How we compensate for memory loss in old age: adapting and validating the Memory Compensation Questionnaire (MCQ) for Spanish populations.

Compensating entails using external strategies and mechanisms that help overcome or alleviate the decreasing memory function that comes with age. This study aims to adapt and validate the MCQ in the elderly Spanish population. A total of 403 elderly people aged between 65 and 92 in the city of Valencia (Spain) completed the questionnaire for the validation process. The factorial validity of the scale was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. The result showed a first order five-factor model with 23 items that met the criteria for model fit according to multiple fit indices. As a general conclusion, the adaptation into Spanish provided a reliable and valid measure of compensation in the…

Effectiveness of tDCS to Improve Recognition and Reduce False Memories in Older Adults

Background. False memories tend to increase in healthy and pathological aging, and their reduction could be useful in improving cognitive functioning. The objective was to use an active-placebo method to verify whether the application of tDCS in improving true recognition and reducing false memories in healthy older people. Method. Participants were 29 healthy older adults (65-78 years old) assigned to active or placebo group; active group received anodal stimulation at 2mA for 20 min over F7. An experimental task was used to estimate true and false recognition. The procedure took place in two sessions on two consecutive days. Results. A mixed ANOVA of true recognition showed a significant …

Effects of Stimuli Repetition and Age in False Recognition

The aim of the current study is to examine the effects of stimuli repetition and age in false recognition using the Deese–Roediger–McDermott experimental paradigm. Two matched samples of 32 young adults and 32 healthy older adults studied 10 lists of six words associated with three non-presented critical words. On half of the lists, the words were presented once, and on the other five lists, the words were presented three times, always following a same sequential order. After each study list, participants performed a self-paced recognition test containing 12 words: the 6 studied words and 6 other non-studied words (the 3 critical words and 3 distractors). The results show that false recogn…

Resilience and Socioeconomic Status as Predictors of Life Satisfaction and Psychological Well-Being in Colombian Older Adults

Well-being is a complex construct related to sociodemographic and cultural aspects that vary across cultures. Latin America is a region with high social inequalities among population groups, although this varies significantly depending on the country. This article proposes a model that seeks to establish the relationship between psychosocial variables, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction in a sample of Colombian older adults. The model explores associations between resilience, socioeconomic status, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being. A study with a sample of 617 Colombian older adults was conducted. A structural equation modeling technique was performed. The result…

Executive Functions, Episodic Autobiographical Memory, Problem-Solving Capacity, and Depression Proposal for a Structural Equations Model

The executive functions play an important role in storing and recovering autobiographical memories, especially episodic memories. These types of memories provide information about solutions and experiences from the past that can be utilized as examples in the present when seeking solutions to any problem. In addition, a close relationship between depression and the executive functions has been widely recognized. This study aims to elaborate a structural equations model that empirically supports the relationships among the executive functions, episodic autobiographical memory, and the adaptive capacity to solve problems, taking into account the depressed mood state. In all, 32 healthy elder…

Emotion recognition changes in a confinement situation due to COVID-19

Abstract The confinement situation experienced as a result of COVID-19 will have consequences at a psychological level. These consequences can affect emotion recognition because, due to isolation, interactions and social contacts have been drastically reduced. The aim of this study was to find out if there were differences in facial emotion recognition in two groups of young adults, one confined during COVID-19 and the other unconfined. One hundred and sixty-four young adults were tested twice, the first time unconfined, to obtain the baseline, then the sample was divided into two subgroups so that 84 were evaluated in a confined situation and 80 in an unconfined situation. . Ekman 60 Faces…

Associative and implicit memory performance as a function of cognitive reserve in elderly adults with and without mild cognitive impairment

AbstractThis study aims to analyze implicit and explicit memory performance as a function of cognitive reserve (CR) in a healthy control group (N = 39) and a mild cognitive impairment (MCI) group (N = 37). Both groups were subdivided into high and low cognitive reserve, and were asked to complete an explicit and implicit associative recognition tasks. The results showed that the control group was able to learn both tasks (η2 = .19, p < .0001), and the high CR group fared better (η2 = .06, p < .05). The MCI sample, conversely, was unable to learn the implicit relationship, and showed very little learning on the explicit association task. Participants diagnosed with MCI showed little pl…

Personalidad y afrontamiento. ¿Qué rasgos predicen estrategias adaptativas?

Reminiscence and dementia: a therapeutic intervention.

