Cohort Differences in Daily Life: Older Adults Have Higher Affect Variability Than 18 Years Ago

Lifespan psychological and life course sociological perspectives have long acknowledged that individual functioning is shaped by historical and socio-cultural contexts. Secular increases favoring later-born cohorts are widely documented for general well-being (among older adults). However, little is known about secular trends in short-term fluctuations in daily affective well-being and whether historical changes have occurred in young, middle-aged, and older adults alike. To examine these questions, we compared data from two independent national samples of the NSDE survey obtained 18 years apart (1995/96 vs. 2013/14) and identified case-matched cohorts (per cohort, n = 782, aged = 23–75 years) based on age and gender. We additionally examine the role of economic and health resources for cohort differences in affective variability. Results revealed that later-born cohorts report higher variability in daily negative affect than did those 18 years ago. In contrast, no cohort differences emerged in variability in daily positive affect. We conclude from our national US sample that secular trends in affect variability do not generalize unanimously to different timescales across adulthood. We discuss possible underlying mechanisms and practical implications.

Profile of Individual Functioning With the Use of ICF for Persons With Disabilities With the Consequences of Brain Stroke in the Kyrgyz Republic

Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Kyrgyzstan in March 2019 has encouraged the country to explore the possibilities of multidisciplinary tools to assess the needs and strengths of an individual. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is such a recognized tool. ICF allows to have complete information on any individual using a system for coding the level of disability. Further, this assessment of an individual's needs and strengths becomes the basis for rehabilitation programs for individuals with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the profile of individual functioning compiled according to ICF and medical rehabilitation programs for brain strokes using the 2020 data of certain medical and social expert commissions (MSEC) of the Kyrgyz Republic as an example, followed by the preparation of recommendations for the development of medical rehabilitation system for brain strokes. Each of the selected individual with disability was given an adapted profile of individual functioning with domains corresponding to brain strokes. Analysis of the profiles showed the possibility of using a single tool in the usual practice of the health system and medical and social examination for a more detailed assessment of functioning impairments and environmental conditions of an individual, which allowed to re-orient the rehabilitation goals. Authors revealed insufficient rehabilitation resources in Kyrgyzstan, including the availability of medical personnel and medicines with evidence-based effectiveness. Analysis of the findings allowed the authors to present recommendations for the development of a medical rehabilitation system for brain stroke in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The Feeling of Trauma in the Situation of Current Threat

The reality of the pandemic provoked and reinforced the feeling of insecurity and vital threat on an individual and social level. It caused a number of problems and issues from physical, mental, ethical, philosophical, legal, religious nature. The individual functioning turned out to be in condition of emergency and crisis with increased risk to human health and life. The current situation has given rise to the feeling of mass polytraumatism with characteristics of objectless horror and control loss. The present study refers to 34 cases of patients in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, where the objective reality changed the picture of the therapeutic dynamics. It created an experience of changed identity, „awakened“ intense transference „answers“ and to some extent modified the course of the sought and planned change. The results showed a severely increased free-floating anxiety, ready to conjoin with specific content and ideas, as well as high depression associated with regressive movements to early-object interactions.

The longitudinal association between marital and psychological functioning in socioeconomically disadvantaged relationships

Marital functioning is associated with individuals’ psychological functioning. However, it is unclear if the association between marital and individual functioning extends to socioeconomically disadvantaged newlyweds (those with low educational attainment/income), and if changes in psychological distress differ between husbands and wives. Using three waves of data from 530 couples in the Supporting Healthy Marriage study, we investigated if improvements and deterioration in marital satisfaction were differentially associated with patterns of individuals’ psychological distress. We also examined if spouses’ divergent marital change patterns were associated with distress trajectories. For wives, improvements in marital satisfaction were more strongly associated with decreases in psychological distress compared to declines in satisfaction. Additionally, wives’ psychological distress was more adversely impacted than was husbands’ when they reported worse marital functioning. We provide empirical and practical implications for helping reduce disparities in psychological functioning observed in low-income populations.

A Socioecological Developmental Systems Approach for the Study of Human Resilience

This chapter introduces a socioecological developmental systems approach for the study of human resilience, conceptualizing the multiple contextual influences (ranging from the micro-to the macro context and including the ecosystem), and their interactions with individual functioning over time. It is argued that resilience is a multi-level, dynamic and relational process where individual and context mutually constitute each other through processes of co-regulation. The chapter gives a broad definition of key concepts, such as risk and adaptation, and describes developmental and resilience processes using examples from research on the transition from dependent childhood to independent adulthood.

