scholarly journals The Impact of Memory Change on Everyday Life Among Older Adults: Association with Cognition and Self-Reported Memory

Author(s):  
Komal T. Shaikh ◽  
Erica L. Tatham ◽  
Susan Vandermorris ◽  
Theone Paterson ◽  
Kathryn Stokes ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives: Many older adults experience memory changes that can have a meaningful impact on their everyday lives, such as restrictions to lifestyle activities and negative emotions. Older adults also report a variety of positive coping responses that help them manage these changes. The purpose of this study was to determine how objective cognitive performance and self-reported memory are related to the everyday impact of memory change. Methods: We examined these associations in a sample of 94 older adults (age 60–89, 52% female) along a cognitive ability continuum from normal cognition to mild cognitive impairment. Results: Correlational analyses revealed that greater restrictions to lifestyle activities (|rs| = .36–.66), more negative emotion associated with memory change (|rs| = .27–.76), and an overall greater burden of memory change on everyday living (|rs| = .28–.61) were associated with poorer objective memory performance and lower self-reported memory ability and satisfaction. Performance on objective measures of executive attention was unrelated to the impact of memory change. Self-reported strategy use was positively related to positive coping with memory change (|r| = .26), but self-reported strategy use was associated with more negative emotions regarding memory change (|r| = .23). Conclusions: Given the prevalence of memory complaints among older adults, it is important to understand the experience of memory change and its impact on everyday functioning in order to develop services that target the specific needs of this population.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Sun ◽  
Disa Sauter

Getting old is generally seen as unappealing, yet aging confers considerable advantages in several psychological domains (North & Fiske, 2015). In particular, older adults are better off emotionally than younger adults, with aging associated with the so-called “age advantages,” that is, more positive and less negative emotional experiences (Carstensen et al., 2011). Although the age advantages are well established, it is less clear whether they occur under conditions of prolonged stress. In a recent study, Carstensen et al (2020) demonstrated that the age advantages persist during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that older adults are able to utilise cognitive and behavioural strategies to ameliorate even sustained stress. Here, we build on Carstensen and colleagues’ work with two studies. In Study 1, we provide a large-scale test of the robustness of Carstensen and colleagues’ finding that older individuals experience more positive and less negative emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We measured positive and negative emotions along with age information in 23,629 participants in 63 countries in April-May 2020. In Study 2, we provide a comparison of the age advantages using representative samples collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We demonstrate that older people experience less negative emotion than younger people during the prolonged stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the advantage of older adults was diminished during the pandemic, pointing to a likely role of older adults use of situation selection strategies (Charles, 2010).


Author(s):  
Dan Yue ◽  
Zepeng Tong ◽  
Jianchi Tian ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Linxiu Zhang ◽  
...  

The global illegal wildlife trade directly threatens biodiversity and leads to disease outbreaks and epidemics. In order to avoid the loss of endangered species and ensure public health security, it is necessary to intervene in illegal wildlife trade and promote public awareness of the need for wildlife conservation. Anthropomorphism is a basic and common psychological process in humans that plays a crucial role in determining how a person interacts with other non-human agents. Previous research indicates that anthropomorphizing nature entities through metaphors could increase individual behavioral intention of wildlife conservation. However, relatively little is known about the mechanism by which anthropomorphism influences behavioral intention and whether social context affects the effect of anthropomorphism. This research investigated the impact of negative emotions associated with a pandemic situation on the effectiveness of anthropomorphic strategies for wildlife conservation across two experimental studies. Experiment 1 recruited 245 college students online and asked them to read a combination of texts and pictures as anthropomorphic materials. The results indicated that anthropomorphic materials could increase participants’ empathy and decrease their wildlife product consumption intention. Experiment 2 recruited 140 college students online and they were required to read the same materials as experiment 1 after watching a video related to epidemics. The results showed that the effect of wildlife anthropomorphization vanished if participants’ negative emotion was aroused by the video. The present research provides experimental evidence that anthropomorphic strategies would be useful for boosting public support for wildlife conservation. However, policymakers and conservation organizations must be careful about the negative effects of the pandemic context, as the negative emotions produced by it seems to weaken the effectiveness of anthropomorphic strategies.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 27-43
Author(s):  
Danielle Mantovani ◽  
José Carlos Korelo ◽  
Paulo Henrique Muller Prado ◽  
Tatiane SIlva dos Santos

Despite the increasing amount of research about the effects of a sellers transgression on consumers relationship quality evaluation, existing theory still demands more insights into consumers capacity to suppress the negative emotions that a transgression might generate. This research proposes that consumers are not always equally influenced by a transgression because some individuals demonstrate a higher capacity to suppress the negative emotions that arise from a sellers transgression. An experimental study in a controlled virtual book store was developed, simulating a real website. Participants were randomly allocated into one of the two conditions: transgression vs. non-transgression scenario. We demonstrate that consumers who are better able to suppress the negative emotions experienced a lower decrease in their satisfaction evaluation of the relationship with the seller after a transgression than those who had a lower negative emotion suppression capacity behavior. These results shed light into the boundary conditions of the transgressions in B2C marketing relationship. This research is therefore intended to make contributions to the literature of marketing relationship in a transgression context.DOI: 10.5585/remark.v12i4.2537


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Rossell ◽  
Erica Neill ◽  
Andrea Phillipou ◽  
Eric Tan ◽  
Wei Lin Toh ◽  
...  

