Perceptions of task difficulty predict cognitive effort for older adults.

This study examined age differences in effort devoted to completing cognitively demanding tasks. Fifty-two younger adults ages 18-30 years ( = 21.19) and 57 older adults ages 61-93 years ( = 76.

A Precautionary Tale: Individual Decision Making in the Time of COVID-19.

Precaution taking is an important part of managing COVID-19 and has been since the start of the pandemic. Guided by the Health Belief Model, two studies conducted during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic aimed to identify possible individual difference predictors of precautionary actions. Study 1 was an online, cross-sectional study using 763 adults aged 20-79 years old.

Experiencing and Forecasting COVID-19 Daily Stress on Mental Health Reactivity Across Age and Race.

Objectives: This study systematically evaluates age and race differences in mental health symptoms as they unfold microlongitudinally during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with a focus on within-person reactivity to forecasting and experiencing COVID-19 stress.

Method: A daily diary approach was used to examine predictors of daily anxiety and depressive symptoms among 526 adults (White [54%] and Black American [46%]) aged 21-79. A total of 3,605 online diaries were collected for 21 consecutive days between October and November, 2020.

Erratum to: AAA Research Methodology I: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Barriers in Aging Research Among Asians: Presenter Discussion.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igaa057.3519.

Fostering Self-Management of Everyday Memory in Older Adults: A New Intervention Approach.

Traditional memory strategy training interventions improve older adults' performance on tests of episodic memory, but have limited transfer to episodic memory tasks, let alone to everyday memory. We argue that an alternative approach is needed to assist older adults to compensate for age-related cognitive declines and to maintain functional capacity in their own natural ecologies. We outline a set of principles regarding how interventions can successfully train older adults to increase successful goal pursuit to reduce risks of everyday memory failures.

Age and extraversion differences in heart rate reactivity during working memory tasks.

Research and theory have shown a link between heart rate reactivity during cognitive testing and extraversion in younger adults; however, similar work has not been conducted with older adults. This study was designed to explore age and extraversion-related differences in within-person heart rate (HR) reactivity during two working memory tasks of varying difficulty using a multi-level modeling approach. Across 570 total within-person assessments of continuous HR monitoring, 28 younger adults (M = 19.

Initial Evidence for the Efficacy of an Everyday Memory and Metacognitive Intervention.

Background And Objectives: The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the efficacy of an Everyday Memory and Metacognitive Intervention (EMMI) designed to improve everyday functioning of older adults. The EMMI emphasizes self-regulation as a behavioral approach to take priority over habitual behaviors that often impede everyday functioning.

Research Design And Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental design (intervention vs waitlist control) to test whether the EMMI improved several aspects of everyday cognition.

The Interpersonal Context of Memory Complaints.

This mixed-methods study was designed to investigate the interpersonal experience of having memory problems using a community-dwelling sample of 94 adults over the age of 50 ( age = 72.35, = 10.51).

Mental Health Challenges of United States Healthcare Professionals During COVID-19.

As COVID-19 continues to impact global society, healthcare professionals (HCPs) are at risk for a number of negative well-being outcomes due to their role as care providers. The objective of this study was to better understand the current psychological impact of COVID-19 on HCPs in the United States This study used an online survey tool to collect demographic data and measures of well-being of adults age 18 and older living in the United States between March 20, 2020 and May 14, 2020. Measures included anxiety and stress related to COVID-19, depressive symptoms, current general anxiety, health questions, tiredness, control beliefs, proactive coping, and past and future appraisals of COVID-related stress.

Short-term variability in subjective memory decline: the influence of age and neuroticism.

This study was designed to investigate whether differences in age and neuroticism would predict short-term change in subjective memory decline. The sample consisted of 52 younger adult ( = 21.19, = 3.

Age Differences in Risk and Resilience Factors in COVID-19-Related Stress.

Objectives: Older adults are at higher risk for death and infirmity from COVID-19 than younger and middle-aged adults. The current study examines COVID-19-specific anxiety and proactive coping as potential risk and resilience factors that may be differentially important for younger and older adults in understanding stress experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Five hundred and fifteen adults aged 20-79 years in the United States reported on their anxiety about developing COVID-19, proactive coping, and stress related to COVID-19 in an online survey.

Barriers to help-seeking for memory problems in older adults.

Purpose: Early detection of age- and disease-related cognitive problems affords patients the opportunities to receive medical treatment, engage in research, and plan for the future. Understanding help-seeking behavior has potential to aid both patients and clinicians. This study was designed to identify predictors of endorsed barriers to memory-related help-seeking as well as medical help-seeking endorsement.

State Anxiety Is Related to Cortisol Response During Cognitive Testing for Older Adults.

