used attention and cognitive control paradigms, trial-wise implementation of incentive condition, and gain incentives (reward), with only a very few investigating the effects of loss incentives. The present study takes a complementary approach: We tested younger and older adults in a working memory paradigm with loss incentives implemented session-wide (between subjects). We also included self-report measures to ask how loss incentive affected participants’ perceptions of the mental demand of the task, as well as their perceived effort, frustration, motivation, distraction, and metacognitive judgments of how well they had performed. This allowed us to test the disparate predictions of different theoretical views: the intuitive hypothesis that incentive should increase motivation and performance, the motivational shift proposal that older adults are especially motivated to avoid losses (Freund and Ebner, 2005), a heuristic “positivity effect” perspective that older adults ignore losses (Brassen et al., 2012; Williams et al., 2017), and a more nuanced view that suggests that when negative information is unavoidable and increases perceived costs, older adults may instead disengage from the situation (Charles, 2010; Hess, 2014). The results seemed most consistent with the more nuanced view of the positivity effect. While neither group showed incentive-related performance differences, both younger and older adults reported greater perceived demand and frustration under loss incentive, especially in the most challenging conditions. Loss incentive increased the accuracy of immediate metacognitive judgments, but reduced the accuracy of later, more global judgments of competency for older adults. Self-report measures suggested that the loss incentive manipulation was distracting to young adults and demotivating for older adults. The results suggest a need for caution in generalizing from existing studies to everyday life, and that additional studies parameterizing critical aspects of task design and incentive manipulation are needed to fully understand how incentives affect cognition and motivation in younger and older adults.

Heightened Stress in Employed Individuals Is Linked to Altered Variability and Inertia in Emotions

Stress has been widely recognized as a key factor contributing to health outcomes and psychological well-being. While some growing evidence points to stress as having an effect on emotion dynamics characteristics, there has yet to be a test of how global perceptions of stress are associated with not only average levels of emotions but also the variability in the intensity of the emotions, as well as how emotions linger (inertia), and whether these characteristics differ by age. In an effort to better understand how stress influences the emotional experiences of individuals, we examined associations between perceived stress levels and emotion dynamics indices in a sample of 859 working individuals over 24 h. Participants ranged in age from 21 to 81 years. Each participant was prompted at approximately 28 min intervals throughout a 24 h period to report intensity of emotional states. Overall, individuals who were more stressed experienced lower mean levels of positive emotions (with the exception of higher levels of excitement) and higher mean levels of negative emotions. They also experienced more pronounced variability in both positive and negative emotions, and greater inertia in negative emotions. We also found some evidence for age-related differences in mean levels and variability in certain emotions. The relationship of emotion dynamics indices to stress levels was not moderated by age. Many of the stress–emotion dynamics associations did not remain statistically significant upon controlling for the mean level of momentary emotions, indicating that the mean is a large component in the association.

Seeking Solitude After Being Ostracized: A Replication and Beyond

Individuals may respond to ostracism by either behaving prosocially or antisocially. A recent paper provides evidence for a third response: solitude seeking, suggesting that ostracized individuals may ironically engage in self-perpetuating behaviors which exacerbate social isolation. To examine this counterintuitive response to ostracism, we conceptually replicated the original paper in three studies (N = 1,118). Ostracism experiences were associated with preference for solitude across four samples (Study 1), and being ostracized increased participants’ desires for solitude (Studies 2 and 3). Extending beyond the original paper, we demonstrated that only the experience of being ostracized, but not ostracizing others or the feeling of conspicuousness, triggered the desire for solitude. Diverging from the original paper, trait extraversion did not moderate the effect of ostracism on solitude desires. Taken together, the current research provides additional and stronger empirical evidence that solitude seeking is a common response to ostracism.