ABSTRACTBackground:Dementia is a significant public health problem. One non-pharmacological therapy that has shown its effectiveness is reminiscence, which is a psychological intervention designed to address issues of particular relevance to older adults. The aim of this study was to examine the benefits of an integrative reminiscence program in elderly people with dementia.Methods:A quasi-experimental design and purposeful sampling were conducted at two retirement homes. Forty-two elderly adults with dementia were studied to measure the effect of the therapy (23 in the experimental group and 19 in the control group). The treatment group activity was held in 10 sessions.Results:The treatmen…

Conflict monitoring on an emotional Stroop task. Comparison of healthy older adults and patients with major neurocognitive disorders due to probable AD.

The conflict monitoring system exerts an influence on centers responsible for cognitive control, causing them to intervene more strongly in processing when conflict occurs. These mechanisms are usually investigated through specific tasks where there is an inherent interference elicited by the congruency or incongruency between the stimuli and responses, such as the Stroop task. In studies of emotional conflict, one hypothesis related to the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is that it serves, in part, to signal the appearance of conflicts, thus triggering compensatory adjustments. This study aims to verify whether the conflict monitoring hypothesis is confirmed in a group with Alzheime…

¿Están los rasgos de personalidad asociados al bienestar psicológico?

espanolExiste poca informacion de como los rasgos de personalidad puede afectar al bienestar psicologico. Los estudios senalan que el neuroticismo y la extraversion son los rasgos que mayor vinculacion poseen con el bienestar psicologico. En este estudio se investigo como los rasgos de personalidad se asocian a las seis dimensiones del bienestar psicologico en una muestra de adultos mayores espanoles. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 224 adultos mayores a los que se aplicaron las escalas de bienestar psicologico y el cuestionario NEO-FFI. Se analizaron los resultados mediante regresion lineal multiple. Se obtuvieron asocia-ciones significativas en todas las dimensiones del bienestar psicolog…

Relationship between emotional coping and depressive symptomatology

IntroductionFrom the life cycle perspective, the aging is described as the strengthening of adaptive resources and the capacity for recovery or compensation for losses. These skills are grounded in the coping strategies that individuals apply in order to effectively adapt to diverse situations. Emotion-focused, passive coping strategies are considered to be maladaptive in the long term. These strategies are associated with affective disorders, being these phenomena of great impact in older adults.ObjectivesVerify if there is a relationship between emotion-focused coping strategies and depressive symptomsMethodsThe sample was composed of 418 healthy older adults, aged between 60 and 89 years…

Differences in false recollection according to the cognitive reserve of healthy older people

We present an associative recognition experiment comparing three samples of healthy people (young people, older people with high cognitive reserve [HCR], and older people with low cognitive reserve [LCR], with each sample consisting of 40 people), manipulating stimuli repetition during the study phase. The results show significant differences among the three samples in their overall performance. However, these differences are not due to a different use of familiarity, but rather due to a different way of using recollection: although there are no differences in the hit rates between the HRC and LRC samples, the LCR group makes significantly more recollective false alarms than the HCR group. …

False memories in Lewy-body disease.

Recently, de Boysson et al. (2011) [de Boysson, C., et al. (2011). False recognition in Lewy-body disease and frontotemporal dementia. Brain and Cognition, 75, 111-118.] found that patients with Lewy-body disease (LBD) showed significantly lower rates of false memories than healthy controls, using the Deese¿Roediger¿McDermott (DRM) experimental procedure. Given that this result could be explained by the practically null rate of true recognition in the LBD group (0.09), we decided to replicate the study by de Boysson et al. (2011), but including a new condition that would maximize the true recognition rate (and analyze its effect on the rate of false memories). Specifically, in a DRM experim…

The Effects of Mindfulness and Self-Compassion on Improving the Capacity to Adapt to Stress Situations in Elderly People Living in the Community

ABSTRACTObjectives: This study aimed to show the effectiveness of mindfulness and self-compassion therapy in improving coping ability and adaptation to stressful situations in the elderly.Methods: Forty-five elderly non-institutionalized adults were randomized to either treatment or a treatment waiting list. A pre- and post-treatment assessment was performed, consisting of the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS), and Coping Strategies Questionnaire. The program was developed over 10 sessions lasting 120 minutes each.Results: Analysis of variance for repeated measures showed significant differences in the time-group interaction for the treatment’s eff…

Comparing the Effect of Interference on an Emotional Stroop Task in Older Adults with and without Alzheimer’s Disease

Background Impairments in the ability to recognize facial affective expressions may lead to social dysfunction and difficulties with interpersonal communication. Objective The objective was to compare the attentional responses on a Stroop emotional task using words and faces by testing whether the two stimuli differ in the degree of interference they produce in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods There were 75 participants: 25 healthy older adults, 25 with mild AD, and 25 with moderate AD. A variation of the classic emotional Stroop test was administered. This task combined emotional words (happy or sad) superimposed on facial expressions (happy or sad), where the words were eit…

