Effects of attachment bereavement and pre-event conditions on subsequent depressive symptoms in older adults

A sample of 1,411 older adults (age 55+) who had been interviewed both prior to and after bereavement were studied, allowing for pre-event controls. Those who had lost a parent, spouse, or child had the strongest depressive reactions, as predicted by an attachment-bonding hypothesis; however, material losses were also related to depression. Although bereavement/loss events were clearly related to subsequent depression even after pre-event depression, resources, and events were controlled, certain pre-event characteristics were predictive of the bereavement/loss events, including prior undesirable events, age, and urban/rural residency. A further analysis of 1,007 persons with two post-event interviews (at 6-month to 1-year follow-up) revealed an initial depressive reaction to a bereavement/loss event, which then dissipated completely within 1 year's time. Generally, bereavement appeared to have limited etiologic importance.     

Chronic financial strain, social support, and depressive symptoms among older adults

The purpose of this study is twofold: one, to determine whether chronic financial strain is related to depressive symptoms among a random community sample of older adults, and two, to assess whether social support counterbalances or buffers the deleterious effects of financial strain. The findings suggest that elderly people suffering from financial strain are more likely to be depressed than are older adults with fewer financial problems. In addition, the data support the stress-buffering hypothesis, that is, that older people who have more informational support and who provide support to others, more often report fewer symptoms of depression as a result of financial strain than do elderly respondents who have less informational support and who do not provide support to others. Tangible and emotional support are found to be less effective coping resources when financial strain is present.     

The relationship of activity restriction and replacement with depressive symptoms among older adults

Activity restriction is known to mediate the disease-depression relationship. Data from 423 older Israeli adults showed that having to give up activities because of failing health was related to more depressive symptoms (DS), whereas satisfactorily replacing these activities was related to DS levels comparable to those of healthier older adults. Giving up and replacing activities mediated, in part, the effect of functional limitations on DS, after controlling for health status, demographics, and resources. Such questions about activities given up and replaced could contribute to the means of assessing the extent and impact of functional limitations on older adults.     

Chronic stress and depressive disorders in older adults

Current and lifetime rates of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (rev. 3rd ed.) disorders were compared in 86 older adults caring for a spouse with a progressive dementia and 86 sociodemographically matched control subjects. Dementia caregivers were significantly more dysphoric than non-care givers. The frequencies of depressive disorders did not differ between groups in the years before care giving, and there were no group differences in first-degree relatives' incidence of psychiatric disorder. During the years they had been providing care, 30% of care givers experienced a depressive disorder (major depression, dysthymia, or depression not otherwise specified) versus 1% of their matched controls in the same time period. Only two care givers who met criteria during care giving had met criteria for a depressive disorder before care giving, and family history was not even weakly related to the identification of at-risk care givers. In contrast to these group differences in depressive disorders, there were no significant differences in other Axis I disorders either before or during care giving. Thus, the chronic strains of care giving appear to be linked to the onset of depressive disorders in older adults with no prior evidence of vulnerability.     

Subjective age and sleep in middle-aged and older adults

Objective: Chronological age is commonly used to explain change in sleep. The present study examines whether subjective age is associated with change in sleep difficulties across middle adulthood and old age.

Design: Participants were drawn from the second (2004–2005) and third (2013–2014) waves of the Midlife in the United States Survey (MIDUS, N = 2350; Mean Age: 55.54 years), the 2008 and 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS, N = 4066; Mean Age: 67.59 years) and the first (2011) and fourth (2014) waves of the National Health and Aging Trends Survey (NHATS, N = 3541; Mean Age: 76.46). In each sample, subjective age, sleep difficulties, depressive symptoms, anxiety and chronic conditions were assessed at baseline. Sleep difficulties was assessed again at follow-up.

Main outcome measures: Sleep difficulties.

Results: An older subjective age at baseline was related to an increase in sleep difficulties over time in the three samples, and was mediated, in part, through more depressive symptoms, anxiety and chronic conditions. Feeling older was associated with an increased likelihood of major sleeping difficulties at follow-up in the three samples.

Conclusion: Subjective age is a salient marker of individuals’ at risk for poor sleep quality, beyond chronological age.     