The Psychological Consequences of Disability over the Life Course: Assessing the Mediating Role of Perceived Interpersonal Discrimination

We examine whether perceived interpersonal discrimination mediates the association between disability and psychological well-being (depression, negative and positive affect) and how these processes differ across the life course. Data are from two waves (2004-2006; 2013-2014) of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS; N = 2,503). Perceived discrimination accounts for 5% to 8% of the association between disability and the three mental health outcomes. Moderated mediation analyses reveal significant age differences; perceived discrimination is a stronger explanatory mechanism among midlife (ages 40-64) relative to older (age 65+) adults. Disability stigma takes a heightened psychological toll at midlife, a life stage when adults are expected to be able-bodied and interact with a diverse social network, which may be a source of interpersonal mistreatment. Among older adults, for whom impairment is expected and common, the psychological impact of disability may operate through other pathways. We discuss implications for research and practice.

The neuroscience of sadness: A multidisciplinary synthesis and collaborative review

Sadness is typically characterized by raised inner eyebrows, lowered corners of the mouth, reduced walking speed, and slumped posture. Ancient subcortical circuitry provides a neuroanatomical foundation, extending from dorsal periaqueductal grey to subgenual anterior cingulate, the latter of which is now a treatment target in disorders of sadness. Electrophysiological studies further emphasize a role for reduced left relative to right frontal asymmetry in sadness, underpinning interest in the transcranial stimulation of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as an antidepressant target. Neuroimaging studies - including meta-analyses - indicate that sadness is associated with reduced cortical activation, which may contribute to reduced parasympathetic inhibitory control over medullary cardioacceleratory circuits. Reduced cardiac control may - in part - contribute to epidemiological reports of reduced life expectancy in affective disorders, effects equivalent to heavy smoking. We suggest that the field may be moving toward a theoretical consensus, in which different models relating to basic emotion theory and psychological constructionism may be considered as complementary, working at different levels of the phylogenetic hierarchy.

Effects of Age and Hearing Loss on the Recognition of Emotions in Speech

OBJECTIVES

Emotional communication is a cornerstone of social cognition and informs human interaction. Previous studies have shown deficits in facial and vocal emotion recognition in older adults, particularly for negative emotions. However, few studies have examined combined effects of aging and hearing loss on vocal emotion recognition by adults. The objective of this study was to compare vocal emotion recognition in adults with hearing loss relative to age-matched peers with normal hearing. We hypothesized that age would play a role in emotion recognition and that listeners with hearing loss would show deficits across the age range.

DESIGN

Thirty-two adults (22 to 74 years of age) with mild to severe, symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss, amplified with bilateral hearing aids and 30 adults (21 to 75 years of age) with normal hearing, participated in the study. Stimuli consisted of sentences spoken by 2 talkers, 1 male, 1 female, in 5 emotions (angry, happy, neutral, sad, and scared) in an adult-directed manner. The task involved a single-interval, five-alternative forced-choice paradigm, in which the participants listened to individual sentences and indicated which of the five emotions was targeted in each sentence. Reaction time was recorded as an indirect measure of cognitive load.

RESULTS

Results showed significant effects of age. Older listeners had reduced accuracy, increased reaction times, and reduced d' values. Normal hearing listeners showed an Age by Talker interaction where older listeners had more difficulty identifying male vocal emotion. Listeners with hearing loss showed reduced accuracy, increased reaction times, and lower d' values compared with age-matched normal-hearing listeners. Within the group with hearing loss, age and talker effects were significant, and low-frequency pure-tone averages showed a marginally significant effect. Contrary to other studies, once hearing thresholds were taken into account, no effects of listener sex were observed, nor were there effects of individual emotions on accuracy. However, reaction times and d' values showed significant differences between individual emotions.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study confirm existing findings in the literature showing that older adults show significant deficits in voice emotion recognition compared with their normally hearing peers, and that among listeners with normal hearing, age-related changes in hearing do not predict this age-related deficit. The present results also add to the literature by showing that hearing impairment contributes additionally to deficits in vocal emotion recognition, separate from deficits related to age. These effects of age and hearing loss appear to be quite robust, being evident in reduced accuracy scores and d' measures, as well as in reaction time measures.