Sense of coherence and burnout in nursing home workers during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Spain

Abstract Care staff in nursing homes work in a challenging environment, and the COVID‐19 pandemic has exacerbated those challenges in an unprecedented way. On the other hand, the sense of coherence (SOC) is a competence that could help these professionals perceive the situation as understandable, manageable and meaningful. This study aims to analyse the extent to which potential risk and protective factors against burnout have affected nursing home workers during the COVID‐19 pandemic and to assess the contribution of these factors to their burnout. Three hundred forty professionals who worked in nursing homes in Spain completed a survey and reported on their sociodemographic characteristic…

Evaluation of a creativity intervention program for preschoolers

Abstract Creative practices during the preschool years of childhood appear to positively influence subsequent development. Taking a comprehensive approach, an intervention program was undertaken to develop creativity, taking into consideration the end result of the creative process as well as the process itself, and working with divergent as well as convergent thinking abilities. A quasi-experimental design was applied, taking pre and post-intervention measures in a group of 44 children ranging in age from 60 to 71 months-old. Experimental and control groups were assessed using the Test de Creatividad Infantil (Child Creativity Test) and the cognitive subtest of the Battelle Developmental I…

El poder de la inteligencia emocional sobre la resiliencia en adultos mayores

Resumen Antecedentes y objetivo El envejecimiento implica importantes cambios adaptativos para los sujetos. La inteligencia emocional puede ser un factor clave para el desarrollo de estrategias adaptativas. Esta investigacion pretende estudiar si la inteligencia emocional puede predecir la capacidad de resiliencia de los adultos mayores. Materiales y metodos En una muestra de 214 adultos mayores se evaluo la resiliencia y las dimensiones de la inteligencia emocional. Se aplico analisis de regresion para estudiar si las dimensiones de la inteligencia emocional predecian la resiliencia. Resultados Se obtuvieron correlaciones significativas y positivas entre las dimensiones de la inteligencia …

Can we improve emotional skills in older adults?. Emotional intelligence, life satisfaction, and resilience

ABSTRACT Emotional intelligence has been shown to be a relevant resource associated with better personal and social adaptation. In older adults, it has been associated with constructs such as life satisfaction and resilience, which are of interest in the field of gerontology because of their impact during the aging process. The objective of this study is to test an intervention based on emotional intelligence in order to find out whether the levels of these abilities improve, and whether the intervention has an effect on resilience and life satisfaction. The sample was composed of 125 healthy older adults (treatment, n = 57 and control, n = 68). The variables studied were homogeneous betwee…

Effectiveness of tDCS at Improving Recognition and Reducing False Memories in Older Adults

Background: False memories tend to increase in healthy and pathological aging, and their reduction could be useful in improving cognitive functioning. The objective of this study was to use an active–placebo method to verify whether the application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) improved true recognition and reduced false memories in healthy older people. Method: Participants were 29 healthy older adults (65–78 years old) that were assigned to either an active or a placebo group

Compensation strategies in older adults: sociodemographic and cognitive reserve differences

Los términos de reserva cognitiva y compensación, han sido utilizados en una amplia variedad de situaciones en la literatura científica para referirse a la superación o reducción de las pérdidas o déficits en diferentes mecanismos y procesos como es la memoria. A través del Memory Compensation Questionnaire (MCQ), se pretende analizar los diferentes mecanismos de compensación en relación con ciertas variables sociodemográficas (edad, genero y nivel educativo) de una muestra española y establecer, a partir de una medida combinada de reserva cognitiva (RC), las diferencias existentes entre sujetos con alta y baja reserva en el uso de mecanismos de compensación. Se evaluó a 264 sujetos jubilad…

Wellbeing, resilience, and coping: Are there differences between healthy older adults, adults with mild cognitive impairment, and adults with Alzheimer-type dementia?

The changes that occur with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease could affect psychological aspects unrelated to memory. The purpose of this study is to compare 32 healthy older adults, 31 amnestic mild cognitively impaired (aMCI) adults, and 32 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD), in order to determine whether there are differences in their psychological wellbeing, resilience, and coping strategies. Unifactorial MANOVAS and ANOVAS were performed to analyze the between-group differences. The results reveal that the AD group showed lower levels of resilience and orientation toward problem-solving and greater use of religious strategies. In addition, they had significantl…

Measuring elderly people's quality of life through the Beck Hopelessness Scale: a study with a Spanish sample.

