Commentary on “An Emotion Regulation Tablet App for Middle-Aged and Older Adults At High Suicide Risk: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Two Case Studies” by Kiosses and colleagues

Cognitive ageing in developing societies is marked with psychosocial issues such as education, occupation, lifestyle, social support, social interaction and exclusion that may affect cognitive–affective–behavioural changes with ageing. We also present a study based on cognitive profiling of young (N = 79), middle-aged (N = 54) and older adults (N = 43) in India, which examined learning and memory for verbal and visuospatial information, overall cognitive functions, subjective complaints about cognitive difficulties, neuropsychiatric problems, anxiety and emotion regulation. The study shows cognitive changes compared to young and comparable rate of learning and retrieval among middle-aged and older adults for verbal and visuospatial material, correlated with general cognitive ability. The subjective complaints were not correlated with the objective measures of cognitive functions, highlighting the importance of both to show early cognitive changes. The relationship between cognitive functions and emotion regulation or behavioural/emotional changes was observed for young and middle-aged adults but not for older adults. Findings are discussed in the context of the lifespan perspective of cognitive ageing, cognitive reserve, psychosocial environment and social–emotional selectivity theory.

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Age Differences in Beliefs About Emotion Regulation Strategies

The Journals of Gerontology Series B ◽

10.1093/geronb/gby022 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 75 (2) ◽

pp. 316-326 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kimberly M Livingstone ◽

Vanessa L Castro ◽

Derek M Isaacowitz

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Emotion Regulation ◽

Age Differences ◽

Process Model ◽

Latent Profile Analysis ◽

Well Being ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategies ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Regulation Strategies

Abstract Objectives Age shifts in emotion regulation may be rooted in beliefs about different strategies. We test whether there are age differences in the beliefs people hold about specific emotion regulation strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation and whether profiles of emotion beliefs vary by age. Method An adult life-span sample (N = 557) sorted 13 emotion regulation strategies either by (a) how effective the strategies would be or (b) how likely they would be to use them, in 15 negative emotion-eliciting situations. Results Younger adults ranked attentional and cognitive distraction more effective than older adults, and preferred avoidance, distraction, and rumination more (and attentional deployment less) than middle-aged and older adults. Latent profile analysis on preferences identified three distinct strategy profiles: Classically adaptive regulators preferred a variety of strategies; situation modifiers showed strong preferences for changing situations; a small percentage of people preferred avoidance and rumination. Middle-aged and older adults were more likely than younger adults to be classically adaptive regulators (as opposed to situation modifiers or avoiders/ruminators). Discussion These findings provide insight into the reasons people of different ages may select and implement different emotion regulation strategies, which may influence their emotional well-being.

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THE ROLE OF AGE AND EMOTION REGULATION IN CHOICE OF EMOTIONAL ACTIVITY IN EVERYDAY LIFE

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.2995 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S812-S813

Author(s):

Majse Lind ◽

Derek Isaacowitz

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Emotion Regulation ◽

Everyday Life ◽

Age Groups ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Negative Thoughts ◽

Emotion Regulation Strategy ◽

Regulation Strategies ◽

Middle Aged Adults

Abstract Situation selection is a form of activity selection focused on the affective tone of potential choices. We investigated this type of emotional activity selection in everyday life during a longitudinal multi-burst study of middle-aged and older adults. In each burst, participants were asked to complete six phone-based assessments per day across five consecutive days, including a situation selection question about what type of emotional situation they would want to engage in at the time. They also reported on various emotion regulation strategies. Both age groups favored positive activities, but older adults preferred positive-deactivated activities whereas middle-aged adults favored positive-activated activities. Both middle-aged and older adults reported more attention towards positive relative to negative thoughts. Greater attention to positive thoughts was associated with the tendency to select more positive activities across age groups. Both age and emotion regulation strategy use may therefore contribute to choice of emotional activities in everyday life.

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Emotion Regulation Resources Explain Middle-Aged and Older Adults' COVID-19-Related Distress

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.501 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 130-131

Author(s):

Cystal Park ◽

Beth Russell ◽

Michael Fendrich

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Emotion Regulation ◽

Perceived Social Support ◽

National Sample ◽

Ptsd Symptoms ◽

Stress Exposure ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Initial Peak

Abstract As the pandemic caused widespread disruption across the world, studies suggested younger adults were faring more poorly than other adults. We hypothesized that younger adults might possess fewer emotion regulation resources and skills, accounting for their greater distress. In a national sample of 1528 adults, we examined how baseline resources (in mid-April, during initial peak infections) predicted distress (depression, anxiety, PTSD symptoms) five weeks later, when states began initial reopenings. Younger adults reported greater distress and less social support, mindfulness, and emotion regulation skills than did middle aged and older adults.. Controlling for stress exposure, younger adults’ distress was predicted by impulsivity and lack of perceived strategies while middle-aged and older adults’ distress was predicted by acceptance of negative emotions; perceived social support was related to lower distress for both groups but mindfulness was unrelated. Results suggest that emotion regulation skills are a promising prevention and intervention focus.

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Video Games and Emotion Regulation

GeroPsych ◽

10.1024/1662-9647/a000196 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 31 (4) ◽

pp. 205-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kathryn L. Ossenfort ◽

Derek M. Isaacowitz

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Emotion Regulation ◽

Video Games ◽

Age Differences ◽

Interactive Media ◽

Age Groups ◽

Younger Adults ◽

Media Usage ◽

The Everyday ◽

Media Preferences

Abstract. Research on age differences in media usage has shown that older adults are more likely than younger adults to select positive emotional content. Research on emotional aging has examined whether older adults also seek out positivity in the everyday situations they choose, resulting so far in mixed results. We investigated the emotional choices of different age groups using video games as a more interactive type of affect-laden stimuli. Participants made multiple selections from a group of positive and negative games. Results showed that older adults selected the more positive games, but also reported feeling worse after playing them. Results supplement the literature on positivity in situation selection as well as on older adults’ interactive media preferences.

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