Uncertainty about aging: an investigation of the relation of intolerance of uncertainty and dementia experience to dementia worry.

Objectives: Although anxiety and depression decrease across the lifespan, age-related anxieties increase in older adults, particularly worries about experiencing cognitive decline or dementia. Dementia Worry (DW) is characterized by ruminative concerns about developing or experiencing symptoms of dementia. DW is related to negative mental health outcomes in older adults and increases as a function of exposure to dementia in others.

Academic self-handicapping as a mediator of the relation between imposterism and academic goal orientation: testing invariance by gender and underrepresented status.

Imposterism and academic self-handicapping (ASH) are related to negative outcomes in college students. We examined whether the relationship between imposterism and academic goal orientations is mediated by ASH across men and women and for students who are underrepresented on campus. Participants were 852 undergraduates (29.

A One-Arm Pilot Trial of a Telehealth CBT-Based Group Intervention Targeting Transdiagnostic Risk for Emotional Distress.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on mental health, straining an already overburdened healthcare system. A modular, transdiagnostic approach to treating psychopathology may be ideal to target common transdiagnostic risk factors for emotional distress and related disorders likely to be impacted by circumstances related to this once-in-a-lifetime environmental stressor. Anxiety sensitivity (AS), or fear of anxious arousal, intolerance of uncertainty (IU), or distress when confronted with uncertainty, and loneliness are three transdiagnostic risk factors impacted by the pandemic and robust predictors of emotional distress beyond that.

Assessment of cognitive function and sleep-wake rhythms in community-dwelling older adults.

Disruption of the circadian rhythm and sleep-wake cycles is a consequence of aging and is associated with the cognitive decline and many neurodegenerative conditions. We investigated the bedtime, wake-up time, sleep timing (midpoint between bedtime and wake-up time), and sleep timing standard deviation (SD) using the actigraphy among 80 consecutive volunteers aged ≥ 60 years. Global cognitive function and executive function of detailed cognitive domains were evaluated using the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST) and subjective daytime sleepiness was assessed using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS).

Clinical assessment in the time of COVID-19: Introduction to the special issue.

The COVID-19 pandemic placed much of the practice of psychological assessment in unchartered territory-including assessment via telehealth, assessment with masks or other safety measures, and accounting for the impact of a major global event in measuring performance or psychopathology. The goal of this special issue was to highlight research that addresses the numerous ways in which the pandemic impacted psychological assessment, covering three broad areas. Several articles addressed pandemic restrictions (i.

The relation of ApoE and COMT gene-gene interactions to cognitive and motor function in community-dwelling older adults: a pilot study.

Introduction: Certain genes increase the risk of age-related neurological dysfunction and/or disease. For instance, ApoE is a well-known gene carrying risk for Alzheimer's disease, while COMT has been associated with age-related reductions in motor function. There is growing interest in the interrelationship between age-related changes in cognitive and motor function, and examining gene-gene interactions in this context.

Executively-mediated language skills are related to performance-based social functioning in the early psychosis spectrum.

Social impairment is a core deficit in psychotic spectrum disorders (PSDs). Prior work shows that language abnormalities can predict psychosis onset and are related to social outcomes in PSDs. Few studies have investigated nuanced relationships between language/verbal abilities and social functioning in the early psychosis spectrum, including at-risk (schizotypy) and first episode of psychosis (FEP) individuals.

Time of Day Effects in the Relationships Between Daytime Sleepiness, Current Arousal, and Cognitive Performance.

Objective: Daytime sleepiness is commonly reported among older adults. Additionally, aging is associated with a shift toward greater alertness in the morning that wanes throughout the day. The impact of time of day of testing on the relationships between daytime sleepiness and cognition is unknown.

Gender differences in the serial position among older adults.

Introduction: There are gender disparities in age of diagnosis with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or dementia, which may be related to general female advantages in verbal memory across aging. Further examination of the serial position effect (SPE) may provide an avenue for earlier diagnosis of MCI/dementia among women.

Method: 338 cognitively healthy adults aged 50 (110 men; 228 women) were administered the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) List Learning task as part of dementia screening.

A preliminary examination of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 factor structure in older adults.

Background: Anxiety sensitivity (AS), as measured by the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3), exhibits three-factor and bifactor structures for younger adults. Less is known about the scale's structure within older adult samples.