Hopelessness is a key element of suicidal intent. It can instill a pessimistic outlook on the future, leading an individual to believe that suicide is the only answer to their problems. Hopelessness operates as a modulating variable between depression and suicidal behavior. The aim of this study was to confirm the factor structure of the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) in a non-clinical sample.Three hundred and sixty-two Spanish individuals, aged over 60, free of cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms, completed the BHS scale. Participants were tested using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), using one-, two- and three-factor models.The one- and two-factor models presented adequate fit …

Coping Strategies: Gender Differences and Development throughout Life Span

Development during life-span implies to cope with stressful events, and this coping may be done with several strategies. It could be useful to know if these coping strategies differ as a consequence of personal characteristics. This work uses the Coping with Stress Questionnaire with this aim using a sample of 400 participants. Specifically, the effects of gender and age group (young people, middle age and elderly), as well as its interaction on coping strategies is studied. With regard to age, on one hand, it is hypothesised a decrement in the use of coping strategies centred in problem solving and social support seeking as age increases. On the other hand, the use of emotional coping is h…

Resilience and Coping as Predictors of Well-Being in Adults.

Well-being is one of the keys to successful and optimal development across the lifespan. Based on the idea that development involves changes in individuals' adaptive capacity to meet their needs over time, the changes that occur in the second half of life require effort to adapt to the new reality. This study used a structural model to test the effects of coping strategies and resilience on well-being in a sample of 305 mid-life adults. Several constructs were measured: coping strategies, resilience, and well-being. A final model was obtained with good fit indices; psychological well-being was positively predicted by resilience and negatively by emotional coping. Moreover, positive reapprai…

Grandparent-grandchild relationships from the children's perspective: shared activities and socialization styles.

The objective of this study is to describe the relationships between grandchildren and their favourite grandparents, by studying the socialization styles used by latter and the shared activities undertaken. The participants were 360 children between 10 and 12 years old, who completed the grandparent-grandchild relationship questionnaire of Rico, Serra and Viguer (2001) and the socialization questionnaire of Rey and Ruiz (1990). The results demonstrate the importance of gender and family line in the selection of the favourite grandparent, differences being shown in the types of shared activities and in socialization styles. It is concluded that in the majority of cases the profile of the fav…

Intervención fisioterápica preventiva del deterioro de la musculatura respiratoria en ancianas institucionalizadas con limitación funcional

Introduccion En el anciano de edad avanzada (> 80 anos) la funcion respiratoria puede verse afectada cuando a la presencia de comorbilidad y la perdida de movilidad se suma el descenso de la fuerza de la musculatura respiratoria (MR). La literatura medica ha mostrado que el entrenamiento de la MR puede ser una intervencion efectiva para mejorar la funcionalidad y prevenir el deterioro clinico, especialmente en la poblacion con debilidad de la MR. El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar la efectividad del entrenamiento de la MR en la fuerza y resistencia de esta musculatura, en ancianas institucionalizadas con limitacion funcional. Metodo Se asignaron aleatoriamente 54 residentes con limitacion …

Physiotherapy Intervention for Preventing the Respiratory Muscle Deterioration in Institutionalized Older Women With Functional Impairment

Abstract Introduction In elderly seniors (>80 years), respiratory function may be compromised when, in addition to the presence of comorbidity and loss of mobility, there is also reduced respiratory muscle (RM) strength. The literature has shown that RM training could be an effective method to improve RM function and prevent clinical deterioration, particularly in population with RM weakness. The main purpose of this paper was to assess the effectiveness of RM training on the respiratory muscle strength and endurance of institutionalized elderly women with functional impairment. Method Fifty-four residents (mean=85 years, SD=6.7) were randomly assigned to either a control (n=27) or training…

Effectiveness of instrumental reminiscence intervention on improving coping in healthy older adults

Reminiscence is a psychological intervention that uses the recall of past events, feelings, and thoughts to facilitate pleasure, quality of life, and adjustment to present life. The main goal of this study was to investigate the effect of a reminiscence intervention programme on coping strategies. One hundred fifty healthy older adults attended the reminiscence sessions. In order to evaluate the effects of the programme and find out if its effects lasted over time, we used an experimental design with pretest, posttest, and follow-up assessments, comparing a control group to the intervention group. Repeated-measures analysis of variance showed significant differences in problem-solving copin…

Is Age Just a Number? Cognitive Reserve as a Predictor of Divergent Thinking in Late Adulthood

The purpose of the study was to test a model of causal relationships among cognitive reserve (CR), personality variables such as Neuroticism and Openness to experience, and divergent thinking (DT), independently evaluating performance in different domains (verbal and graphic). It was hypothesized that CR, Openness, and Neuroticism would each directly influence verbal and graphic DT. A total of 135 subjects between 55 and 84 years old participated in the study and were interviewed in individual sessions. For a correct fit Neuroticism was eliminated from the measurement model. The goodness-of-fit indexes of the measurement model, the adequate composite reliability index and the discriminant v…

Emotional intelligence intervention in older adults to improve adaptation and reduce negative mood.

