Factor Structure of the Burden Interview

Zarit's Burden Interview is the most commonly used measure of burden among family caregivers for demented older adults, but has been criticized for its diverse item content and lack of correspondence to theoretically based multidimensional burden scales. The factor structure of this measure of burden was examined in a sample of 220 family caregivers of demented elderly. The implied 1-factor model and a 2-factor model proposed in the literature were not good fits to the data. Fourteen of the 21 nonglobal items were found to tap three underlying factors of Embarrassment/Anger, Patient's Dependency, and Self-criticism. This factor structure was replicated in a second sample of 108 caregivers. The relationship of these factors to latent factors identified in other multifactorial burden scales suggests a greater degree of convergence across measures than has been assumed.     

Review of Social Cognition Research on Stereotyping: Application to Psychologists Working with Older Adults

This paper summarizes a number of cognitive processes that contribute to the formation and maintenance of stereotypes. Specific discussion centers on how these may play a role in shaping perceptions of older adults. Suggestions are offered as to how psychologists might combat their tendency to stereotype because older adults have special needs that must be identified to provide accurate case conceptualization and effective psychotherapy from a professional ethics perspective.     

Relationship Between Social Relations and Mortality of Older Japanese People Living Alone

The association of social relations with mortality was studied over a 54-month period in 535 older Japanese people living alone. Sex-specific proportional hazard analyses indicated that finding it difficult to establish and maintain relationships with other people was significantly related to mortality, regardless of age, general health status, history of health management, psychological conditions, or economic status. The adjusted hazard ratio for finding relations with other people difficult was 4.61 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.39–15.30] for men and 4.56 (95% CI: 2.19–9.48) for women. The adjusted hazard ratio for nonparticipation in social activities was 1.45 (95% CI: 0.42–4.97) for men and 1.72 (95% CI: 0.70–4.22) for women and did not reach statistical significance. On the other hand, there was a gender difference in the direction of the association between a low-level contact with children, siblings, or other relatives and mortality, for which the adjusted hazard ratio was 3.16 (95% CI: 0.94–10.62) for men and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.27–0.97) for women. These results suggest the need to create a different model for the relationship between social relations and mortality for men and for women living alone.     

Culture, Health, and Financial Appraisals: Comparison of Worry in Older Japanese Americans and European Americans

There is limited understanding of the potential impact of cultural identification and values on the emotional experiences of older adults. This study considered potential differences in worry based on culture and acculturation type. The study also evaluated differences in worry based on self-appraisals of perceived health and financial status. Sixty-six older community-based Japanese Americans (JAs) and 65 older European Americans (EAs) completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) and the Worry Scale–Revised (WSR). Cultural differences were not found. Social desirability scores were elevated, particularly among JAs who had been relocated to internment camps during World War II. Irrespective of cultural status, elevated average daily worry frequency scores and WSR–Health scores were found in the group who perceived their health status to be poor/fair. Irrespective of cultural status, elevated average daily worry frequency scores, PSWQ scores, and WSR–Financial scores were found in the group who perceived their financial status to be poor/fair. Recommendations for using the WSR with older populations are discussed.     

Views of Aging African American Women: Memories Within the Historical Context

This article examines the generational experiences of older African American women using case studies of two women born in 1911. Through the telling of their life stories, these women recount their memories of their own lives. By viewing their life histories within the larger historical context, we gain a clearer understanding of their life experiences and their perspectives as older African American women. These women lived through the Jim Crow era of blatant racial discrimination and segregation in the South and raised their children in this environment. The segregation statutes, or Jim Crow laws, were the public symbols and constant reminders of the subordinate position assigned to African Americans, and the code lent the sanction of law to a racial separation that extended to churches, schools, housing, jobs, eating and drinking. Using a lifecourse perspective, the past is viewed within the context of the present, considering historical and cohort factors that have affected the life situation of individuals. Through the women's telling of their life stories, they outline the chapters of their lives and describe how their experiences have made them the strong older women they are today and helped shape their values.     

