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.     

A Longitudinal Investigation of Posttraumatic Growth in Adult Patients Undergoing Treatment for Acute Leukemia

An acute leukemia diagnosis can be an extremely stressful experience for most patients. Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is positive psychological change experienced following a struggle with highly challenging life circumstances. The current study is the first longitudinal investigation of predictors of PTG and distress in adult acute leukemia patients undergoing induction chemotherapy. Findings suggest that these patients report PTG, and levels of PTG appear to increase over the weeks following leukemia diagnosis and induction chemotherapy. Variables associated with higher total PTG scores over time included greater number of days from baseline, younger age, and greater challenge to core beliefs. Variables associated with higher distress included greater number of days from baseline, greater perceived cancer threat, higher symptom severity, and lower spiritual well-being. Results underscore the critical role that examination of one’s core beliefs may play in the development of PTG over time.     

Diagnostic Accuracy of the French Version of the Adult Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder Self-Report Screening Scale for DSM-5 (ASRS-5)

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment - Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often persists into adulthood. However, few screening tools have been adapted to assess adult...     

Exploring self-defining memories in schizophrenia

Previous studies have shown that patients with schizophrenia are impaired in recalling specific events from their personal past. However, the relationship between autobiographical memory impairments and disturbance of the sense of identity in schizophrenia has not been investigated in detail. In this study the authors investigated schizophrenic patients’ ability to recall self-defining memories; that is, memories that play an important role in building and maintaining the self-concept. Results showed that patients recalled as many specific self-defining memories as healthy participants. However, patients with schizophrenia exhibited an abnormal reminiscence bump and reported different types of thematic content (i.e., they recalled less memories about past achievements and more memories regarding hospitalisation and stigmatisation of illness). Furthermore, the findings suggest that impairments in extracting meaning from personal memories could represent a core disturbance of autobiographical memory in patients with schizophrenia.     

Understanding the executive functioning heterogeneity in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is characterized by heterogeneous brain abnormalities involving cerebral regions implied in the executive functioning. The dysexecutive syndrome is one of the most prominent and functionally cognitive features of schizophrenia. Nevertheless, it is not clear to what extend executive deficits are heterogeneous in schizophrenia patients. Furthermore, it is still unknown if the executive impairments observed in schizophrenia are better characterized as specific or as reflecting generalized cognitive factors. The four executive processes (i.e. updating, inhibition, shifting and divided attention) described in Miyake et al.'s (2000) theoretical model were examined in 62 individuals with schizophrenia and 49 healthy controls. At group level, impairments in all four executive processes confirmed the marked impairment in executive functioning in patients with schizophrenia. Statistical analysis indicated that executive performances in schizophrenia patients were more heterogeneous than in healthy controls. Compared with standardized norms, 94% of patients exhibited impairment in at least one of the executive tasks. Twenty-one percent of patients exhibited impairment in one executive task, 27% in two tasks, 23% in three executive tasks and 23% exhibited impairments in the four executive tasks. Six percent of patients had normal executive profile. Regression analysis indicated that only premorbid intellectual quotient and a general slowing in processing speed predicted the executive dysfunction severity. Executive functioning was not affected by age, duration of illness, psychotic status, or by antipsychotic dosage. Our results emphasize the heterogeneity of the dysexecutive syndrome in schizophrenia when individual profile analysis is considered, and extend the view that individual cognitive differences in schizophrenia are largely underlined by general cognitive factors such as intellectual level and general processing speed.     

Narrative identity in schizophrenia

This study examined narrative identity in a group of 81 patients with schizophrenia and 50 healthy controls through the recall of self-defining memories. The results indicated that patients’ narratives were less coherent and elaborate than those of controls. Schizophrenia patients were severely impaired in the ability to make connections with the self and extract meaning from their memories, which significantly correlated with illness duration. In agreement with earlier research, patients exhibited an early reminiscence bump. Moreover, the period of the reminiscence bump, which is highly relevant for identity development, was characterized by fewer achievements and more life-threatening event experiences, compared with controls. A negative correlation was found between negative symptoms, number of self-event connections and specificity of narratives. Our results suggest that schizophrenia patients have difficulties to organize and extract meaning from their past experiences in order to create coherent personal narratives.