AbstractObjectives:Emotional intelligence (EI) is a strong predictor of negative mood. Applying emotional skills correctly can help to increase positive emotional states and reduce negative ones. This study aims to implement EI intervention designed to improve clarity, repair EI dimensions and coping strategies, and reduce negative mood in older adults.Design:Participants were randomly assigned to the treatment or control group.Setting:Participants were evaluated individually before and after the intervention.Participants:Participants included 111 healthy older adults; 51 in the treatment group and 60 in the control group.Intervention:An EI program was implemented. The program was administe…

Las estrategias de afrontamiento: relación con la integridad y la desesperación en adultos mayores

Resumen Antecedentes y objetivo Adaptarse con exito al envejecimiento facilita la consecucion de la integridad. Las estrategias de afrontamiento son clave en este proceso de adaptacion, y dependiendo del tipo de estrategias que se apliquen, se puede conseguir la integridad o bien caer en la desesperacion. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la relacion entre las estrategias de afrontamiento y la edad con las dimensiones de integridad y desesperacion en una muestra de adultos mayores. Materiales y metodos Se evaluaron las estrategias de afrontamiento, la integridad y la desesperacion en una muestra de 325 adultos mayores sanos. Se realizaron regresiones lineales multiples para estudiar …

Coping and Life Satisfaction in Colombian Older Adults

Background. Effective coping strategies facilitate older adults’ optimal adaptation and contribute to their well-being. Problem-focused strategies are associated with active styles and enhance well-being. This study analyzes the role of coping strategies in Colombian older adults’ subjective well-being (SWB) using structural equation modelling. Additionally, Confirmatory Factor Analyses of the Life Satisfaction Scale and Coping Strategies Questionnaires are performed. Method. A cross-sectional study is conducted with 455 Colombian older adults, ranging from 65 to 92 years old. Results. The results show that problem-focused coping has a positive effect on SWB, whereas emotion-focused coping …

Phonological false recognition produced by bottom-up automatic activation in young and older people

Two experiments explored a new procedure to implicitly induce phonological false memories in young and older people. On the study tasks, half of the words were formed from half of the letters in the alphabet, whereas the remaining words were formed from all the letters in the alphabet. On the recognition tests, there were three types of non-studied new words: critical lures formed from the same half of the letters as the studied words; distractors formed from the other half of the letters not used, and distractors formed from all the letters in the alphabet. In both experiments, the results showed that, in both young and older people, critical lures produced more false recognitions than dis…

The regulation of emotions: Gender differences

IntroductionEmotional regulation, understood as the emotional ability to repair emotional states, is a skill closely linked to adaptation during aging. People who are capable to manage their emotions have greater control over moods, applying adaptive regulation strategies that allow them to maintain positive moods and modify or regulate negative ones. It has been observed that gender can be a relevant variable related to emotional regulation. In this sense, it is considered that women may be more skillful than men to emotional regulation strategies, benefiting from more successful emotional management strategies.ObjectivesVerify if there are differences in the ability of emotional regulatio…

Big five and psychological and subjective well-being in Colombian older adults

Abstract The goal of the current study was to investigate the relationships between the Five Factor Model of personality and the dimensions of subjective well-being (positive affect, negative affect, and life satisfaction), and psychological well-being (self-acceptance, personal growth, environmental mastery, autonomy, positive relations with others, and purpose in life). Participants included 618 Colombian adults aged 60–92 years. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted. Regarding the subjective well-being, neuroticism was associated with lower scores on life satisfaction, and positively associated with negative affect, whereas extroversion and conscientiousness were associated …

Psychological and physical dimensions explaining life satisfaction among the elderly: A structural model examination

The aim of the present paper is to analyze the effects of psychological well-being, physical functioning and socio-demographic factors on life satisfaction. Both a bivariate and a multivariate level of analyses have been used. Finally, a structural model explaining life satisfaction has been developed and validated. With respect to bivariate relations, there was evidence of significant positive relations between psychological well-being dimensions and life satisfaction and between physical conditions and life satisfaction as well. Also, as age increased there was a slow decrease in life satisfaction. Educational level was positively related to life satisfaction. A structural model gave valu…

