Psychology and aging
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Psychology and aging · Aug 2018
"A review and meta-analysis of age-based stereotype threat: Negative stereotypes, not facts, do the damage": Correction to Lamont, Swift, and Abrams (2015).
Reports an error in "A review and meta-analysis of age-based stereotype threat: Negative stereotypes, not facts, do the damage" by Ruth A. Lamont, Hannah J. Swift and Dominic Abrams (Psychology and Aging, 2015[Mar], Vol 30[1], 180-193). ⋯ The analysis revealed a significant small-to-medium effect of ABST (d = .28) and important moderators of the effect size. Specifically, older adults are more vulnerable to ABST when (a) stereotype-based rather than fact-based manipulations are used (d = .52); (b) when performance is tested using cognitive measures (d = .36); and (c) occurs reliably when the dependent variable is measured proximally to the manipulation. The review raises important theoretical and methodological issues, and areas for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Psychology and aging · Mar 2017
Personality and actigraphy-measured physical activity in older adults.
Most studies on personality and physical activity have relied on self-report measures. This study examined the relation between Five Factor Model personality traits and objective physical activity in older adults. ⋯ The associations for Neuroticism and Conscientiousness were attenuated by approximately 20-40% when accounting for disease burden and body mass index but were essentially unchanged for Extraversion and Agreeableness. These findings confirm self-report evidence that personality traits are associated with physical activity levels in older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record
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Psychology and aging · Jun 2014
Diurnal cortisol rhythm is associated with increased risky decision-making in older adults.
Although past research has suggested a link between chronic stress and both physical and mental well-being in older adults, less is known about the degree to which neuroendocrine markers of stress are associated with higher-order cognitive processes such as decision-making. In a sample of healthy older adults (55-85 years), we tested the degree to which variation in the diurnal cortisol rhythm, an index of hypothalamic-adrenal-pituitary axis dynamics, was related to differences in risky decision-making. We found that diurnal cortisol fall predicted performance on the Cups Task, a risky decision-making task that independently tests risk-taking to achieve gains and risk-taking to avoid losses. ⋯ For risks to avoid potential losses, we found that lower diurnal fall was associated with suboptimal decision-making for men only. Compared with males with more typical diurnal fall, those who displayed lower diurnal fall made more risky choices and demonstrated lower sensitivity to the expected value of the risky choice. We integrate these results with the extant literature on the effects of stress on decision-making and cognitive aging.
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Psychology and aging · Jun 2014
Cognitive ability, intraindividual variability, and common genetic variants of catechol-O-methyltransferase and brain-derived neurotrophic factor: a longitudinal study in a population-based sample of older adults.
Genetic differences play a significant role in generating individual differences in cognitive abilities. Studies have linked common polymorphisms (valine to methionine substitution; VAL/MET) in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) to cognitive differences between individuals. However, not all studies support these associations and hence, the impact of these polymorphisms on cognition is unclear. ⋯ However, RT and IIV-RT did not differ significantly between the COMT genotypes in the absence of the BDNF*MET allele. These polymorphisms had no significant effect on within person change in RT or IIV-RT. Our findings indicate that the interaction between common variants of COMT and BDNF explain individual differences in RT and IIV-RT but do not explain age-related decline in these abilities.
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Psychology and aging · Mar 2013
Comparative StudyTime-to-death-related change in positive and negative affect among older adults approaching the end of life.
Late-life development may imply terminal processes related with time-to-death rather than with chronological age. In this study, we applied the time-to-death perspective to affective well-being. Using a 15-year observational interval including five measurement occasions with a large sample of deceased participants (N = 1,671; mean age = 75.60; mean time-to-death = 6.83 years, at first occasion) from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), we examined (1) whether intraindividual trajectories in positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) can be better described in terms of time-to-death as compared to chronological age; (2) whether time-to-death-related change in PA and NA follows a terminal decline (linear change) versus terminal drop (accelerating change) pattern, and (3) whether transition points in PA and NA, marking the beginning of the terminal change period, can be identified. ⋯ Also, change of NA was linked to time-to-death more strongly than PA change. Transition points to the terminal phase were found at 5.6 and 3.7 years for PA and NA, respectively. In conclusion, affective development toward the end of the human life span may be better understood as a death-related-rather than age-graded-process.