A comparison of cognitive function in community-dwelling and institutionalized old people of normal intelligence

Two carefully matched groups of normal old people living in institutions or in the community were administered a neuropsychological cognitive test battery. In general, the institutionalized group performed worse than the community group. Discriminant function analysis identified a subgroup of high-functioning institutionalized subjects whose performance more closely resembled that of the community group than the remainder of the institutionalized group. Differences between the various groups were not due to differences in IQ, age, health, or other controlled variables. The critical tests that differentiated the groups were sensitive to impaired function in frontal and medial-temporal lobe brain regions. The results suggest a complex interaction involving effects of age and environmental factors on brain function and cognition.     

The relation of hypertension to cognitive function

Hypertension is an established risk factor for stroke. However, prior to such a major clinical event, hypertension exerts a more subtle impact on the brain that is revealed by diminished cognitive function. Studies comparing the performance of people with high and normal blood pressure levels have shown that high blood pressure or hypertension is related to poorer performance on tests of attention, learning and memory, executive functions, visuospatial skills, psychomotor abilities, and perceptual skills. Hypertension is also predictive of cognitive decline. Variables that may alter (i.e., moderate) the relation of hypertension to cognitive function include age, education, several biological characteristics of hypertension, and the presence of concurrent diseases. Although hypertensives are not clinically impaired, their diminished levels of cognitive performance could affect their perceived quality of life. Various brain mechanisms may explain the relation of hypertension to lower levels of cognitive function. Further understanding of the relation between hypertension and cognition is critical to the preservation of cognitive function across the life span.     

Cognitive functioning of older people in relation to social and personality variables

Age differences in performance on memory measures and in subjective ratings of memory adequacy were examined in the context of 12 social, personality, adjustment, and lifestyle measures. Participants were 285 men and women, aged 65 to 93, of middle- and working-class backgrounds. A series of multivariate and univariate analyses revealed that a large proportion of the age differences and virtually all of the social-class differences on memory measures could be accounted for by contextual variables, with education, intellectual activity, extroversion, neuroticism, and lie scores (on the Eysenck Personality Inventory) all accounting for more of the variance in memory performance than did age. Self-rated memory adequacy was not correlated with performance, and although the expected finding of lower ratings by older participants was obtained with the working-class group, the opposite was true for the middle-class group. Implications of these results for understanding age differences in memory are discussed.     

Stress-related cognitive interference predicts cognitive function in old age

Both subjective distress and cognitive interference have been proposed as mechanisms underlying the negative effects of stress on cognition. Studies of aging have shown that distress is associated with lower cognitive performance, but none have examined the effects of cognitive interference. One hundred eleven older adults (M-sub(age)=80) completed measures of working memory, processing speed, and episodic memory as well as self-report measures of subjective distress and cognitive interference. Cognitive interference was strongly associated with poorer performance on all 3 cognitive constructs, whereas distress was only modestly associated with lower working memory. The results suggest that cognitive process related to stress is an important predictor of cognitive function in advanced age.     

An experimental investigation of the cognitive vulnerability to depression

The present study employed an experimental design, to examine the role of metacognitive processing in the prevention of relapse to depression. Eighty remitted depressed participants were randomly allocated to receive training in the metacognitive style of rumination, distraction, acceptance or no training control prior to a negative mood induction. Rumination prolonged the intensity of the negative mood consistent with no training, whereas both distraction and acceptance reduced the intensity of the negative mood. Changes in attitudes were only found in the acceptance condition, as participants in this condition reduced negative attitudes towards negative experiences. These results are consistent with information processing theory, and imply that acceptance-based preventative interventions may operate by both reducing the intensity of sad moods and altering one's attitudes towards temporary moments of sadness.     

An examination of the relation of individual difference variables to loneliness

This study investigated the relation of five individual difference variables (extroversion, depression, self-esteem, neuroticism, and attitude toward others) to loneliness. The relative contributions of two different models that might explain these relations were examined. One model suggests that individual difference variables are related to loneliness through the mediation of social network variables; that is, individual difference variables may reduce people's motivation and/or ability to build and maintain social relationships, which in turn leads to loneliness. The second model, the cognitive bias model, states that both the individual difference variables and loneliness are influenced by the same intrapersonal, cognitive processes. Some people are prone to negative affect and tend to evaluate themselves and their relationships negatively. The relations of self-esteem, neuroticism, and depression to loneliness were hypothesized to reflect the cognitive bias model, while extroversion and attitudes toward others were hypothesized to be related to loneliness through the mediation of social network variables. Eighty-two female and 42 male adults completed measures of loneliness and the five individual difference variables, as well as an instrument assessing their social networks. The results indicated partial support for both models for each of the individual difference variables. Together, the two models did a good job of explaining the correlations of the individual difference variables and loneliness. The implications of these findings, as well as their relation to previous research, are discussed.     