Sibling relationships in older adulthood: Links with loneliness and well-being

Researchers have documented associations between family relationships and a variety of well-being outcomes. Yet, sibling relationships, the longest lasting relationships in most people's lives, have received very little research attention beyond young adulthood. The goals of the current study were to: provide descriptive information about sibling relationships in later adulthood, investigate predictors of individual differences in sibling relationship quality, and examine associations among sibling relationship quality, loneliness, and well-being in later adulthood. The sample included 608 older adults (329 men, 279 women) who were 64.6 years old (SD = 4.58) on average. Participants provided self-report data about their relationships and well-being. Results showed that older adults reported high levels of sibling warmth and low levels of sibling conflict and parental favoritism. Sister-sister pairs had warmer sibling relationships than other gender-compositions. Sibling conflict and parental favoritism were positively associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, hostility, and loneliness. Sibling warmth was negatively associated with loneliness. Loneliness partially mediated the associations between sibling relationship quality and well-being. Results from this study highlight the importance of sibling relationships in older adults' health and well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Paths to positivity: the relationship of age differences in appraisals of control to emotional experience

Evidence suggests that older adults experience greater emotional well-being compared to younger adults. Appraisal theories of emotion posit that differences in emotional experience are the result of differences in appraisal. As such, age differences in appraisal may relate to age differences in emotion. To investigate this, the present study focused on appraisals of control. Research suggests that losses of control lead to greater negative affect. Therefore, older adulthood was predicted to be associated with increased appraisal of self-control and less negative affect. To investigate this idea, we used an emotionally ambiguous scenario paradigm. Older and younger participants read fourteen ambiguous scenarios, imaging themselves as the main character. After each scenario, participants appraised the scenarios on three different control dimensions: self-, other-, and circumstantial-control. Afterward, they rated their feelings toward the scenarios on seven different emotional states. The results showed that compared to younger adults, older adults appraised more self-control relative to other- and circumstantial-control, and also experienced less negative affect in response to the scenarios. Importantly, in a mediation analysis, self-control relative to other-control explained age differences in emotional reactions toward the scenarios. This finding reflects the importance of considering the role of appraisal in age differences in emotional experience.

Age-related differences in the ability to decode intentions from non-literal language

Older adults sometimes experience difficulty in decoding non-literal language, such as sarcastic statements where the underlying meaning differs from the literal words used. Given that sarcasm usually communicates a negative message this age effect might be explained by a positivity bias in old age. Here we test this for the first time by looking at age differences in interpreting non-literal compliments made with positive intention. However, another possibility is that older adults may fail to interpret such remarks correctly because these non-literal compliments are rarely encountered in everyday interactions. The aim of this study was therefore to compare younger and older adults' comprehension of positively and negatively valenced non-literal language. Forty younger and thirty-eight older adults read short story scenarios ending with a positive or negative, literal or non-literal evaluative appraisal of an event. Older adults were less likely than young to detect negatively valenced non-literal criticism and there were even more pronounced age-related differences in comprehending positive non-literal compliments. This indicates that age differences in understanding non-literal language are not driven by positivity biases. The relative rarity of non-literal compliments may have made these particularly difficult to interpret for both younger and older adults. Younger adults' performance indicated that non-literal language mutes perceived levels of critique and praise, while older adults' tendency to misinterpret non-literal language means that they may not benefit from this muting function. Potential implications for social interactions in older adulthood are discussed.

