Short-Term Coupling Associations Between State Loneliness and Cognitive Performance in Daily Life Among Older Adults.

Objectives: Despite extensive efforts to study individual differences in loneliness and neurocognitive health, little is known about how within-person changes in state loneliness relate to cognitive performance. This study addressed this gap by examining the association between within-person variation in state loneliness and cognitive performance assessed objectively in daily life.

Methods: Participants were 313 community-dwelling older adults (70-90 years) who reported momentary feelings of loneliness and completed smartphone-based cognitive tests 5 times daily for 14 consecutive days.

Multilevel Latent Differential Structural Equation Model with Short Time Series and Time-Varying Covariates: A Comparison of Frequentist and Bayesian Estimators.

Continuous-time modeling using differential equations is a promising technique to model change processes with longitudinal data. Among ways to fit this model, the Latent Differential Structural Equation Modeling (LDSEM) approach defines latent derivative variables within a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework, thereby allowing researchers to leverage advantages of the SEM framework for model building, estimation, inference, and comparison purposes. Still, a few issues remain unresolved, including performance of multilevel variations of the LDSEM under short time lengths (e.

Effects of Receiving Pain-Related Support on Psychological Well-Being: The Moderating Roles of Emotional Responses to Support.

Objectives: We investigated whether receiving greater pain-related instrumental support is associated with poorer psychological well-being among chronic pain patients who report less positive (e.g., grateful) or more negative (e.

Dyadic Links Between Health Changes and Well-Being: The Role of Non-Spousal Confidants.

Although the marital relationship is often the primary source of emotional support in adulthood, sole reliance on the spouse to discuss health-related issues may be harmful to the well-being of both partners. The first aim of this study was to examine whether declines in health during later life would be associated with poorer psychological well-being in self and partner. We further investigated whether declining health would have a stronger impact on own and partner psychological well-being in the absence of non-spousal health confidants.

New Opportunities for Advancing Dyadic Health Science in Gerontology.

As dyadic health science enters a golden age, important conceptual, theoretical, and technical challenges remain. This forum review brings together perspectives on the burgeoning dyadic literature from several subdisciplines within aging research. We first define key concepts and terms so that interested researchers can navigate the complex and various ways in which dyadic health research is conducted.

Patient Responses to the Term Pain Catastrophizing: Thematic Analysis of Cross-sectional International Data.

Pain catastrophizing is understood as a negative cognitive and emotional response to pain. Researchers, advocates and patients have reported stigmatizing effects of the term in clinical settings and the media. We conducted an international study to investigate patient perspectives on the term pain catastrophizing.

The Social Context of Partnered Older Adults' Insomnia Symptoms.

The current study included an examination of social factors that mitigate or exacerbate insomnia symptoms among older adults who are married or living with a partner. We first examined the unique effects of spousal support and strain on insomnia symptoms and then evaluated the degree to which extramarital social factors (e.g.

Different Types of Childhood Experience with Mothers and Caregiving Outcomes in Adulthood.

Objective And Background: The current study examines the types of childhood experiences with mothers (i.e., maternal abuse, affection, discipline) among caregivers of aging mothers, and investigates whether membership in specific latent classes, particularly maternal maltreatment, is associated with psychological functioning among caregivers.

Daily social interactions related to daily performance on mobile cognitive tests among older adults.

The lack of social contact or good social relationships has been linked with cognitive decline and higher risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. One important but unexamined question is how daily social interactions relate to older adults' cognitive function in daily life. The present study examined how changes in daily social interactions related to fluctuations in older adults' performance on mobile cognitive tests from day to day.

Perceived Gratitude, Role Overload, and Mental Health Among Spousal Caregivers of Older Adults.

Objectives: We investigated whether spousal caregivers' greater perception of being appreciated by their partner for their help was associated with caregivers' better mental health and whether caregivers' higher role overload was related to their poorer mental health. We further evaluated whether spousal caregivers' greater perceived gratitude buffered the association between their role overload and mental health.

Methods: We examined 306 spousal caregivers of older adults with chronic illness or disability, drawn from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving.

Older adults' social network and support and its association with physical activity.

