scholarly journals Association of Affect and Gait Performance in Dual-Task Walking in Non-Demented Older Adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 287-287
Author(s):  
Deepan Guharajan ◽  
Roee Holtzer

Abstract Aging populations are at increased risk to experience mobility disability, which is associated with falls, frailty, and mortality. Previous studies have not examined the concurrent associations of both positive and negative affect with gait velocity. We examined whether individual differences in positive and negative affect predicted dual-task performance decrements in velocity in a dual-task (DT) paradigm in non-demented older adults. We hypothesize that positive affect would be associated with lower DT costs, and negative affect would be associated with higher DT costs. Participants (N = 403; mean age, = 76.22 (6.55); females = 56%) completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and a DT paradigm that involved three task conditions: Single-Task-Walk (STW), Alpha (cognitive interference requiring participants to recite alternate letters of the alphabet), and Dual-Task-Walk (DTW) requiring participant to perform the two single tasks concurrently. Gait velocity was assessed via an instrumented walkway. As expected, results of a linear mixed effects model (LME) showed a significant decline in gait velocity (cm/s) from STW to DTW (estimate = -11.79; 95%CI = -12.82 to -10.77). LME results further revealed that negative affect was associated with greater decline in gait velocity from STW to DTW (ie., worse DT cost) (estimate = -0.38; 95%CI = -0.73 to -0.03). Positive affect did not, however, predict DT costs in gait velocity (estimate = -0.09; 95%CI = -0.23 to 0.05). These findings suggest that increased negative affect interferes with the allocation of attentional resources to competing task demands inherent in the DT paradigm.

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 519-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany C. LeMonda ◽  
Jeannette R. Mahoney ◽  
Joe Verghese ◽  
Roee Holtzer

AbstractThe Walking While Talking (WWT) dual-task paradigm is a mobility stress test that predicts major outcomes, including falls, frailty, disability, and mortality in aging. Certain personality traits, such as neuroticism, extraversion, and their combination, have been linked to both cognitive and motor outcomes. We examined whether individual differences in personality dimensions of neuroticism and extraversion predicted dual-task performance decrements (both motor and cognitive) on a WWT task in non-demented older adults. We hypothesized that the combined effect of high neuroticism-low extraversion would be related to greater dual-task costs in gait velocity and cognitive performance in non-demented older adults. Participants (N=295; age range,=65–95 years; female=164) completed the Big Five Inventory and WWT task involving concurrent gait and a serial 7’s subtraction task. Gait velocity was obtained using an instrumented walkway. The high neuroticism-low extraversion group incurred greater dual-task costs (i.e., worse performance) in both gait velocity {95% confidence interval (CI) [−17.68 to −3.07]} and cognitive performance (95% CI [−19.34 to −2.44]) compared to the low neuroticism-high extraversion group, suggesting that high neuroticism-low extraversion interferes with the allocation of attentional resources to competing task demands during the WWT task. Older individuals with high neuroticism-low extraversion may be at higher risk for falls, mobility decline and other adverse outcomes in aging. (JINS, 2015, 21, 519–530)


2003 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn V. Ostir ◽  
Jiska Cohen-Mansfield ◽  
Suzanne Leveille ◽  
Stefano Volpato ◽  
Jack M. Guralnik

This study investigated whether positive or negative affect has an independent association with exercise self-efficacy. Participants (N= 324) age 75-85 were classified as high or at-risk performers, and three exercise-self-efficacy items (scored 1-10) were assessed. For at-risk performers, positive affect was significantly associated with confidence in the ability to perform strength and flexibility (b= 0.83,SE= 0.23,p= .001) and aerobic exercise (b= 0.59,SE= 0.28,p= .04) and with the perception that exercise would not worsen preexisting symptoms (b= 0.73,SE= 0.24,p= .001). Among high performers, nonsignificant associations were found for positive and negative affect and exercise-self-efficacy. For at-risk performers, higher positive affect was associated with an increased odds ratio of 2.72 for scoring 10 on the muscle strength and flexibility item, 4.08 on the aerobic item, and 2.94 on the item assessing preexisting symptoms. The results suggest that improving at-risk older adults’ positive affect might increase their participation in exercise.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S307-S307
Author(s):  
Kathryn L Ossenfort ◽  
Derek M Isaacowitz

Abstract Older adults attend to more positive than negative content compared to younger adults; this “age-related positivity” effect is often thought of as a way older adults may be regulating their moods. However, attentional disengagement abilities decline with age, which may make positive looking more challenging for older adults in some cases. To evaluate links between early attentional processes and affect, 48 younger adult and 49 older adult participants reported levels of positive and negative affect on the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) and completed a spatial cueing task evaluating attentional orienting and disengagement from emotional stimuli. Participants were tasked with responding to the location of a spatial target after seeing a cue (emotional image) that either appeared on the same (orienting) or opposite (disengagement) side of the screen. Multilevel modeling analyses were conducted using age and self-reported affect from the PANAS as predictors at level-2, and trial characteristics as predictors at level-1. Positive affect (PA) was unrelated to task performance for younger adults. Older adults reporting higher PA responded more slowly overall, and higher PA scores predicted similar response times to positive and negative stimuli on both trial types. Older adults reporting lower PA oriented attention more quickly to positive stimuli, but took longer to disengage from negative. These results suggest that there may be a relationship between the ability to flexibly disengage from negative content and PA for older, but not younger adults, and also highlight the importance of teasing apart specific attentional processes when evaluating positivity effects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 846-847
Author(s):  
Jessica Blaxton ◽  
Niccole Nelson ◽  
Cindy Bergeman