Why are older adults victims of fraud? Current knowledge and prospects regarding older adults' vulnerability to fraud

Older adults are disproportionately targeted by various kinds of fraud, which result in irreversible economic losses and great psychological distress. Over the past years, researchers have conducted systematic research on the prevalence, under-reporting, and research methods of fraud victimization in older adults. Research paradigms regarding fraud victimization among older adults have mainly included cognitive, emotion regulation and motivation, and comprehensive paradigms. Factors shown to influence fraud victimization among older adults include cognitive decline, emotional regulation and motivational changes, their overly trusting nature, psychological vulnerability, social isolation, risk-taking, and a lack of knowledge and information regarding fraud prevention. Based on a review of the literature, future research can benefit from constructing a comprehensive fraud victimization theory, improving research methods, extending existing research, exploring physiological mechanisms of elderly fraud, and strengthening prevention and intervention efforts.

CISDA: Changes in Integration for Social Decisions in Aging

The aging of our population has been accompanied by increasing concerns about older adults' vulnerability to violations of trust and a growing interest in normative age-related changes to decision making involving social partners. This intersection has spurred research on age-related neurocognitive and affective changes underlying social decision making. Based on our review and synthesis of this literature, we propose a specification that targets social decision making in aging to the recently proposed Affect-Integration-Motivation (AIM) framework. Our framework specification, Changes in Integration for Social Decisions in Aging (CISDA), emphasizes three key components of value integration with particular relevance for social decisions in aging: theory of mind, emotion regulation, and memory for past experience. CISDA builds on converging research from economic decision making, cognitive neuroscience, and lifespan development to outline how age-related changes to neurocognition and behavior impact social decision making. We conclude with recommendations for future research based on CISDA's predictions, including implications for the development of interventions to enhance social decision outcomes in older adults. This article is categorized under: Economics > Individual Decision Making Psychology > Reasoning and Decision Making Psychology > Development and Aging Neuroscience > Cognition.

Older and younger adults' interactions with friends and strangers in an iterated prisoner's dilemma

This study examined age-related differences in behavioral reactions to interpersonal conflict within an iterated prisoner's dilemma (PD). Participants completed an iterated PD game alone and with a partner, either a stranger or a friend who accompanied them to the session. The partner, however, was actually a program that occasionally behaved selfishly or always reciprocated. Afterwards, participants formed trait impressions of their partner's morality and competence. Participants cooperated more with friends than strangers and more with reciprocating partners than selfish ones. Older adults cooperated more with selfish partners and offered more favorable impressions than did younger adults. Overall, perceived partner trait morality was positively associated with cooperative behavior. Relative to younger adults, older adults were more passive during conflict but grew less so as selfishness continued. This passivity co-occurred with more favorable partner impressions and better objective performance, suggesting a degree of calibration not shown by younger adults.

Automatic and Controlled Emotion Regulation in Aging: The Case of Expressive Suppression

Background/Study Context: To explain the high levels of well-being reported by older adults, socioemotional selectivity theory suggests that emotion regulation becomes more automated with age. Hence, the objective of the present study was to determine whether automatic emotion regulation becomes indeed more efficient with age, as controlled regulation becomes less efficient. We tested this hypothesis with regard to a specific emotion regulation strategy, expressive suppression, and a discrete emotion: disgust.

METHODS

Disgusting videos were presented to 74 young adults (mean (SD) age: 20.1 (1.8)) and 52 older adults (mean (SD) age: 73.6 (9.3)), randomly assigned to one of three conditions: the control condition, the implicit condition (assessing automatic suppression), and the explicit condition (assessing controlled suppression). The disgust expressed and the disgust felt were analyzed separately with factorial analyses of variance that included age group and regulation condition as between-subject variables.

RESULTS

Our results suggest that automatic and controlled expressive suppression may both be altered in healthy aging. Relative to young adults, older adults do not suppress their facial expressions as much but report feeling less disgust.

CONCLUSION

Expressive suppression may not become more automated with age. However, the older adults' ability to suppress facial expressions did not appear to be directly associated with the intensity of their emotions.