The relation of lifetime cognitive activity and lifetime access to resources to late-life cognitive function in older African Americans

Research in older Caucasians has demonstrated that cognitive activity is related to cognitive function in late adulthood. Knowledge of this association is limited in older minority populations. We examined the relation of cognitive activity and access to cognitive resources, with cognitive function in a group of 108 older African Americans. We constructed two scales to measure the frequency of cognitive activity and the presence of resources that promote cognitive activity during early and late life. Both measures had high internal consistency and the cognitive activity scale had adequate temporal stability over a 4-week interval. In analyses that controlled for age and education, more frequent lifetime cognitive activity was related to current cognitive function, but lifetime cognitive resources only approached significance. The results suggest that both measures are psychometrically sound in a minority population and that lifetime cognitive activity may contribute to current cognitive function in African Americans.     

The relation of white matter hyperintensities to cognitive performance in the normal old: education matters

This study examined whether the severity of cerebral white matter abnormalities (evident on MR images as white matter hyperintensities (WMH)) was related to the cognitive performance of 141 high-functioning older adults. The elderly showed the typical age decrement on measures of processing speed, working memory, and inhibition; however WMH severity was significantly related only to processing speed. The strength of this relationship was, however, influenced by the educational level of the participants, such that processing speed was more associated with WMH severity in less-educated than in well-educated participants. This is consistent with recent concepts of cognitive reserve, but does raise a question as to the underlying source of the cognitive decrement found in the sort of well-educated elders typically used in cognitive-aging studies.     

A pilot investigation of a psychosocial activity course for people with spinal cord injuries

This study investigated the general benefits and impact that sports activity courses organized by Back-Up, a charitable trust, have on quality of life, mood, self-efficacy and perceived manageability. Participants were 35 community-based individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI). Questionnaires were completed at the start and end of the course. Fourteen participants also completed the follow-up questionnaire. Questionnaires included demographic questions, the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, a measure of Perceived Manageability, the Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale and four questions about what participants had gained. Results found that participants' satisfaction with leisure, generalized self-efficacy and motivation to engage in activities was significantly increased between the start and end of the courses and anxiety significantly reduced. Such results were in line with participants' responses relating to overall gains from the course. At both the start and end of the course, higher Perceived Manageability scores correlated with greater self-efficacy and higher Perceived Manageability scores and self-efficacy were correlated with lower depression and anxiety. The study provides evidence of the benefits of sports participation and teamwork for people with SCI, confirming the results of previous research.     

An investigation of psychosocial factors related to changes in physical activity and fitness among female adolescents

Research examined the effects of a supervised physical activity program on potential psychosocial mediators and determined whether changes in these psychosocial variables predicted changes in physical activity and fitness. Sedentary adolescent females were assigned to an intervention (n?=?79) or comparison (n?=?67) group. Cardiovascular fitness (cycle ergometer), physical activity (3-Day Physical Activity Recall), and psychosocial variables related to physical activity (i.e., self-efficacy, perceived barriers, social support, enjoyment) were assessed at three time points over the 9-month study. An intention-to-treat analysis showed that the intervention did not impact any of the psychosocial variables, with the exception of perceived barriers, which increased in the intervention group. Longitudinal analyses showed that improvements in fitness were associated with positive changes in global self-efficacy and exercise enjoyment. Psychosocial variables did not mediate the program's effects on fitness or activity. However, individual level changes in psychosocial variables were related to changes in cardiovascular fitness.     

Emotion regulation in relation to social functioning: An investigation of child self-reports

Relations between child self-reports of specific aspects of emotion regulation and specific aspects of social functioning in school were studied in two samples (N = 129/135) of 8- to 9-year-old children. The newly developed child self-report measure had significant relations to parent (Sample 1) and teacher (Sample 2) ratings of emotion regulation. In line with expectations (Rydell, Berlin, & Bohlin, 2003 Rydell, A. -M., Berlin, L. and Bohlin, G. 2003. Emotionality, emotion regulation and adaptation among 5- to 8-year-old children. Emotion, 3: 30–47. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), poor regulation of anger and exuberance was associated with externalizing problems in both samples, poor regulation of fear had associations with social anxiety or internalizing problems in the two samples and poor regulation of sadness had marginal relations to internalizing problems in one sample. In both samples, good regulation of all emotions except fear was associated with prosocial behaviour. In Sample 1, several independent effects of child self-reports of emotion regulation on outcomes were demonstrated after controlling for parent reports of emotion regulation.     

Motivational versus volitional mediation of passivity in institutionalized older people

The relationship between perceived loss of control and passivity in social activities in a non-handicapped institutionalized elderly population was assessed. Perceived loss of control was assessed from three different types of expectancies: low action-outcome expectancies, high situation-outcome expectancies, and low efficacy expectancies. Passivity scores were reported by the staff. The effect of these three types of expectancies on passivity was analyzed in terms of motivation and volition, which were treated as mediating variables. Overall analysis of the structural equations, as well as partial hierarchical regression analyses, showed that efficacy expectancies were good predictors of passivity, but this was not the case for the action-outcome and situation-outcome expectancies. These results lend more support to a volitional rather than to a motivational interpretation of the effect of control on passivity. The implications of these results for intervention and for a differentiated conception of expectancies are discussed.     