Changes in childhood caregiving impressions among middle-aged and older adults

Childhood experiences and impressions are important for individuals' health and well-being—they often set the stage for how people approach relationships across the lifespan and how they make sense of their relational worlds. However, impressions of these experiences are likely not static and can change over time, even years after these experiences happened. The current study examined how impressions of parental relationships in childhood changed over time, and predictors of these changes, among middle-aged and older adults followed over a 4-year period (N = 2692; M_age = 66.67, SD = 9.15; 64.1% women). Childhood impressions of parental care were mostly stable over time, with 53.5%–65.0% of participants reporting consistent impressions. Becoming divorced/separated as an adult was associated with more negative impressions about relationships with fathers in the past. Having a mother pass away was associated with more positive impressions of mothers' caregiving when participants were children. Higher depressive symptoms at follow-up were associated with darker perceptions of the past—more negative impressions of mothers and fathers as caregivers. The current study is one of the most comprehensive studies of late-life changes in childhood impressions to date, suggesting future directions for studying the organization of relational experiences and recollection over time.     

Depressive symptoms and lymphocyte proliferation in older adults

In an 18-month prospective study, community-dwelling older adults, including both spousal caregivers of dementia patients and noncaregiving controls, were examined. Participants were selected on the basis of the presence or absence of chronic depressive symptoms that exceeded a cutoff score for clinically relevant depressive symptoms on a self-report symptom measure. Compared with nondepressed older adults, those with chronic, mild depressive symptoms had poorer T cell responses to 2 mitogens from baseline to follow-up. Additionally, among individuals with depressive symptoms, older age was associated with the poorest blastogenic response to the mitogens at follow-up. These findings extend the association between depression and immune function to community-dwelling older adults with chronic, mild depressive symptoms.     

Authenticity in relationships and depressive symptoms: A gender analysis

The current study examined authenticity in relationships, defined as the ability to be open and honest in meaningful relationships, in multiple contexts (i.e., with parents, peers). The goal of the study was to examine and compare the relation between authenticity in relationships and depressive symptoms in a sample of 435 14-year-old adolescent girls and boys. Structural equation modeling results indicated that the model predicted approximately one-third of the variance in depressive symptoms for girls, and almost half of the variance in depressive symptoms for boys. In addition, the strength of the relation between authenticity with parents and depressive symptoms was statistically equivalent for boys and girls. These results indicate the importance of authenticity with parents in predicting depressive symptoms, for both boys and girls.     

Demographic,health-related and psychosocial predictors of changes in depressive symptoms and anxiety in late middle-aged and older persons with fall-related injuries

Research on anxiety and depression after fall-related injuries to the extremities and its pre-fall determinants is scarce. The present study sought to examine change between pre-fall and post-fall anxiety and depression and its (pre-fall) predictors. Data were obtained from 181 Dutch persons, aged 57 and older, who sustained fall-related injuries between 1993 and 1997. Demographic (e.g. socio-economic status), health-related (e.g. number of chronic conditions), and psychosocial (e.g. social support, neuroticism) factors were determined in 1993 (prior to the fall). Depressive symptoms and anxiety were determined prior to the fall, and two, five and twelve months after the fall. Taking into account pre-fall anxiety and depression, pre-fall neuroticism was the most consistent, independent predictor of adverse changes in anxiety and depression. Other factors, including severity of the fall and age were not related to changes in anxiety and depression. Our prospective findings may be interpreted as support for the importance of personality for mental health outcomes in persons who have sustained fall-related injuries.     

Forgiveness in adolescents, young, middle-aged, and older adults

The evolution of the propensity to forgive an offense was studied in a sample of 236 people from various age groups. The effect of a number of circumstances connected with the offense was considered: intent to harm, severity of consequences, cancellation of consequences, social proximity to the offender, apologies from the offender, and the attitude of others. The method was an application of information integration theory. A global increase in the propensity to forgive from adolescence to old age was observed. Several interactions between age and circumstances were found: (a) The effect of the cancellation factor was higher in young adolescents and in the very old than in the middle-aged, (b) the attitude of others and the restoration of harmony factors were important only in adolescents. Finally, the structure of the Forgiveness schema was shown to be an additive one, regardless of the age of the participants.     

Personality change profiles and changes in cognition among middle-aged and older adults

Research on the relationship between personality traits and cognitive abilities has primarily used cross-sectional designs and considered personality traits individually in relation to cognitive dimensions. This study (N = 2652) examined the relationship between Big Five personality change profiles and change in cognitive factors, episodic memory and executive functioning. Latent profile analysis was used to capture patterns of change across the Big Five traits. Three profiles of personality change were defined: Decreasers, Maintainers, and Increasers. The Decreasers declined more in episodic memory compared to the Increasers and Maintainers. Also, the Decreasers declined more in executive functioning compared to the Increasers, but not the Maintainers. The findings advance our understanding of the links between patterns of personality change and cognitive aging.     

