Integrating cognitive and emotion paradigms to address the paradox of aging

Trajectories of Intergenerational Emotional Closeness in Multi-Child Aging Families in China

Intergenerational emotional closeness (IEC) in multi-child families manifests not only in the overall parent-child relationship but also by the extent of its within-family differentiation. This study aimed to identify distinct trajectories of collective IEC in multi-child families and to examine its potential associated factors. The study used four waves of the China Family Panel Studies (2010-2018). Based on a sample of 3474 older adults (age >60), growth mixture modelling and logistic regression were conducted. Two latent trajectory patterns of IEC were identified: increasingly tight-knit (93%) and persistently collectively ambivalent (7%). Compared to the latter trajectory, older adults who had a married/cohabiting partner, had better health and received support from all children, were more likely to have increasingly tight-knit trajectories of IEC. The study tells a story more about emotional cohesion between Chinese older adults and multiple offspring over time. Aging families experiencing persistently collectively ambivalent IEC deserve more attention.

Affective Theory of Mind in Late Adulthood: The Role of Emotion Complexity and Social Relatedness

BACKGROUND

Age-related declines in adult affective theory of mind (AToM) have been discovered. However, AToM measures have not accounted for emotional state complexity involved in AToM. Measures have also not accounted for different types of relationships - friends versus strangers - for which AToM is employed, which is important considering the limited social networks of aging adults.

OBJECTIVE

We address these issues and examine the emotion complexity, social-relatedness, and contextual relevance in AToM across adult ages (18-89 years) using a new task and two well-established measures.

RESULTS

The new task displayed good structural fit and internal construct validity. Overall, an age-related decline in AToM was found along with an interaction between age and emotion complexity. For all ages, AToM performance was best for complex emotions. However, as age increased, there was more rapid decline in AToM for more complex emotions than for less complex ones. Surprisingly, AToM performance for strangers was better than for social companions.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest age-related AToM declines are more nuanced than previously understood given that adult age differences are related to emotional state complexity. They indicate that the emotion complexity levels of basic, complex, and self-conscious should be included in AToM assessments. Implications for AToM tasks and development are discussed.

Racial/ethnic differences in the beneficial effect of social support on sleep duration

STUDY OBJECTIVES

Social support (SS) is associated with better health outcomes, including sleep health. However, the specific sources of SS that benefit sleep are unclear, and whether these associations vary by race/ethnicity or age is unknown. The aim of this study was to examine cross-sectional associations between sources of SS (number of friends, financial, church attendance, and emotional support) and self-reported short sleep duration (< 7 hours) overall and by race/ethnic groups and age among a representative sample.

METHODS

Using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data, logistic regression (marginal standardization) and linear regression models were fit accounting for survey design and weights to test associations between sources of SS (number of friends, financial, church attendance, emotional support) and self-reported short sleep duration (< 7 hours) overall and by race/ethnic groups (Black, Hispanic, and White) and age (< 65 vs ≥ 65 years).

RESULTS

Among 3,711 participants, the mean (standard error) age was 57 (0.3) years and 37% slept < 7 hours. Black adults had the highest prevalence of short sleep (55%). Overall, participants with financial support compared with those without financial support had a lower prevalence of short sleep: 23% (confidence interval [CI]: 0.68, 0.87). As the number of SS sources increased, the prevalence of short sleep duration decreased and the racial disparity in sleep duration narrowed. Associations between financial support and sleep were most pronounced among Hispanic and White adults and adults < 65 years.

CONCLUSIONS

In general, financial support was associated with a healthier sleep duration, particularly among those < 65 years of age. Individuals with numerous sources of SS were less likely to be short sleepers. The benefits of SS on sleep duration varied by race. Targeting specific sources of SS may help to improve sleep duration among those most at risk.

CITATION

Johnson DA, Prakash-Asrani R, Lewis BD, Bliwise DL, Lewis TT. Racial/ethnic differences in the beneficial effect of social support on sleep duration. J Clin Sleep Med. 2023;19(7):1231-1238.