Perceptions of Responsibility and Mental Health Help-Seeking Among Psychologically Distressed Older Adults

This study explored the perceptions of responsibility for the cause and the solution of problems and the models of helping (or helping orientations) characterizing a sample of 319 community-dwelling, psychologically distressed older adults. All participants were referred for psychotherapy and had either accepted or rejected their referrals. We investigated whether the models distinguished acceptors and rejecters of psychotherapy referrals and whether they were differentially associated with help-seeking from nontherapist helpers. Results indicated that the preponderance of respondents subscribed to the moral and compensatory models. The compensatory model was associated with rejection of referrals, whereas the moral model was associated with increased help-seeking both from mental health professionals and from other formal and informal helpers. Implications of the findings for promoting older adults' utilization of mental health services are discussed.     

老年人依恋对主观幸福感的影响:孤独感与自尊的中介作用

采用亲密关系经历量表（ECR）、UCLA孤独量表、罗森伯格自尊量表和纽芬兰纪念大学幸福感量表（MUNSH）对311名老年人进行调查,探讨老年人依恋对主观幸福感的影响,以及孤独感和自尊的中介作用。结果发现：（1）孤独感在依恋焦虑对主观幸福感的影响中起部分中介作用,孤独感在依恋回避对主观幸福感的影响中起完全中介作用;自尊在依恋焦虑、依恋回避对主观幸福感的影响中不起中介作用;（2）孤独感、自尊在依恋焦虑、依恋回避对主观幸福感的影响中起链式中介作用。     

老年人的框架效应

框架效应作为一种决策中的非理性偏差, 其年龄差异逐渐受到研究者的关注。总体来说, 老年人和年轻人在医疗和经济决策领域中具有不同的框架效应特点, 且主要表现为强度和类型上的差异。老年人的框架效应主要受到决策情境、个体认知、情绪及认知神经生理特点等因素的影响。未来研究不仅要继续探讨老年人在不同领域中的框架效应特点及其影响因素, 还应该从老年人的其他个体特征、实验材料与设计类型、解释机制研究以及拓展应用方面做进一步的探索。     

Prospective memory and intraindividual variability in ongoing task response times in an adult lifespan sample: the role of cue focality

To contribute to the ongoing conceptual debate of what traditional mean-level ongoing task (OT) costs tell us about the attentional processes underlying prospective memory (PM), we investigated costs to intraindividual variability (IIV) in OT response times as a potentially sensitive indicator of attentional processes. Particularly, we tested whether IIV in OT responses may reflect controlled employment of attentional processes versus lapses of controlled attention, whether these processes differ across adulthood, and whether it is moderated by cue focality. We assessed 150 individuals (19–82 years) in a focal and a nonfocal PM condition. In addition, external measures of inhibition and working memory were assessed. In line with the predictions of the lapses-of-attention/inefficient-executive-control account, our data support the view that costs to IIV in OT trials of PM tasks reflect fluctuations in the efficiency of executive functioning, which was related to failures in prospective remembering, particularly in nonfocal PM tasks, potentially due to their increased executive demands. The additional value of considering costs to IIV over and beyond traditional mean-level OT costs in PM research is discussed.     

Prevalence and correlates of psychological distress of middle-aged and older women living with HIV

The aims of this study were to examine the prevalence and correlates of psychological distress among older women living with HIV in comparison to their male counterparts and younger women and to identify the sociodemographic and disease-related factors associated with psychological distress. The sample consisted of 508 HIV-infected patients (65 older women, 323 women aged below 50 years, and 120 older men) recruited from 10 Portuguese hospitals. Data regarding psychological distress were collected using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Seven older women (10.8%), eight older men (6.7%), and 61 younger women (18.9%) reported a T-score ≥ 63 for global severity index (GSI), indicative of a need for further psychological evaluation. Overall, younger women reported significantly higher psychological distress than older men. The odds of having clinically significant psychological distress score were significantly lower for older women reporting sexual transmission, while for younger women, having other co-infections was a significant correlate of higher psychological distress. Younger women were 2.67 (95% CI: 1.22–5.84) times more likely to report psychological distress than were older men. The odds were not significantly different from older women. This study shows that older women do not differ substantially from younger women and older men in terms of psychological distress. The results reinforce, however, that mental health interventions should be tailored to reflect individuals’ circumstances as well as developmental contexts. Moreover, they draw attention to the importance of examining resilience characteristics in older adults to understand the mechanisms behind ‘successful ageing’ while living with HIV.