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) poses significant mental health challenges globally; however, to date, there is limited community level data. This study reports on the first wave of data from the COLLATE project (COvid-19 and you: mentaL heaLth in AusTralia now survEy), an ongoing study aimed at understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health and well-being of Australians. This paper addresses prevailing primary concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, current levels of negative emotions and risk factors predicting these negative emotions. On April 1st to 4th 2020, 5158 adult members of the Australian general public completed an online survey. Participants ranked their top ten current primary concerns about COVID-19, and completed standardized measures to ascertain levels of negative emotions (specifically, depression, anxiety and stress). Socio-demographic information was also collected and used in the assessment of risk factors. The top three primary concerns were all related to the health and well-being of family and loved ones. As expected, levels of negative emotion were exceptionally high. Modelling of predictors of negative emotions established several risk factors related to demographic variables, personal vulnerabilities, financial stresses, and social distancing experiences; particularly being young, being female, or having a mental illness diagnosis. The data provides important characterization of the current mental health of Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Critically, it appears that specific groups in the Australian community may need special attention to ensure their mental health is protected during these difficult times. The data further suggests the need for immediate action to combat high levels of psychological distress, along with the exacerbation of mental health conditions, in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. These results may provide some direction for international researchers hoping to characterize similar issues in other countries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 441-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mohammed Abubakar ◽  
Taraneh Foroutan Yazdian ◽  
Elaheh Behravesh

Purpose Workplace mistreatment and aggression have become pressing issues in today’s multi-generational workplace. Yet, to date, the issue of investigating the impacts of passive and active types of mistreatment simultaneously on different generations has been widely neglected in the management literature. The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the resultant effects of active (i.e. workplace tolerance to incivility) and passive (i.e. workplace ostracism) mistreatments on negative emotion and intention to sabotage, a generational perspective. Design/methodology/approach Data were garnered from bank employees in Nigeria (n=320) and analyzed with the aid of a structural equation modeling technique. Findings The data reveal that active and passive workplace mistreatments are relevant factors inflicting negative emotions and intention to sabotage, and negative emotions inflict the intention to sabotage. Furthermore, the impact of passive workplace mistreatment on negative emotion is higher among Generations X and Y cohorts, and its impact on the intention to sabotage is higher among Baby Boomers cohorts. The impact of active workplace mistreatment on negative emotion is higher among Generation Y and Baby Boomers cohorts, and its impact on the intention to sabotage is higher among Generations X and Y cohorts. Originality/value This paper advances our knowledge concerning the reactional response of employees to workplace mistreatment generation wise. Based on the study findings, theoretical and practical implications are identified and discussed.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn M. Parsey ◽  
Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe

BACKGROUND Sleep quality has been associated with cognitive and mood outcomes in otherwise healthy older adults. However, most studies have evaluated sleep quality as aggregate and mean measures, rather than addressing the impact of previous night’s sleep on next-day functioning. OBJECTIVE This study aims to evaluate the ability of previous night’s sleep parameters on self-reported mood, cognition, and fatigue to understand short-term impacts of sleep quality on next-day functioning. METHODS In total, 73 cognitively healthy older adults (19 males, 54 females) completed 7 days of phone-based self-report questions, along with 24-hour actigraph data collection. We evaluated a model of previous night’s sleep parameters as predictors of mood, fatigue, and perceived thinking abilities the following day. RESULTS Previous night’s sleep predicted fatigue in the morning and midday, as well as sleepiness or drowsiness in the morning; however, sleep measures did not predict subjective report of mood or perceived thinking abilities the following day. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that objectively measured sleep quality from the previous night may not have a direct or substantial relationship with subjective reporting of cognition or mood the following day, despite frequent patient reports. Continued efforts to examine the relationship among cognition, sleep, and everyday functioning are encouraged.


Author(s):  
Megan S. Barker ◽  
Emily C. Gibson ◽  
Gail A. Robinson

The term “acquired brain injury” refers to any type of brain damage that occurs after birth. Two main types of acquired brain injury are stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI). A stroke occurs when there is a blockage or bleed in the vascular system of the brain, while a TBI results from an external force to the head. Older adults are at a higher risk of both stroke and TBI; thus, overall incidence is increasing as the proportion of older adults in the population is growing. Stroke and TBI result in immediate and long-term cognitive changes. Impairments in the domains of language, attention, memory, executive functions, perception, and social cognition have been documented following stroke and TBI. However, strokes tend to cause focal or selective cognitive disorders, while cognitive deficits following TBI are widespread and can be generalized. Individuals who have suffered a stroke or TBI may also experience psychosocial changes; for example, symptoms of depression and anxiety are common. Functional outcomes, including independence in activities, are varied and are associated with a range of factors including age, injury severity, cognitive disorders, and psychosocial factors. To achieve optimal outcomes for individuals following stroke and TBI, and to reduce the impact of the injury on everyday functioning, a multidisciplinary rehabilitation process is recommended.


Author(s):  
Simone A. Tomaz ◽  
Pete Coffee ◽  
Gemma C. Ryde ◽  
Bridgitte Swales ◽  
Kacey C. Neely ◽  
...  

This study examined the impact of social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic on loneliness, wellbeing, and social activity, including social support, in Scottish older adults. A mixed methods online survey was used to examine these factors during social distancing mid-lockdown, July 2020. Participants were asked to state whether loneliness, wellbeing, social activity, and social support had changed since pre-social distancing, and to provide details of strategies used to keep socially active. A total of 1429 adults (84% aged 60+ years) living in Scotland took part. The majority reported that social distancing regulations made them experience more loneliness and less social contact and support. Loneliness during lockdown was higher than reported norms for this age group before the pandemic. A larger social network, more social contact, and better perceived social support seemed to be protective against loneliness and poor wellbeing. Positive coping strategies reported included increasing online social contact with both existing social networks and reconnecting with previous networks, as well as increasing contact with neighbours and people in the community. This underlines the importance of addressing loneliness and social support in older adults but particularly during situations where risk of isolation is high.


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