The need to change: Is there a critical role of midlife adaptation in mental health later in life?

Although late-life depression (LLD) is a serious health problem and more common than dementia in people over 60, it is underdiagnosed and undertreated. The cognitive-emotional etiology of LLD is particularly poorly understood. This is in contrast to the now extensive literature from psychology and cognitive neuroscience on the characteristics of emotionally healthy aging. This research consistently shows a change in emotional processing in older adults that is modulated by prefrontal regulation. Lifespan theories explain this change in terms of neurocognitive adaptation to limited opportunities and resources that typically occur in the second half of life. Epidemiological data on an increase in well-being after a low point around age 50 suggest that the majority of people seem quite capable of making this adaptation, even though empirical evidence for a causal modulation of this so called 'paradox of aging' and for the role of the midlife dip is still lacking. Intriguingly, LLD is associated with deficits in emotional, cognitive, and prefrontal functions similar to those shown to be crucial for healthy adaptation. Suspected causes of these deficits, such as white matter lesions or affective instability, become apparent as early as midlife when internal and external changes as well as daily challenges set in. Based on these findings, we propose that some individuals who develop depression at older ages may not have been able to successfully implement self-regulatory adaptation at midlife. Here, we review the current evidence and theories on successful aging, the neurobiology of LLD, and well-being across the lifespan. Drawing on recent advances in lifespan theories, emotion regulation research, and cognitive neuroscience, we propose a model of successful versus unsuccessful adaptation that emphasizes the increasing need for implicit habitual control and resource-based regulatory choice during midlife.

The impact of social-relationship patterns on worsening mental health among the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Hungary

Evidence indicates the coronavirus pandemic has severely affected the oldest age group: in Hungary 92.7 per cent of those who died due to COVID-19 infection were 60 years of age or older. The age structure of the deceased was very similar in other countries. As, due to their underlying health status, elderly people are more vulnerable to the serious diseases caused by the coronavirus, strict government restrictions were introduced worldwide to protect them when the epidemic broke out. However, this social isolation can cause severe psychological and emotional strain. The study aim was to examine how patterns of social relationships were related to changes in mental health of the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary. We used the database of SHARE COVID-19 for our analysis. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were conducted. Findings of this study suggest that the network lacking contacts increases the severity of depression, anxiety, sleeping disorders, and loneliness the most among the elderly. Interestingly, the group with an intense close-knit network had a higher risk of worsening mental symptoms compared to multiple contact actives. Moreover, electronic communication - telephone, Skype - did not help either: there was a particularly high probability of worsening depression in this group. Another interesting result is that both in the group dominated by family contacts and among those with multiple relationships, the chances of worsening mental symptoms were lower, thus, personal contact - whether they include family members or other acquaintances - is truly protective. Results demonstrate that both the network characterised by lack of contact network and electronic contact activity contribute to greater risk of worsening mental health within elderly. A network pattern characterised by various types and forms of contacts is the most beneficial to mental health, and intensive contacts of limited scope alone are not sufficient to protect mental health.

Age-related intrinsic functional connectivity underlying emotion utilization

Previous studies investigated the age-related positivity effect in terms of emotion perception and management, whereas little is known about whether the positivity effect is shown in emotion utilization (EU). If yes, the EU-related intrinsic functional connectivity and its age-associated alterations remain to be elucidated. In this study, we collected resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 62 healthy older adults and 72 undergraduates as well as their self-ratings of EU. By using the connectome-based predictive modeling (CPM) method, we constructed a predictive model of the positive relationship between EU self-ratings and resting-state functional connectivity. Lesion simulation analyses revealed that the medial-frontal network, default mode network, frontoparietal network, and subcortical regions played key roles in the EU-related CPM. Older subjects showed significantly higher EU self-ratings than undergraduates, which was associated with strengthened connectivity between the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and bilateral frontal poles, and between the left frontal pole and thalamus. A mediation analysis indicated that the age-related EU network mediated the age effect on EU self-ratings. Our findings extend previous research on the age-related "positivity effect" to the EU domain, suggesting that the positivity effect on the self-evaluation of EU is probably associated with emotion knowledge which accumulates with age.