Envejecimiento y bienestar: Avances en investigación

Los importantes cambios demograficos del ultimo siglo han provocado un aumento de la longevidad y, por tanto, del numero de adultos mayores, lo cual ha un incremento en la investigacion con este grupo de edad y mas concretamente en relacion con el bienestar. Asi, se ha podido constatar que en el envejecimiento, el bienestar subjetivo, compuesto por un componente cognitivo y otro afectivo tanto negativo como positivo, parece mantenerse estable y poco sujeto a cambiar con el tiempo. Por otra parte, en relacion con el bienestar psicologico, estudiado a partir de las escalas de bienestar de Ryff, se ha observado, en diferentes trabajos, que las dimensiones crecimiento personal y proposito en la…

The use of Alzheimer CSF biomarkers in daily clinical practice

A Follow-Up Study of a Reminiscence Intervention and Its Effects on Depressed Mood, Life Satisfaction, and Well-Being in the Elderly

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which a reminiscence intervention reduces depressed mood and improves life satisfaction and psychological well-being. 160 healthy elderly people participated in a 10-session intervention. An experimental design with pretest and posttest evaluations was applied, comparing a control group to an intervention group to evaluate the effects of the program. Follow-up measures were also taken to find out whether the intervention's positive effects lasted over time. Mixed Model ANOVAs showed significant increases in the time-group interaction, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being measures, and decreases in depressed mood, after tr…

An emotional Stroop task with faces and words. A comparison of young and older adults

Abstract Antecedents Given the contradictions of previous studies on the changes in attentional responses produced in aging a Stroop emotional task was proposed to compare young and older adults to words or faces with an emotional valence. Method The words happy or sad were superimposed on faces that express the emotion of happiness or sadness. The emotion expressed by the word and the face could agree or not (cued and uncued trials, respectively). 85 young and 66 healthy older adults had to identify both faces and words separately, and the interference between the two types of stimuli was examined. Results An interference effect was observed for both types of stimuli in both groups. There …

Especificidad de la memoria autobiográfica: comparación entre adultos mayores sanos y demencia tipo Alzheimer

Motivated forgetting reduces veridical memories but slightly increases false memories in both young and healthy older people.

The aim of the current study is to examine the effects of motivated forgetting and aging on true and false memory. Sixty young and 54 healthy older adults were instructed to study two lists of 18 words each. Each list was composed of three sets of six words associated with three non-presented critical words. After studying list 1, half of the participants received the instruction to forget List 1, whereas the other half received the instruction to remember List 1. Next, all the subjects studied list 2; finally, they were asked to remember the words studied in both lists. The results showed that when participants intended to forget the studied List 1, they were less likely to recall the stud…

Differential effects of faces and words in cognitive control in older adults with and without major depressive disorder: An emotional Stroop task study

Aging and major depressive disorders have been associated with impaired cognitive control. These deficits are also influenced by the affective valence and by the type of stimulus processed. Using an emotional Stroop task, the current study aims to examine cognitive control deficits and their association with emotion regulation in depression and the influence of the type of stimulus (words and faces) in this association. A total of 26 older patients with a major depressive disorder (MDD) (19 women; age range: 65-84 years) and 26 older healthy controls (18 women; age range: 65-80 years) participated in the study. The results showed that MDD individuals presented greater Stroop effects than th…

Effects of a simple reminiscence intervention program on the reminiscence functions in older adults

ABSTRACTObjectives:Reminiscence promotes the acceptance of oneself and others, a sense of meaning, and the integration of the present and the past. The currently accepted classification contains eight reminiscence functions grouped in three broader functions: self-positive functions (identity, problem-solving, and death preparation); self-negative functions (bitterness revival, boredom reduction, and intimacy maintenance); and prosocial functions (conversation and teach-inform). The main objective of this study was to investigate how the eight dimensions change over time in a sample of healthy older adults after an intervention based on simple reminiscence and subsequent follow-up.Design:Pa…

Differences on autobiographical memory in healthy aging and Alzheimer’s disease

The effects of instrumental reminiscence on resilience and coping in elderly

A B S T R A C T Objectives: Aging, as a stage of development is marked by major changes to which the subject must adapt. Instrumental reminiscence is based on recalling times one coped with stressful circumstances, and analyzing what it took to adapt in those situations. The purpose of the present study was to analyze the effectiveness of an instrumental reminiscent program to enhance adaptive capacity (problemfocused coping and emotion-focused) and resilience in older adults. Method: Thirty participants noninstitutionalized conducted a pre and post assessment on a treatment consisting of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Brief Resilient Coping Scale and Stress Coping Questionnaire …

Resilience and coping as predictors of general well-being in the elderly: A structural equation modeling approach