Cognitive testing situations can be stressful for both younger and older adults, but threats of cognitive evaluation may be particularly salient among anxious older individuals as they tend to be more concerned than younger adults about their cognitive abilities and age-related cognitive decline. We examined age-related differences in the effect of anxiety on cortisol responses during cognitive testing in a sample of 27 younger ( = 19.8) and 29 older ( = 71.

Neuroticism Predicts Reasoning Performance in Young but Not Older Adults.

: This study was designed to explore age differences in the relationship of neuroticism with reasoning performance in a representative adult sample.: A probability sample of 242 adults (range 25-75 years; age = 47.57 years) from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) Boston Study of Management Processes were measured on personality and cognition.

Behaviors and Strategies Supporting Everyday Memory in Older Adults.

Background: Little is known about the means by which older adults achieve memory-demanding goals in everyday life or alternatively about why they fail to do so.

Objectives: We conducted qualitative interviews to evaluate what older people do to support everyday memory functioning. A principal focus was on understanding the ways in which individuals use internal memory strategies and external memory aids.

Is subjective memory change in old age based on accurate monitoring of age-related memory change? Evidence from two longitudinal studies.

Subjective memory change (SMC) in adulthood involves the perception that one's memory has declined from earlier levels of function. SMC has been conjectured to be more accurate than concurrent subjective memory because people use themselves as a standard of comparison. We used data from two longitudinal studies to contrast the accurate-monitoring-of-change hypothesis-actual memory change predicts SMC-against a constructed-judgment hypothesis that rated SMC is a function of rescaling concurrent memory beliefs without accessing actual memory change.

Correlates and moderators of change in subjective memory and memory performance: findings from the health and retirement study.

Aging researchers have long been interested in understanding individuals' subjective perceptions of their own memory functioning. Previous research has shown that subjective memory ratings are partly based on memory performance but also reflect the influence of other factors, such as depressive symptoms. The aim of the present study was to examine (1) longitudinal associations between trajectories of subjective memory and memory performance, (2) variables that predict levels of and changes in subjective memory and memory performance, and (3) variables that moderate associations between these constructs.

Longitudinal associations of subjective memory with memory performance and depressive symptoms: between-person and within-person perspectives.

Clinical diagnostic criteria for memory loss in adults typically assume that subjective memory ratings accurately reflect compromised memory functioning. Research has documented small positive between-person associations between subjective memory and memory performance in older adults. Less is known, however, about whether within-person fluctuations in subjective memory covary with within-person variance in memory performance and depressive symptoms.

Little evidence for links between memory complaints and memory performance in very old age: longitudinal analyses from the Berlin Aging Study.

Cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between memory complaint and memory performance were examined in a sample of old-old participants from the Berlin Aging Study (BASE; N = 504, ages 70 to 100, age M = 84.7 at study onset). Participants were measured 4 times over the course of 6 years.

Sadness prediction and response: effects of age and agreeableness.

Research has suggested that both age and personality play a role in emotional experience and regulation, but these variables have not been considered together to determine the relative contribution of each. This study simultaneously examined age and agreeableness differences in the experience of sad stimuli. Participants were 46 younger adults (age, M = 22.

The role of cognitive impairment and caregiver support in diabetes management of older outpatients.

Objectives: To examine the role of cognitive impairment and caregiver support in diabetes care adherence and glycemic control.

Methods: Fifty-one veteran male outpatients (27 with caregivers) aged 60 years and older with type 2 diabetes were evaluated for cognitive impairment with the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument. Patients or caregivers completed diabetes self-care and depression scales.

Heart rate recovery predicts memory performance in older adults.

The current study examined cardiovascular reactivity and recovery during memory testing in a sample of 28 younger and 28 older adults. Heart rate (HR) levels were measured before, during, and after a memory test (word list recall). Contrary to prediction, older adults did not have a blunted cardiovascular response to memory tasks compared to younger adults.

Self-discipline and self-consciousness predict subjective memory in older adults.

Research has shown the personality variables of conscientiousness and neuroticism to be related to subjective memory in older adults. This study was designed to determine the specific facets of these traits involved in the relation between personality and memory complaints. Subjective memory evaluations were examined in 85 community-dwelling people aged 56 to 94 years.

Predictors of subjective memory in older adults.

Memory complaints by healthy older people usually show little relation to objective memory performance. If subjective memory evaluations are not driven by actual memory problems, what is the cause of these complaints? Correlations of an objective measure of memory as well as measures of personality, emotional distress, and health with subjective memory evaluations were examined in 283 community-dwelling people aged 45 to 94 years. Stepwise regression analysis revealed that a combination of personality measures (Conscientiousness, self-esteem, Neuroticism) explained about a third of the variance in memory complaints compared with only 4% unique variance associated with the objective memory measure.