Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses

The extent to which loneliness is a unique risk factor for depressive symptoms was determined in 2 population-based studies of middle-aged to older adults, and the possible causal influences between loneliness and depressive symptoms were examined longitudinally in the 2nd study. In Study 1, a nationally representative sample of persons aged 54 and older completed a telephone interview as part of a study of health and aging. Higher levels of loneliness were associated with more depressive symptoms, net of the effects of age, gender, ethnicity, education, income, marital status, social support, and perceived stress. In Study 2, detailed measures of loneliness, social support, perceived stress, hostility, and demographic characteristics were collected over a 3-year period from a population-based sample of adults ages 50-67 years from Cook County, Illinois. Loneliness was again associated with more depressive symptoms, net of demographic covariates, marital status, social support, hostility, and perceived stress. Latent variable growth models revealed reciprocal influences over time between loneliness and depressive symptomatology. These data suggest that loneliness and depressive symptomatology can act in a synergistic effect to diminish well-being in middle-aged and older adults.     

Loneliness is a unique predictor of age-related differences in systolic blood pressure

A population-based sample of Caucasians, African Americans, and Latino Americans, 50-68 years of age (M = 57.5), from Cook County, Illinois (N = 229), was tested to examine how loneliness and co-occurring psychosocial factors (depressive symptoms, perceived stress, social support, and hostility) were related to indices of cardiovascular and endocrine functioning. Extending prior research, the authors found that loneliness was associated with elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) and age-related increases in SBP, net of demographic variables, health behavior variables, and the remaining psychosocial factors. Loneliness was not associated with differences in autonomic or endocrine functioning. Although the results are limited by the cross-sectional methods used, they are consistent with the hypothesis that cardiovascular disease contributes to increased morbidity and mortality among lonely individuals.     

Covariates of production and perseveration on tests of phonemic, semantic and alternating fluency in normal aging

Standard measures of phonemic and semantic fluency, as well as fluency measures that impose additional demands upon set-switching were administered to younger and older adults. No age effect was found for total output on semantic fluency, while older participants generated significantly more responses relative to their younger counterparts on the phonemic measure. However, older adults made significantly more perseverative errors on both these measures. For tests of alternating fluency, only where participants were required to switch between two semantic dimensions, was an age deficit observed. Although the correlation between phonemic repetitions and age remained significant when performance on the Digit Symbol Test or a measure of fluid intelligence was partialled out, age effects for semantic repetitions and semantic alternating fluency were substantially reduced. The age benefit for number of correct responses upon phonemic fluency was significantly attenuated when a measure of crystallized intelligence was entered as a control variable. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.     

How can I connect with thee? Let me count the ways

Two studies were conducted to examine mental representations of loneliness and social connectedness. In Study 1, young adults (N = 2,531) completed the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (R-UCLA scale) and demographic questionnaires. An exploratory factor analysis of the R-UCLA scale on half the sample revealed a three-dimensional conceptual structure that generalized across gender. This mental representation consisted of correlated facets labeled Isolation, Relational Connectedness, and Collective Connectedness. A confirmatory factor analysis on the other half of the sample corroborated this three-factor solution. In Study 2, a population-based sample of 197 older males and females (M(age) = 57.5 years) completed the R-UCLA scale and measures of objective social circumstances. The confirmatory factor analysis supported the three-factor structure in this diverse and older adult sample. Each facet was uniquely predicted by theoretically related social circumstances. These findings suggest how humans make meaning of their social relationships in their mental representations of loneliness and connectedness.     