Methods: We explored the ASI-3's factor structure in a sample of 135 older adults who completed the ASI-3 alongside measures of anxiety, general worry, dementia worry, and depression as part of a larger study.

Relationship of psychological/mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) history and invalid reporting to self-reported executive function.

Individuals with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) often complain of executive functioning (EF) difficulties. There is a discrepancy between self-reported EF impairment and EF deficits on neuropsychological tests, with some arguing that self-report EF is more related to real-world functioning than EF tests. However, research suggests that self-reported EF may be related more to emotional distress and is vulnerable to invalid reporting.

Are correlations among behavioral decision making tasks moderated by simulated cognitive impairment?

Behavioral decision making tasks are common in research settings, with only the Iowa Gambling Task available for clinical assessments. However, correlations among these tasks are low, indicating each may assess a distinct component of decision making. In addition, it is unclear whether these tasks are sensitive to invalid performance or even simulated impairment.

Discrepancies in hand motor performance and executive function in older adults.

There is increasing interest in using motor function tests to identify risk of cognitive impairment in older adults (OA). This study examined associations among grip strength, with and without adjustment for muscle mass, manual dexterity and Trail Making Test (TMT) A and B in 77 OA (73.4 ± 5.

Systematic Review of Correlates of Internal and External Memory Strategy Use in Older Adults.

Memory strategies promote independence during aging. We systematically reviewed literature on correlates and predictors of internal and external memory strategy use for older adults. Of 212 articles identified, 29 met inclusion criteria.

Inaugural editorial for Psychological Assessment.

Julie Suhr is humble to begin her service as Editor-in Chief of . She plans to focus on the dissemination of assessment research relevant to clinical and consulting psychology, including domains such as assessment/diagnosis of psychopathology, clinical health assessment, cognitive/neuropsychological assessment, forensic assessment, multicultural assessment, and personality assessment as it pertains to clinical practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty are unique and interactive risk factors for COVID-19 safety behaviors and worries.

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and anxiety sensitivity (AS) predict distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about how AS and IU jointly predict COVID-19 worries and behaviors. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the direct and interactive effects of AS and IU as related to COVID-19 worries and behaviors in two samples of community adults recruited in April 2020 ( = 642; age = 38.

COVID-19 Impact Battery: Development and Validation.

In addition to impacting the physical health of millions of Americans, the novel-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a significant psychological stressor due to both the threat of the illness itself and the mitigation strategies used to contain the spread. To facilitate understanding of the impact of COVID-19, validated measures are needed. Using a stepwise procedure in line with best-practice measurement procedures, the current report summarizes the procedures employed to create the COVID-19 Impact Battery (CIB).

The relationship of cogniphobia to performance validity and symptom validity in neuropsychological assessment.

Objective: Emerging research suggests that fear and avoidance are associated with not only physical symptoms, but also cognitive functioning. The concept of cogniphobia describes the fear and avoidance of cognitively effortful tasks to avoid the onset or worsening of symptoms. Extant studies provide preliminary evidence for associations between cogniphobia and validity testing.

Examination of race and gender differences in predictors of neuropsychological decline and development of Alzheimer's disease.

Black adults are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) at higher rates than White adults. Biopsychosocial risk factors that differentially affect individuals by race, including health, education, and APOE e4, may explain these findings. Some research suggests that the risk for AD associated with the APOE e4 allele may differ by race.

Self-reported functional impairment in college students: relationship to noncredible reporting, ADHD, psychological disorders, and other psychological factors.

Introduction: Both symptoms and functional impairment should be assessed in college students seeking evaluations for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, impairment is not specific to ADHD. Although it is well documented that self-reported symptoms can be reported noncredibly, there is less research examining credibility of self-reported impairment, and few clinicians rule out alternative causes for impairment.

Self-Reported Dementia-Related Diagnosis Underestimates the Prevalence of Older Americans Living with Possible Dementia.

Background: Dementia screening is an important step for appropriate dementia-related referrals to diagnosis and treat possible dementia.

Objective: We sought to estimate the prevalence of no reported dementia-related diagnosis in a nationally representative sample of older Americans with a cognitive impairment consistent with dementia (CICD).

Methods: The weighted analytical sample included 6,036,224 Americans aged at least 65 years old that were identified as having a CICD without history of stroke, cancers, neurological conditions, or brain damage who participated in at least one-wave of the 2010-2016 Health and Retirement Study.