Perceived Income Adequacy and Well-being Among Older Adults in Six Low- and Middle-Income Countries

OBJECTIVES

Perceived income adequacy is positively associated with self-rated health (SRH) and quality of life (QOL) among adults in higher-income countries. Additionally, older individuals often report higher levels of income adequacy. However, it is unclear if these associations, documented primarily in high-income countries, are also evident across economically and culturally distinctive low- and middle-income countries.

METHODS

Data were drawn from the World Health Organization's Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE), a study of adults aged 50 years or older in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, the Russian Federation, and South Africa. Smaller samples of younger adults (18-49 years) were included for comparison purposes. Participants reported income adequacy, SRH, and QOL. Associations between age and income adequacy and between income adequacy and SRH/QOL were examined using country-specific logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Older adults in China and Russia were more likely to report better income adequacy than their 18- to 49-year-old counterparts; however, the opposite was observed in Ghana and India. SRH and QOL improved as income adequacy increased in all countries.

DISCUSSION

As expected, income adequacy was correlated with SRH and QOL. However, the relationship between age and income adequacy varied cross-culturally, potentially due to differences in familial and governmental financial support.

Age differences in emotion regulation effort: Pupil response distinguishes reappraisal and distraction for older but not younger adults

In previous research, older adults show greater emotional benefits from distracting themselves than from reappraising an event when strategically regulating emotion. Older adults also demonstrate an attentional preference to avoid, while younger adults show a bias toward approaching negative stimuli. This suggests a possible age-related differentiation of cognitive effort across approach and avoidance of negative stimuli during emotion regulation. In this study, we tracked cognitive effort via pupil dilation during the use of distraction (avoidance) and reappraisal (approach) strategies across age. Forty-eight younger adults (M = 20.94, SD = 1.78; 19 men) and 48 older adults (M = 68.82, SD = 5.40; 15 men) viewed a slideshow of negative images and were instructed to distract, reappraise, or passively view each image. Older adults showed greater pupil dilation during reappraisal than distraction, but younger adults displayed no difference between conditions-an effect that survived when controlling for gaze patterns. Gaze findings revealed that older adults looked less within images during active emotion regulation compared with passive viewing (no difference between distraction and reappraisal), and younger adults showed no difference across strategies. Younger adults gazed less within the most emotional image areas during distraction, but this did not significantly contribute to pupil response. Our findings support that distraction is less cognitively effortful than reinterpreting negative information in later life. These findings could be explained by older adults' motivational bias to disengage from negative information because of the age-related positivity effect, or compensation for decreased working memory resources across the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record

Coping Mechanisms for Psychosomatic Symptoms among Aging Roman Catholic German priests

To identify and investigate coping mechanisms and other factors which may impact upon the psychosomatic symptoms of aging German Roman Catholic priests. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 499 aging German Roman Catholic priests with standardized questionnaires: Brief Symptom Inventory, Coping Inventory Stressful Situations, and Religious Coping Scale. Task-Oriented Coping exhibited a significant difference between the two groups. Multiple regression analyses indicated that psychosomatic symptoms could be best predicted by means of Task-Oriented Coping mechanisms, identification with priesthood, and by a low Negative Religious Coping. The success of adaptive coping processes for older clergy may depend on how they employ strategies, strengthen their spiritual dimensions, and manage important psychosocial aspects of aging. In our sample, Depression and Somatization are explained best by Emotion-Oriented Coping. It is desirable for aging priests to be aware of protective factors like Role Identification, Task-Oriented Coping, and low Negative Religious Coping, which may be helpful in improving their psychological well-being.

The influence of age and time horizon perspective on consumer behavior

Past research has highlighted the role of time horizon view (i.e. the perception of remaining time as either limited or expansive) in goal salience and goal pursuit. Past studies have consistently found that age is associated with an increased focus on emotion. The present article focuses on the perception that time is limited as a key reason for older (versus young) adults' increased focus on emotions. This article investigates some important effects of aging and time horizon view on consumers' goals and preferences using Socioemotional Selectivity Theory.