Costs of health and social services use in children of parents with mental illness

Background Children of parents with mental illness have a higher risk of developing mental health problems when compared with the general population. Therefore, families with parents with mental illness are a suitable target group for selective prevention. In order to plan and evaluate the health economic consequences of preventive interventions for this target group, data on the societal costs related to parenthood under the condition of mental disorders are needed. To date, within Germany there has been a lack of research evaluating the costs of mental health treatment and use of social services by children and adolescents with parents with mental illness. Methods As part of a multicentre randomised controlled trial, use and costs of health and social services were assessed for a sample of 332 children and adolescents with parents with mental illness in six regions of Germany. Service use at baseline was assessed by the German version of the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service Receipt Inventory. Costs were calculated for 12 months based on diagnosis and service user status and described separately. Cost drivers were identified by means of a two-part regression model. Results Total mean costs for 12 months for the total sample amount of € 3736.35 (95% CI: € 2816.84–4813.83) per person. Children with a psychiatric diagnosis generated a total of € 5691.93 (95% CI: € 4146.27–7451.38) of costs per person, compared to € 1245.01 (95% CI: € 657.44–1871.49) for children without a psychiatric diagnosis. The logit part indicates significant odds ratios for individual functioning and diagnosis of the child as well as for family functioning. The linear part reveals that increasing individual functioning in the child is related to decreasing costs. Conclusions Children of families with parents with mental illness use a broad spectrum of mental health care, school-based support and youth welfare services even if they are not yet diagnosed as having a mental disorder. Further research should examine whether these institutions are sufficiently qualified and interlinked to meet the support needs of this vulnerable group. Trial registration The study was registered at the 07/10/2014 before the start of data collection (04/11/2014) at the German clinical trials register (Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien, DRKS, nr: DRKS00006806, https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00006806).

Anxiety Severity, Perceived Risk of COVID-19 and Individual Functioning in Emerging Adults Facing the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is showing a strong impact on people in terms of uncertainty and instability it has caused in different areas of daily life. Uncertainty and instability are also emotions that characterize emerging adulthood (EA). They generate worries about the present and the future and are a source of anxiety that impacts negatively on personal and interpersonal functioning. Anxiety seems a central effect of the pandemic and recent studies have suggested that it is linked to COVID-19 risk perception. In the present study, a sample of 1045 Italian emerging adults was collected: (1) to assess anxiety severity and perceived risk related to COVID-19 and their association and (2) to compare general health and protective factors such as attitudes about security, relationships, self-esteem, and self-efficacy across anxiety severity and perceived risk categories. The findings of this study highlighted that anxiety severity categories were distributed homogeneously across the sample and that half of the participants referred to moderate-severe anxiety. A series of analysis of variances and post hoc comparisons showed that general health and all protective factors decreased according to anxiety severity. They were higher in participants with high perceived risk, with the exception of self-efficacy. Given the challenging features of the pandemic and EA, it is crucial to monitor anxiety severity in order to prevent last longing effects on mental and physical health, as well as keeping emerging adults informed about the risks related to the pandemic. Intervention and supportive programs based on improving self-esteem and self-efficacy, as well as confidence in relationships, should be offered to emerging adults over the long term, beyond the current outbreak.

Understanding sleep disturbance in the context of malignant brain tumors: a qualitative analysis

Background Sleep is an important element in health-related quality of life of cancer patients and caregivers. This study aimed to explore the experience of sleep disturbance in people with malignant brain tumors (BT) and their family caregivers. Methods Participants were recruited from ambulatory neuro-oncology clinics. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 patients (67% with high-grade gliomas) and 14 caregivers. Data were analyzed thematically using a framework synthesis. Results We identified six themes relating to perceptions of the nature, impact, causal factors, and interventions for sleep disturbance, beliefs about sleep and impact, and personal coping strategies. Participants described their sleep disturbance in terms of insomnia symptoms; most commonly difficulties initiating and maintaining sleep. Participants had varied views on causal factors including the BT diagnosis and treatment and caregiver burden. However, excessive thinking and BT-related anxiety were evident in both patients and caregivers. The described impact on daytime functioning due to non-restful sleep and fatigue appeared to be significant and many participants needed daytime naps, although they understated the impact on individual functioning. Some participants were reluctant to seek help from clinicians for sleep disturbance due to previous experiences where sleep disturbance was overlooked, or because they held negative views toward pharmacological interventions. Participants reported various coping strategies, ranging from relaxation-promoting techniques to behaviors to distract thinking at night that may instead disturb sleep. Conclusions Psychological factors contribute to sleep disturbance in patients with BT and caregivers. This population may benefit from information about sleep disturbance and interventions targeting anxiety.