The aims of this article are: (a) to test for the validity of the three constructs involved in the structural model; (b) to test for the effects of both coping strategies and resilient coping on well-being in a sample of elderly, by means of a structural model with latent variables; (c) to empirically study whether a brief scale of resilient coping could predict well-being over and above that predicted by the coping resources.The research is a survey design. The sample consisted of 225 non-institutionalized elderly people living in the city of Valencia (Spain). The three constructs measured were: well-being, resilient coping, and coping strategies.The analyses consist of a series of alterna…

Autobiographical memory for the differential diagnosis of cognitive pathology in aging

Aim The present study distinguishes three memory stages across the lifespan, and aims to compare episodic and semantic autobiographical memory in healthy older adults, with amnesic mild cognitive impairment, and with Alzheimer's disease. This information can offer evidence about the way semantic and episodic autobiographical memory work, and how the disease affects them. Methods The sample was composed of 56 people, all aged over 60 years; 15 with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, 12 with Alzheimer's disease and 29 healthy older people. Participants were evaluated with the Autobiographical Memory Interview. Results A mixed anova showed significant main effects of memory and time-period, a…

Modelo de ecuaciones estructurales para predecir el bienestar y la dependencia funcional en adultos mayores de la República Dominicana

OBJETIVO: Generar un modelo estructural multifactorial que explique la dependencia funcional y el bienestar a partir de algunas caracteristicas sociodemograficas asociadas con esos dominios, en adultos mayores de la Republica Dominicana. METODOS: Estudio transversal mediante encuesta en una muestra de 1397 personas de 65 anos o mas representativa de la poblacion de adultos mayores de la Republica Dominicana. Se recabo informacion sociodemografica de los entrevistados (sexo, edad, nivel de estudios, si realizaba alguna actividad remunerada y nivel de ingresos) y los datos necesarios para calcular el indice de Barthel y las respuestas a las preguntas de las escalas del bienestar psicologico d…

Idle minds are the devil's tools? Coping, depressed mood and divergent thinking in older adults.

The main aim was to test a causal relations model of the problem-focused and emotion-focused coping styles, depressed mood, and divergent thinking (DT) in older adults. It was hypothesized that both forms of coping would have a significant effect on predicting depressed mood, and that problem-focused coping and depressed mood would have a significant effect on DT.Participants were 135 subjects with ages ranging between 55 and 84 years old, who took part in a personal interview and filled out several questionnaires. The statistical analysis included structural equations models (SEM).The initial model led to a final model endorsed by the goodness of fit, composite reliability, and discriminan…

Effectiveness of follow-up reminiscence therapy on autobiographical memory in pathological ageing

The objective is to examine the effects of reminiscence therapy (RT) on total, episodic and semantic autobiographical memory in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) groups, testing the effects of RT on different stages of autobiographical memory, and its effectiveness at follow-up. A sample composed of 43 aMCI (27 treatments, 16 controls) and 30 AD (15 treatments, 15 controls) subjects were evaluated with the Autobiographical Memory Interview (AMI) test. The RT consisted of 10 sessions lasting 60 minutes each. Both groups, aMCI and AD, showed significant effects on overall autobiographical memory; aMCI showed significant main effects on episodic and semanti…

Emotional intelligence in older adults: psychometric properties of the TMMS-24 and relationship with psychological well-being and life satisfaction.

ABSTRACTBackground:Aging is a process during which important changes occur in different areas of development and emotional intelligence plays an essential role. The objective of this study was twofold: first, to validate the TMMS-24 in an older population; and second, to examine the mediating role of life satisfaction in the relationship between emotional intelligence and psychological well-being.Methods:The sample consisted of 215 older adults (60.15% women) with a mean age of 69.56 (SD = 6.42), without cognitive impairment. Data on emotional intelligence, satisfaction with life, and psychological well-being were obtained through the TMMS-24, the SWLS, and Ryff's psychological well-being s…

A Longitudinal Study of Episodic and Semantic Autobiographical Memory in aMCI and Alzheimer’s Disease Patients

Background: The main objective of this study was to analyze the evolution of autobiographical memory (both episodic and semantic) in patients with mild cognitive impairment, patients with Alzheimer’s disease, and a healthy control group. We compared these groups at two time points: first, at baseline, and in a follow-up after 18 months. Method: Twenty-six healthy older adults, 17 patients with mild amnestic cognitive impairment, and 16 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, matched on age and educational level, were evaluated at both time points with the Autobiographical Memory Interview. Results: The results showed significant longitudinal deterioration in episodic and semantic autobiographica…