Achievement attributions and depressive symptoms in attention deficit-disordered and normal children

Depressive symptoms and achievement attributions were examined in attention deficit-disordered (ADD) and normal schoolchildren. The findings indicate that the ADD children acknowledged having more depressive symptoms and displayed more external attributions both for positive and for negative achievement. In addition, correlations reveal that the normal children's achievement attributions became more internal with age, whereas the ADD children became more external for negative events. The patterns of the relationships among measures are discussed.     

Predictors of personal investment in physical activity among middle-aged and older adults

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the social psychological components of Personal Investment Theory and exercise behaviors among 47 middle-aged and older men and women participating in an organized exercise program. Specifically, the degree to which personal incentives for exercise, perceptions of sense of self (i.e., physical self-efficacy, fitness locus of control, self-motivation, social identity), and the congruence between program and participants' goals predict present physical activity and estimated future physical activity was examined. Multiple regression analyses indicated that present and future exercise behaviors significantly related to social psychological variables reflecting personal investment.     

Maternal depressive symptoms and child temperament: Longitudinal associations with executive functioning

The present study investigated the contributions of maternal depressive symptoms and child temperament to youths' executive functioning (EF) across an 18-year longitudinal study. The primary hypothesis proposed that the association between youths' exposure to early maternal depressive symptoms (ages 3 & 5) and their EF (age 18) would be moderated by temperament in middle childhood (ages 8 & 10). Temperament was a significant moderator of the association between early maternal depressive symptoms and youth EF. Positive child temperament (high effortful control, EC, and low negative affectivity, NA) was associated with higher EF when maternal depressive symptoms during early childhood were low. In contrast, elevated maternal depressive symptoms overrode any associations between child temperament and later EF. Parallel analyses examining the interaction between child temperament and maternal depressive symptoms during middle childhood (controlling for earlier maternal depressive symptoms) revealed a different pattern of results. Clinical implications for prevention/intervention work on EF are discussed.     

Strategic encoding and retrieval processes in verbal recall among middle-aged and older adults

The authors used an analysis of individual differences to examine the role of executive control in strategic encoding and retrieval in verbal recall. Participants enrolled in the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study completed measures of working memory (WM), cognitive status, vocabulary, and free recall of words. Indices of clustering in free recall were calculated to permit inferences on strategic encoding and retrieval processes. We hypothesized that WM would be more strongly associated with strategic encoding and retrieval metrics than vocabulary based on the assumption that successful remembering requires executive control in WM. Regression analyses, together with a variance portioning procedure, confirmed that WM had comparable levels of unique and shared variance with the strategic encoding and retrieval metrics, and both exceeded vocabulary. Theoretical and clinical implications of these data are considered, with the suggestion of future research in lifespan samples as opposed to exclusively young adult or older adult samples.     

Images of midlife development among young,middle-aged,and older adults

This study examined patterns of perceived change across adulthood in a sample of 121 young (M age=19.8 years), middle-aged (M age=47.9 years) and older (M age=74.6 years) adults. Subjects rated amount of stress in life domains, salience of life course issues, and nature of personal attributes for young, middle-aged, and older targets. Seven prototypical patterns of perceived change were found. Midlife was seen as a period with many responsibilities, increased stress in several domains, and little time for leisure, but also as a peak in competence, ability to handle stress, sense of control, productivity, and social responsibility. The findings are discussed in terms of losses, which were seen primarily in the physical realm, and gains, which were mainly seen in the psychological and social realms.     

Linking obsessional beliefs to OCD symptoms in older and younger adults

There are many open questions about the phenomenology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in the elderly, and theories about the development of OCD have rarely been applied to older populations. The current study uses structural equation models to evaluate the relationship between obsessional beliefs and OCD symptoms across young and older adult age groups in a large community sample (aged 18-93; N=335), and to examine whether subjective concerns about cognitive decline partially mediate this relationship. Results support partial mediation, and follow-up analyses suggest that the pattern of relationships among subjective cognitive concerns, obsessional beliefs and OCD symptoms is invariant for younger and older adults, but older adults report relatively greater levels of subjective cognitive concerns.