Cognitive reserve and cognitive function in healthy older people: a meta-analysis

The associations between proxy measures of cognitive reserve (CR) and cognition vary across studies and cognitive domains. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the relationship between CR and cognition in multiple domains (memory, executive function, visuospatial ability, and language). CR was considered in terms of three key proxy measures – educational level, occupational status, and engagement in cognitively stimulating activities – individually and in combination. One-hundred and thirty-five studies representing 128,328 participants were included. Of these, 109 used a measure of education, 19 used a measure of occupation, 31 used a measure of participation in cognitively stimulating activities, and 6 used a combination of these. All three proxy measures had a modest positive association with cognition; occupational status and cognitive activities showed the most variation across cognitive domains. This supports the view that the commonly used proxy measures of CR share an underlying process but that each additionally provides a unique contribution to CR.     

Demographic, health, cognitive, and sensory variables as predictors of mortality in very old adults

Cognitive and sensorimotor predictors of mortality were examined in the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing, controlling for demographic and health variables. A stratified random sample of 1,947 males and females aged 70 and older were interviewed, and 1,500 were assessed on measures of health, memory. verbal ability, processing speed, vision, hearing, and grip strength in 1992 and 1994. Analyses of incident rate ratios for mortality over 4- and 6-year periods were conducted using Cox hierarchical regression analyses. Results showed that poor performance on nearly all cognitive variables was associated with mortality, but many of these effects were explained by measures of self-rated health and disease. Significant decline in hearing and cognitive performance also predicted mortality as did incomplete data at Wave 1. Results suggest that poor cognitive performance and cognitive decline in very old adults reflect both biological aging and disease processes.     

An operations model of psychosocial structure and function and of psychotherapy

Currently, personality theory and clinical psychology have a fairly substantial tradition of promoting a strongly scientific basis for clinical work and theorizing. However, an appropriate foundation model has been difficult to identify and establish. A theory of human operations, here proposed, may provide such an elementary model. The theory is rooted in the organizational and industrial field known as operations, which is a highly systematic, precise, flexible, scientific approach to the understanding and management of human goal-seeking action in the broadest sense. The proposed model includes the classical humanistic, clinical, and decision theoretic notions of values, cognition, emotions, ego, behavior, objectives, outcomes, feedback, and defenses. These notions are placed within an overall operations frame of reference and developed in such a manner that they can be used to assess human clinical problems and to design therapeutic interventions. The strengths and limitations of the model are discussed.     

An investigation of racial differences on vocational variables among college women

This study used a sample of black and white college women matched on Duncan's (1961) socioeconomic indicator ratings to explore possible racial differences on vocationally relevant variables. There were no differences between the groups on age or educational level. The distribution of the parents' occupations by Holland type and the distribution of the subjects by their VPI type appeared to be quite similar. There were no significant differences based on: the relationship of the parents' occupational types to the subjects' VPIs: the relationship between the subjects' VPI types and their occupational choice or college major; the estimated likelihood of reaching the career goal; satisfaction with career choice or college major; and scores on two recent scales designed to measure vocational indecision. While no differences were found on the number of possible factors listed that might impede career goals, the distribution of the most important of these factors indicated there were differences between the two groups. These findings are discussed relative to their implications for interpreting previous research and carrying out future studies.     

Willingness of people who are blind to accept autonomous vehicles: An empirical investigation

Attitudes of a sample of 211 UK people who are blind concerning autonomous vehicles (AVs), and the determinants of the willingness of people who are blind to travel in AVs, were examined. Participants answered an open-ended question regarding their attitudes towards level 5 AVs and the results were analysed using a semi-automated structural topic modelling procedure. (Level 5 AVs are fully autonomous anywhere, and do not require controlled areas in which to operate.) Four “topics” emerged from the exercise: (i) “hope” for future independence and freedom to travel offered by AVs to people who are blind, (ii) scepticism that AVs will ever be configured to meet the needs of people who are blind, (iii) concerns over safety, and (iv) the affordability of AVs. The four topics were employed as mediating variables in a structural equation model designed to explain the respondents’ willingness to travel in an AV. A number of covariates were presumed to influence the four mediating topics, including a participant’s desire for independence, comorbidity, locus of control, and level of generalised anxiety. Three of the mediating variables exerted significant influences on willingness to travel in an AV, i.e., hope for future independence, misgivings about safety, and affordability. Scepticism about AVs did not have a significant effect. Several implications for AV design and for the creation of public information messages promoting AVs are suggested. In particular, public information campaigns should emphasise the freedom to travel that AVs will provide for people who are blind; reassurances concerning safety; and the inevitability of AVs appearing on the roads of economically developed countries.