Abstract Research suggests that the within-person inverse relationship between negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) indicates poorer emotional well-being, and this interaffect correlation fluctuates in relation to the context of the individual. Specifically, age, stress, and global PA all relate to changes in the interaffect correlation. The current study uses comprehensive data from the Notre Dame Study of Health & Well Being (NDHWB), which allows us to uniquely examine between-person differences in within-person change and variability in the interaffect correlation, thereby examining these constructs from a process-oriented perspective. Midlife and later life participants (N = 965) completed daily questionnaires assessing stress, NA, and PA. Three-level multi-level models illustrated that the interaffect correlation becomes more negative during times of stress, adults with greater global PA experience a stronger inverse interaffect correlation during times of stress, and days of higher stress relate to a stronger inverse interaffect correlation for older adults compared to midlife adults. The findings illustrate the idiographic nature of these relationships and suggest that later life adults and adults with high levels of global PA undergoing higher than typical stressful situations experience stronger inverse interaffect correlations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Mogle ◽  
Elizabeth Muñoz ◽  
Nikki L Hill ◽  
Joshua M Smyth ◽  
Martin J Sliwinski

Abstract Objective The current analyses examined the impact of daily memory lapses on daily affect and whether this impact varied across age. Method One hundred sixty-six adults (ages 20–79) completed assessments of memory lapses and affect each day for 7 consecutive days. Assessments included retrospective and prospective memory lapses as well as the impact of these lapses (how irritating, interfering, and consequential). Affect was assessed using ratings of daily positive and negative affect. Results Participants reported memory lapses on 33.3% of days. Prospective lapses were consistently rated as more consequential. Regardless of age, participants had significantly lower in positive affect and significantly higher in negative affect on days with a prospective lapse. Effects of retrospective lapses depended on age: compared to older adults, younger adults reported lower positive affect on days with a retrospective lapse. Discussion Previous work on daily memory lapses has focused on prospective lapses. Although retrospective lapses occurred more frequently in this sample, prospective lapses appeared to have a greater impact on daily experiences regardless of age. By measuring daily memory lapses and affect over consecutive days, we can begin to understand how the experience of forgetting impacts individuals at a micro-level.


GeroPsych ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Cornu ◽  
Jean-Paul Steinmetz ◽  
Carine Federspiel

Abstract. A growing body of research demonstrates an association between gait disorders, falls, and attentional capacities in older adults. The present work empirically analyzes differences in gait parameters in frail institutionalized older adults as a function of selective attention. Gait analysis under single- and dual-task conditions as well as selective attention measures were collected from a total of 33 nursing-home residents. We found that differences in selective attention performances were related to the investigated gait parameters. Poorer selective attention performances were associated with higher stride-to-stride variabilities and a slowing of gait speed under dual-task conditions. The present findings suggest a contribution of selective attention to a safe gait. Implications for gait rehabilitation programs are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 480-481
Author(s):  
Eva Kahana ◽  
Tirth Bhatta ◽  
Boaz Kahana ◽  
Nirmala Lekhak

Abstract Existing scholarship in social gerontology has surprisingly paid little attention to broader loving emotions, such as compassionate and altruistic love, as potentially meaningful mechanisms for improving later life psychological well-being. This study examined the influence of feeling love toward other persons and experiencing love from others on later life psychological well-being. We conducted a 3-wave longitudinal study of a representative sample of 340 ethnically heterogeneous community dwelling older residents of Miami, Florida. The increase in feeling of being loved (β=-1.53, p<0.001) and love for others (β=-1.43, p<0.001) led to decline in odds of reporting greater level of depressive symptoms over time. The odds of reporting higher level of positive affect were significantly greater for older adults who reported feeling loved by others (β=1.16, p<0.001) and expressed love for other people (β=1.18, p<0.01). Older adults who felt loved had 0.92-point lower ordered log odds of reporting higher negative affect than those who reported lower level of love. The impact of compassionate love on depressive symptoms and negative affect remained statistically significant even after adjustment for altruistic attitudes and emotional support. The influence of loving emotions on positive affect was, however, explained by altruistic attitudes and emotional support. Our findings underscore the powerful influence of both receiving and giving love for the maintenance of later life psychological well-being. We offer support for the expectation that love is a significant force in the lives of older adults that transcends intimate relationships.


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