Two is better than one: Using a single emotion lexicon can lead to unreliable conclusions

Emotion lexicons became a popular method for quantifying affect in large amounts of textual data (e.g., social media posts). There are multiple independently developed emotion lexicons which tend to correlate positively with one another but not entirely. Such differences between lexicons may not matter if they are just unsystematic noise, but if there are systematic differences this could affect conclusions of a study. The goal of this paper is to examine whether two extensively used, apparently domain-independent lexicons for emotion analysis would give the same answer to a theory-driven research question. Specifically, we use the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) and NRC Word-Emotion Association Lexicon (NRC). As an example, we investigate whether older people have more positive expression through their language use. We examined nearly 5 million tweets created by 3,573 people between 18 to 78 years old and found that both methods show an increase in positive affect until age 50. After that age, however, according to LIWC, positive affect drops sharply, whereas according to NRC, the growth of positive affect increases steadily until age 65 and then levels off. Thus, using one or the other method would lead researchers to drastically different theoretical conclusions regarding affect in older age. We unpack why the two methods give inconsistent conclusions and show this was mostly due to a particular class of words: those related to politics. We conclude that using a single lexicon might lead to unreliable conclusions, so we suggest that researchers should routinely use at least two lexicons. If both lexicons come to the same conclusion then the research evidence is reliable, but if not then researchers should further examine the lexicons to find out what difference might be causing inconclusive result.

The paradox of wellbeing: what happens among women with fibromyalgia? The effect of cognitive fusion

OBJECTIVE

Our study examined the 'paradox of wellbeing' among women with fibromyalgia and the role of cognitive fusion on wellbeing in relation to age.

METHODS

A total of 228 women diagnosed with fibromyalgia according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria were included. In order to explore the conditional effects of age in the moderation analyzes, as recommended in the PROCESS Macro, the 16th, 50th, and 84th percentiles were calculated. These percentiles define three age groups that we will call younger (from 30 to 53 years), middle-aged (from 54 to 60 years) and older women (from 61 to 78 years).

RESULTS

We found a 'paradox of wellbeing' among fibromyalgia patients which has not yet been reported: the older the patients, the higher scores on hedonic (positive affect) and eudaimonic (activities engagement) wellbeing. A moderation effect of age was found in the relationship between cognitive fusion and wellbeing (cognitive fusion showed negative associations with positive affect and activities engagement but not among older patients).

CONCLUSION

Our study underscores the need of personalized interventions for fibromyalgia patients to improve their wellbeing. Especially in younger and middle-aged patients, it would be of interest interventions in cognitive defusion through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Disentangling Aging and Mood Effects on Emotional Memory

Older adults tend to be in a more positive mood than young adults, and tend to remember positive information more often than negative information, yet the link between their positive mood and their positive memory bias has not often been explored. In this study, we manipulated young and older adults’ moods prior to their completing an emotional memory task. For mood manipulation, young (n = 147) and older (n = 111) adults viewed a positive, negative, or neutral video lasting 3 min. To validate the mood induction, we collected self-reported ratings of valence and arousal (affective slider; Betella and Verschure, 2016) at baseline, after the video, and after the memory task. The memory task consisted of incidental encoding of 30 intermixed pictures (10 positive, 10 negative, 10 neutral valence), followed by free recall. The mood manipulation changed people’s self-reported valence, yet it did not influence self-reported arousal. The memory task revealed a consistent negativity bias in young adults. Older adults recalled negative and positive pictures equally well in all conditions. After viewing a negative video, they recalled positive pictures more often than neutral pictures, but did not show the same advantage for negative pictures over neutral pictures. This positive memory advantage was weaker in the positive mood condition. Therefore, mood manipulation influenced in part older adults’ emotional memory bias, showing some signs of mood incongruence which we discuss in terms of emotion regulation. This shows the importance of accounting for mood differences in studies on aging and memory. The robust age group differences support the view that the positivity effect in aging is the result of a negativity bias that fades with age.