Evaluating current deficit theories of poor reading: role of phonological processing, naming speed, balance automaticity, rapid verbal perception and working memory

To clarify the nature of cognitive deficits experienced by poor readers, 9-10-yr.-old poor readers were matched against 9 chronological age and 9 younger reading age-matched controls screened and selected from regular classrooms. Poor readers performed significantly more poorly than chronological age-matched peers on digit naming speed, spoonerisms, and nonsense word reading. Poor readers were also significantly poorer than reading age-matched controls on nonword reading but were significantly better than reading age-matched controls on postural stability. Analyses of effect sizes were consistent with these findings, showing strong effects for digit naming speed, spoonerisms, and nonword reading. However, effect size analysis also suggested that poor readers experienced moderate difficulties with balance automatisation but did not show verbal speech perception deficits relative to either control     

Early parent-child relations and family functioning of preschool boys with pervasive hyperactivity

This study examined the quality of parent–child relationships and family functioning of preschool children with early onset hyperactivity by comparing a community sample of 33 pervasively hyperactive preschool boys with a comparison sample of 34 boys. Mothers and children were assessed at home on a range of interview, parent questionnaire, and observational measures of parenting and family functioning. Results of the study showed that higher rates of reported lax disciplinary practices, less efficient parental coping, lower rates of father–child communication, and less synchronous mother–child interactions were significantly associated with hyperactivity following statistical adjustment for the effects of conduct problems and other confounding factors. The best parenting predictor of hyperactivity was maternal coping. The present findings suggest that the way in which parents interact with their preschool children may make a unique contribution to the development and ongoing behavioral difficulties experienced by children with pervasive hyperactivity. Findings also highlight the importance of considering the role of fathers in the behavioral development of boys with early tendencies to hyperactive and distractible behavior problems.     

Do lonely days invade the nights? Potential social modulation of sleep efficiency

Loneliness predicts morbidity and mortality from broad-based causes, but the reasons for this effect remain unclear. Few differences in traditional health behaviors (e.g., smoking, exercise, nutrition) have been found to differentiate lonely and nonlonely individuals. We present evidence that a prototypic restorative behavior—sleep—does make such a differentiation, not through differences in time in bed or in sleep duration, but through differences in efficacy: In the study we report here, lonely individuals evinced poorer sleep efficiency and more time awake after sleep onset than nonlonely individuals. These results, which were observed in controlled laboratory conditions and were found to generalize to the home, suggest that lonely individuals may be less resilient than nonlonely individuals in part because they sleep more poorly. These results also raise the possibility that social factors such as loneliness not only may influence the selection of health behaviors but also may modulate the salubrity of restorative behaviors.     

Primate cognition: from 'what now?' to 'what if?'

The 'social brain' hypothesis has had a major impact on the study of comparative cognition. However, despite a strong sense, gained from both experimental and observational work, that monkeys and apes differ from each other, we are still no closer to understanding exactly how they differ. We hypothesize that the dispersed social systems characteristic of ape societies explains why monkeys and apes should differ cognitively. The increased cognitive control and analogical reasoning ability needed to cope with life in dispersed societies also suggests a possible route for human cognitive evolution. This hypothesis is supported by behavioural and neurobiological data, but we need more of both if we are to fully understand how our primate cousins see the world.     

Exploring own-age biases in deception detection

The present study explored own-age biases in deception detection, investigating whether individuals were more likely to trust those in their own-age group. Younger and older participants were asked to detect deceit from videos of younger and older speakers, rating their confidence in each decision. Older participants showed an own-age bias: they were more likely to think that deceptive speakers of their own age, relative to younger speakers, were telling the truth. Older participants were also more confident in their judgements of own-age, relative to other-age, speakers. There were no own-age biases for younger participants. In a subsequent (apparently unrelated) task, participants were asked to rate the trustworthiness of the speakers. Both age groups of participants trusted younger speakers who had previously told the truth more compared to those who had lied. This effect was not found for older speakers. These findings are considered in relation to the in-group/out-group model of social cognition and common stereotypical beliefs held about younger and older adults.     

A Complicated Friendship

The author presents a complicated friendship with a woman who helped to raise her children. As a feminist therapist, the author is aware of the non-egalitarian nature of an employer/employee relationship, resulting in a complicated friendship. She discusses the valuable lessons she learned from her comadre (co-mother or allomother) on poverty, Latino culture, and immigration. The author applies these valuable lessons to her work as a feminist therapist, supervisor, and teacher.