Divergent Thinking in Older Adults : Understanding its Role in Well-being

The purpose of the study was to explore the nature of the relationship between Divergent Thinking and Well-being. Two theoretical models about the relationship between Divergent thinking, Psychological well-being and Life Satisfaction were tested. A total of 152 subjects between 65 and 84 years old participated in the study. Final model emphasises the idea that PWB is affected by DT and that PWB is also significantly related to LS. The model also highlights the importance of four dimensions of well-being: environmental mastery, life purpose, personal growth and self-acceptance. The goodness-of-fit indexes confirmed the existence of a significant relationship between DT and well-being, and b…

The effects of healthy aging, amnestic mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's disease on recollection, familiarity and false recognition, estimated by an associative process-dissociation recognition procedure

Given the uneven experimental results in the literature regarding whether or not familiarity declines with healthy aging and cognitive impairment, we compare four samples (healthy young people, healthy older people, older people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment - aMCI -, and older people with Alzheimer's disease - AD -) on an associative recognition task, which, following the logic of the process-dissociation procedure, allowed us to obtain corrected estimates of recollection, familiarity and false recognition. The results show that familiarity does not decline with healthy aging, but it does with cognitive impairment, whereas false recognition increases with healthy aging, but decli…

Estrategias de compensación en adultos mayores: Diferencias sociodemográficas y en función de la reserva cognitiva

Resumen: Los terminos de reserva cognitiva y compensacion, han sido utilizados en una amplia variedad de situaciones en la literatura cientifica para referirse a la superacion o reduccion de las perdidas o deficits en diferentes mecanismos y procesos como es la memoria. A traves del Memory Compensation Questionnaire (MCQ), se pretende analizar los diferentes mecanismos de compensacion en relacion con ciertas variables sociodemograficas (edad, genero y nivel educativo) de una muestra espanola y establecer, a partir de una medida combinada de reserva cognitiva (RC), las diferencias existentes entre sujetos con alta y baja reserva en el uso de mecanismos de compensacion. Se evaluo a 264 sujeto…

Repetition increases false recollection in older people

Aging is accompanied by an increase in false alarms on recognition tasks, and these false alarms increase with repetition in older people (but not in young people). Traditionally, this increase was thought to be due to a greater use of familiarity in older people, but it was recently pointed out that false alarms also have a clear recollection component in these people. The main objective of our study is to analyze whether the expected increase in the rate of false alarms in older people due to stimulus repetition is produced by an inadequate use of familiarity, recollection, or both processes. To do so, we carried out an associative recognition experiment using pairs of words and pairs of …

Personality and Emotional Intelligence in Older Adults: A Predictive Model Based on Structural Equations Modeling

Recent research on emotions in aging points to emotional intelligence (EI) as a factor that plays an important role in this process, and different conceptualizations of EI show that this construct is closely linked to personality in the general population. The main purpose of this study was to find out whether findings obtained in the general population indicating a predictive relationship between personality and EI are also confirmed during the aging process. A sample of 233 healthy older subjects between 60 and 90 years old was used. Participants answered two self-report scales on EI and personality, respectively. Structural equation modeling was used to test the predictive role of person…

Adaptation and Initial Validation of the BRCS in an Elderly Spanish Sample

Resilience is understood as a dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of adversity. This study examined the validity of the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS), a 4-item measure designed to capture tendencies to cope with stress in a highly adaptive manner, in an elderly Spanish population. A total of 133 elderly people from an association of retired persons in Valencia (Spain) provided the responses for the validation study. The factorial validity of the scale was tested using confirmatory factor analysis, with a single dimension of resilience with adequate fit indexes emerging from this analysis. The BRCS has adequate internal consistency both at the scale and…

Dimensional and Discrete Emotional Reactivity in Alzheimer’s Disease: Film Clips as a Research Tool in Dementia

Background: No studies have been conducted to date on the dimensional and discrete classification of emotions to study the emotional reactivity of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Additionally, the presentation of film clips with affective content is currently one of the most effective and widely used Mood Induction Procedures (MIPS). However, it has been scarcely used in AD patients. Objective: Based on the dimensional and discrete models of emotion, this study examines the emotional reactivity of older adults with AD, using a popular set of film clips to induce emotions. Methods: We compared the responses of older adults aged over 65-years with mild to moderate AD (n = 15) and …

The Role of Recollection and Familiarity in Nondemented Parkinson's Patients

The aim of the current study was to examine if recollection and familiarity decline in nondemented Parkinson's patients. To do so we compared a sample of older people with Parkinson's disease (n = 32) to a control sample of healthy older people (n = 32) on an associative recognition task in which we manipulated the repetition of the pairs during the study phase (half of the pairs were presented once and half twice) to obtain corrected estimates of recollection, familiarity, and false recognition based on the logic of the process-dissociation procedure. The results clearly show that recollection is impaired but familiarity is preserved in nondemented Parkinson's patients. The results show th…