The purpose of this study was to describe older adults' social network and support during a physical activity intervention and its association with physical activity. Mixed methods were used for this secondary analysis of existing data from a physical activity intervention. Seventy-three participants who completed a session by telephone on using support comprised the sample.

Daily pain catastrophizing predicts less physical activity and more sedentary behavior in older adults with osteoarthritis.

Musculoskeletal disorders such as knee osteoarthritis (OA) are the primary cause of chronic pain in older adults. Recommended self-management strategies for knee OA include staying physically active in the face of pain, but many patients avoid activities they are capable of doing. The overall purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which daily pain catastrophizing, a maladaptive coping strategy, could influence OA patients' physical activity and sedentary behavior.

Perceived Patient Pain and Spousal Caregivers' Negative Affect: The Moderating Role of Spouse Confidence in Patients' Pain Management.

This study examined whether older patients' greater daily pain perceived by their spouses was associated with spouses' higher daily negative affect. We further investigated whether spouses' lower confidence in patients' ability to manage pain exacerbated the daily association between perceived patient pain and spouses' negative affect. We used baseline interviews and a 22-day diary of knee osteoarthritis patients and their spouses ( = 144 couples).

Psychological Adjustment of Aging Vietnam Veterans: The Role of Social Network Ties in Reengaging with Wartime Memories.

It is projected that by 2020 there will be 8.7 million veterans over the age of 65 years, more than half (64%) of whom served during the Vietnam War. The effects of military service on mental health and well-being may be more pronounced later in life among those who served in Vietnam than prior cohorts of veterans.

The Influence of Family and Friend Confidants on Marital Quality in Older Couples.

Objectives: Relationships with confidants play an important role in older adults' health and well-being. Particularly, family and friend confidants could significantly support or interfere with older adults' marital relationships. This study used a dyadic approach to examine the influence of the structural features of both spouses' family and friend confidant networks on older couples' marital quality over 5 years.

Family Caregiving for Older Adults.

Family members are the primary source of support for older adults with chronic illness and disability. Thousands of published empirical studies and dozens of reviews have documented the psychological and physical health effects of caregiving, identified caregivers at risk for adverse outcomes, and evaluated a wide range of intervention strategies to support caregivers. Caregiving as chronic stress exposure is the conceptual driver for much of this research.

Short- and Long-term Effects of Support Visibility on Support Providers' Negative Affect.

Objectives: Seminal research with spouses of chronic pain patients indicates that providing patients with instrumental support can be either costly or beneficial for spouses' well-being. Drawing from the invisible support literature, this study evaluated the extent to which patients' recognition of spouses' support moderated daily and long-term associations between spouses' support provision and negative affect.

Method: Data came from a sample of spouses (N = 145) of knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients, and the patients themselves.

Effects of Parental Childhood Abuse on Daily Stress Processes in Adulthood.

Extensive evidence suggests that exposure to childhood abuse can lead to harmful health effects across a lifetime. To contribute to the literature, the current study examined whether and how a history of parental childhood abuse affects exposure to and severity appraisal of daily stressors in adulthood, as well as emotional reactivity to these stressors. We analyzed 14,912 daily interviews of 2,022 respondents from the second wave of the National Study of Daily Experiences.

Daily and bidirectional linkages between pain catastrophizing and spouse responses.

Pain catastrophizing has been shown to predict greater pain and less physical function in daily life for chronic pain sufferers, but its effects on close social partners have received much less attention. The overall purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which pain catastrophizing is an interpersonal coping strategy that is maladaptive for patients and their spouses. A total of 144 older knee osteoarthritis patients and their spouses completed baseline interviews and a 22-day diary assessment.

Social interactions and physical symptoms in daily life: quality matters for older adults, quantity matters for younger adults.

The present study examined how the different attributes of daily social interactions (quality and quantity) were associated with physical health, and how these associations vary with age. Using an ecological momentary assessment approach, participants from an adulthood lifespan sample ( = 172; aged 20-79 years) reported their social interactions five times daily, and physical symptoms and symptom severity at the end of each day, for one week. Number of physical symptoms and physical symptom severity.