Sex differences in maturation and aging of human personality on the basis of a recently developed complex hierarchical model of temperament and character

OBJECTIVE

The current study aimed to determine the changes in psychological function that come with age. The basis to assess psychological function was a hierarchical model of temperament, personality and character, previously developed by the authors.

METHODS

734 general population subjects completed the TEMPS-A, the TCI and the NEO-PI-3. Data were analysed with ANCOVA models.

RESULTS

The top superfactors showed no age change, however, age-related changes were identified in the higher and lower modules. There was a pattern of differences between the two genders in all levels of the model.

CONCLUSIONS

While there is stability with the two top factors of personality, there are age-related changes in lower-level modules probably indicating maturation, adaptation or changes in orientation through the adult life span. Gender differences in all levels including the two top superfactors, higher and lower modules reflect and explain differences in multiple aspects of internal experience, interaction and behaviour in the two genders. The results are clinically essential for incorporating age and gender-related differences of experience and behaviour in understanding temperamental implications in affective disorders also impacting their clinical course and management.Key PointsBased on the complex hierarchical temperament model four stages of maturation of human psychological function can be postulated.There is a very specific trait core of human mental function, which differs between genders and seems to be responsible for the longitudinal stability of the person's internal experience with the passing of the years.The findings are clinically essential for incorporating age and gender-related differences of experience and behaviour in understanding temperamental implications in affective disorders also impacting their clinical course and management.

Impact of the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic on Mental Health among Local Residents in Korea: a Cross Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to evaluate traumatic stress and mental health problems associated with the prolonged coronavirus disease pandemic and to determine the differences across different age groups.

METHODS

A total of 1,151 individuals who visited Gwangmyeong City Mental Health Welfare Center, South Korea, or accessed the website from September 1 to December 31, 2020, were included in the study. Mental health problems such as traumatic stress (Primary Care Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Screen for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder-5); depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Children's Depression Inventory); anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 and Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children); suicide risk (P4 Screener); and demographic information were evaluated. The participants were divided into three groups based on age group: children and adolescents, adults, and the elderly.

RESULTS

The results showed that 24.7%, 20.9%, 16.8%, and 20.5% of the participants were at high-risk for traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and suicide, respectively. The difference in the proportion of high-risk groups by age of all participants was significant for traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and suicide risk. In particular, the percentage of high-risk groups in all areas was the highest in the adult group. Also, in most areas, the ratio of the high-risk groups for children and adolescent group was the lowest, but the suicide risk-related ratio was not (adolescent group: 20.9%, adult group: 25%, elderly group 9.3%).

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that there is a need for continued interest in the mental health of the general population even after the initial period of coronavirus disease. Additionally, this study may be helpful when considering the resilience or risk factors of mental health in a prolonged disaster situation.

Patterns and Processes of Intergenerational Estrangement: A Qualitative Study of Mother-Adult Child Relationships Across Time

Drawing from the life course perspective, we explored patterns of estrangement between mothers and their adult children across time, and the processes through which these ties remained estranged, or moved in or out of estrangement. We used a prospective design in which data were collected in face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 61 older mothers about their relationships with their 274 adult children at two time points 7 years apart. We began by examining the patterns of stability and change in intergenerational estrangement and identified movement in and out of estrangement across time. Qualitative analyses of the processes underlying estrangement revealed that movement in and out of estrangement reflected nuanced changes in contact and closeness over time rather than abrupt changes resulting from recent transitions in either mothers' or children's lives. Taken together, these findings illustrate the complexity of patterns and processes of intergenerational estrangement in later-life families.

