Older adult research in the Journal of Counseling Psychology,The Counseling Psychologist,and Counselling Psychology Quarterly: A 15-year review and implications for research

In preparing for an aging global population, older adults’ well-being has become an urgent priority across the world. Counseling psychologists have also called upon the field for more empirical attention on older adults. Yet, a review of the literature revealed that older adults were represented in less than 2% of all the articles in the Journal of Counseling Psychology (JCP) and The Counseling Psychologist (TCP) from 1991 to 2000. The current study presents a follow-up review of older adult research in counseling psychology literature between 2001 and 2015 in the following mainstream journals: Counselling Psychology Quarterly (CPQ), JCP, and TCQ. Results suggest a decline in the past 15 years, with less than 1% of the total articles in JCP, TCP, and CPQ devoted to older adults. Most of the studies employed cross-sectional survey research design to examine predictors of mental health. A number of studies focused on culture-specific experiences of diverse older adults. Implications and suggestions for future research on older adult issues are discussed in relation to the principles and interests rooted in the field of counseling psychology.     

“集体主义—个体主义”的差异:来自基因、大脑的证据

文章以"集体主义—个体主义"这一基本文化差异维度为基础,围绕文化、基因和大脑之间的关系,介绍了国内外最新研究进展。研究显示当人类执行各种文化任务时,那些为人类生存提供有力帮助的基因会被选择和保留下来;在自我表征,注意和知觉,决策、情绪和意向推断等心理状态或过程上的"集体主义—个体主义"文化差异都可追溯到脑功能的差异。研究者先后提出社会脑假设、文化—基因协同进化论、神经—文化交互作用模型等理论来解释基因、文化与大脑交互作用的现象。文章分析了当前研究中存在的问题,并对未来的研究进行了展望。     

The own‐age face recognition bias is task dependent

The own‐age bias (OAB) in face recognition (more accurate recognition of own‐age than other‐age faces) is robust among young adults but not older adults. We investigated the OAB under two different task conditions. In Experiment 1 young and older adults (who reported more recent experience with own than other‐age faces) completed a match‐to‐sample task with young and older adult faces; only young adults showed an OAB. In Experiment 2 young and older adults completed an identity detection task in which we manipulated the identity strength of target and distracter identities by morphing each face with an average face in 20% steps. Accuracy increased with identity strength and facial age influenced older adults' (but not younger adults') strategy, but there was no evidence of an OAB. Collectively, these results suggest that the OAB depends on task demands and may be absent when searching for one identity.     

Choosing housemates and justifying age,gender, and ethnic discrimination

This study examines the explanations and justifications offered by those engaged in selecting housemates. The rationale for the research follows the recent housing demographic, whereby shared living has become increasingly popular among young adults in Western countries. This study sought to address the surprising lacuna in the extant research through the application of discursive psychology to understanding prejudice and discrimination within the context of contemporary social and political sanctions against openly discussing prejudice. Data were drawn from interviews with young New Zealanders aged from early twenties to early thirties who were experienced with house sharing. Detailed results are presented involving discrimination based on age, gender, and ethnicity. The study found that rigid narrow preferences were stated with respect to age, gender was less important, and ethnicity was talked about cautiously, especially if there was the possibility of significant cultural differences or language barriers.     

Cognitive style and depressive symptoms in elderly people - Extending the empirical evidence for the cognitive vulnerability-stress hypothesis

Introduction

Depression is common in older people and its identification and treatment has been highlighted as one of the major challenges in an ageing world. Poor physical and cognitive health, bereavement, and prior depression are important risk factors for depression in elderly people. Attributional or cognitive style has been identified as a risk factor for depression in children, adolescents and younger adults but its relevance for depression and mood in elderly people has not been investigated in the context of other risk factors.

Method

Sixty-four older adults from an ‘extra care’ living scheme (aged 59-97) were recruited for a 6-week prospective study to examine the relationships between cognitive style and depressive symptoms.

Results

Regression analyses revealed that, when other risk factors were controlled for, cognitive style and its interaction with stress predicted changes in depressive symptoms, therefore partially replicating prior research.

Conclusion

Cognitive-stress-vulnerability models also apply to elderly populations, but may be rather predictive of changes in depression when facing lower levels of stress.     

The Good of Friendship at the End of Life

Abstract

This article attempts to explain the value that we assign to the presence of friends at the time when life is ending. It first shows that Aristotle’s treatment of friendship does not provide a clear account of such value. It then uses J. L. Austin’s notion of performativity to supplement one recent theory of friendship – given by Dean Cocking and Jeanette Kennett – in such a way that that theory can then account for friendship’s special value at our time of death.     

Profiles of Chronic Illness Knowledge in a Community Sample of American Adults

The author identified profiles of chronic illness knowledge (i.e., heart disease, cancer, diabetes) in a community sample of American adults and examined the effect of sociodemographic influences on relations of illness knowledge to health practices and well-being. Participants were 181 women and 120 men who completed measures of illness knowledge, sociodemographics, personal health practices (e.g., diet, exercise, substance abuse, adaptive healthcare use), well-being (e.g., self-rated physical health, depression, social support), and perceived illness risk. Two-step cluster analyses performed on random subsets of the sample identified three levels of illness knowledge: low, medium, and high. Knowledge groups were differentiated on most measures of health practices, well-being and perceived illness risk. However, effects were substantially attenuated after controlling for differences in age and SES. Findings indicate that age and other sociodemographic factors are related not only to levels of illness knowledge but also to the application of knowledge in relation to health practices and well-being.