Conflict monitoring and adaptation to affective stimuli as a function of ageing

The current study investigated whether preference for positive affect would be observed in the context of a higher order control process with increasing age given the premise of affective prioritization with ageing. The study examined how affect interacted with cognitive control mechanisms across young, middle-aged and older adults. Conflict monitoring and adaptation for affective stimuli was examined with a face-word Stroop task using happy and fearful facial expressions. The participants' task was to detect the emotional expression (Happy or Fear) of the face shown with a distractor word (Happy or Fear) written across the face. Reaction time and accuracy data was analysed to compare adaptation effect and Stroop interference as a function of age, valence and previous trial congruence. The results demonstrated a stronger adaptation effect for negative affect in young adults and for positive affect in middle-aged adults and older adults. These results can be explained in terms of the socio-emotional selectivity theory of affective bias in the elderly and the involvement of attentional control mechanisms. This study empirically demonstrates shifts in affective bias towards positive affect with ageing through the implicit recruitment of cognitive control.

Accelerating Our Science: Finding Innovative Solutions to Tomorrow's Health Challenges

This introduction to the special issue outlines key ways that behavioral medicine researchers can accelerate their science. The authors highlight the 2020 Society of Behavioral Medicine's annual meeting plenary sessions, that fit this theme.

Effects of sources of social support and resilience on the mental health of different age groups during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

A pandemic is a very stressful event, especially for highly vulnerable people (e.g., older adults). The purpose of the current study was to investigate the main and interactive relationships of social support and resilience on individual mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic across three age groups: emerging adults, adults, and older adults.

METHODS

A survey was conducted with 23,192 participants aged 18-85. Respondents completed a questionnaire, including items on the COVID-19-related support they perceived from different sources, the abbreviated version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Mental Health Inventory.

RESULTS

Latent profile analysis identified five profiles of social support, and the patterns of potential profiles were similar in all groups. However, category distribution in the five profiles was significantly different among the age groups. Furthermore, analysis using the BCH command showed significant differences in mental health among these profiles. Lastly, interactive analyses indicated resilience had a positive relationship with mental health, and social support served as a buffer against the negative impact of low resilience on mental health.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides quantitative evidence for socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) and enables several practical implications for helping different age groups protecting mental health during pandemic.

A PLS-Neural Network Analysis of Motivational Orientations Leading to Facebook Engagement and the Moderating Roles of Flow and Age

Despite engagement being a criterion for the success of initiatives on Facebook, there is a lack of conclusive evidence about its connections with the psychological and motivational orientations that lead one to use Facebook. Built upon the uses and gratifications theory, we develop an integrative and context-specific model that links engagement with enjoyment, self-presentation, and community belonging-identified as motivational orientations underlying Facebookers' behaviors. We also draw on current flow accounts and socioemotional selectivity theory to examine the potential moderating roles of both flow experiences and age differences. We validate the survey instrument and test the model on a sample of active Facebook users. Model testing and sensitive analysis is performed with a two-stage method that combines partial least squares (PLS) and artificial neural network analysis. The results provide strong support for the validity of the hypothesized causal, mediating and moderating relationships embodied in the model. The research also provides insights into practitioners seeking to enhance Facebookers' engagements and promote continued use of Facebook.

An Open Time Perspective and Social Support to Sustain in Healthcare Work: Results of a Two-Wave Complete Panel Study

Based on lifespan developmental psychology and psychosocial work characteristics theory, we examined longitudinal relations between calendar age, occupational time perspective, different types of job demands and job resources in relation to sustainable employability (i.e., work ability, vitality and employability) among healthcare workers in Netherlands (N = 1478). Results of our two-wave complete panel study revealed satisfactory fit indices for the metric invariance of the included variables across the two waves (6-month time lag). Our results revealed a negative relation between calendar age and external employability of healthcare workers (limited support for hypothesis 1), and more consistent evidence for positive relations between an open future time perspective and across-time changes in vitality, work ability and external employability (supporting hypothesis 2). Few significant findings were found for relations between specific job demands or job resources and indicators of sustainable employability of healthcare workers (mixed results hypotheses 3 and 4). Our explorative tests of possible moderating effects of age or occupational time perspective in predicting relations between psychosocial work characteristics and indicators of sustainable employability revealed only a significant interaction effect of supervisor support and future time perspective in explaining across-time changes in external employability of healthcare workers (rejecting hypothesis 5 and confirming hypothesis 6). We discuss the practical as well as theoretical implications of these findings, and present recommendations for future research.