Depression Severity, but Not Cognitive Impairment or Frailty, is Associated with Disability in Late-Life Depression.

Objectives: Assess the relationship of cognitive impairment to disability, accounting for depression severity and frailty, among older adults with late-life depression (LLD).

Methods: Data were analyzed from 78 community-dwelling older adults with LLD and without dementia (age = 71.9; = 6.

Impaired Financial Capacity in Late-Life Depression: Revisiting Associations with Cognitive Functioning.

Objectives: Impairment in financial capacity is an early sign of cognitive decline and functional impairment in late life. Cognitive impairments such as executive dysfunction are well documented in late-life major depression; however, little progress has been made in assessing associations of these impairments with financial incapacity.

Methods: Participants included 95 clinically depressed and 41 nondepressed older adults without dementia.

Latent Classes of Cognitive Functioning Among Depressed Older Adults Without Dementia.

Objective: Use latent class analysis (LCA) to identify patterns of cognitive functioning in a sample of older adults with clinical depression and without dementia and assess demographic, psychiatric, and neurobiological predictors of class membership.

Method: Neuropsychological assessment data from 121 participants in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative-Depression project (ADNI-D) were analyzed, including measures of executive functioning, verbal and visual memory, visuospatial and language functioning, and processing speed. These data were analyzed using LCA, with predictors of class membership such as depression severity, depression and treatment history, amyloid burden, and APOE e4 allele also assessed.

Somatic and anxiety symptoms of depression are associated with disability in late life depression.

To assess the relationships of somatic and anxiety symptoms of depression with functional disability in a sample of older adults with late life depression. Data were analyzed from 78 older adults aged 65-88 with current major depression. Somatic and anxiety symptoms from the 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) were summed to create variables measuring severity of these symptoms.

Differentiating poor validity from probable impairment on the medical symptom validity test: a cross-validation study.

Aims: In neuropsychological evaluations, it is often difficult to ascertain whether poor performance on measures of validity is due to poor effort or malingering, or whether there is genuine cognitive impairment. Dunham and Denney created an algorithm to assess this question using the Medical Symptom Validity Test (MSVT). We assessed the ability of their algorithm to detect poor validity versus probable impairment, and concordance of failure on the MSVT with other freestanding tests of performance validity.

Screening for Executive Dysfunction in Late-Life Depression: Utility of Trail Making Test and Self-Report Measures.

Objective: Prior work suggests executive dysfunction (ED) on the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) and the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale-2 Initiation/Perseveration subscale (DRS IP) predicts poor antidepressant response in late-life depression. This study examined if either patient perception of ED or the Trail Making Test Part B (TMT-B) could identify patients with impairment on the SCWT or DRS IP.

Methods: Patients were 65 or older and had a diagnosis of major depression without dementia.

Depressive symptoms and cognitive functioning among older adults with cancer.

Objective: The US population of older adults is growing, with an increase in diseases like cancer. As cancer rates increase, there is a concomitant increase in adverse correlates, such as cognitive impairment and depressive symptomatology. In order to develop appropriate interventions, it is vital to assess relationships among cancer, depressive symptoms and cognitive functioning.

Treatment With Chemotherapy and Cognitive Functioning in Older Adult Cancer Survivors.

Objective: To investigate whether treatment of cancer with chemotherapy, as compared with surgery and radiation, differentially affects cognitive functioning in older adults.

Design: Latent class growth analysis approach.

Setting: Health and Retirement Study.

Use of Latent Class Analysis to define groups based on validity, cognition, and emotional functioning.

Objective: Latent Class Analysis (LCA) was used to classify a heterogeneous sample of neuropsychology data. In particular, we used measures of performance validity, symptom validity, cognition, and emotional functioning to assess and describe latent groups of functioning in these areas.

Method: A data-set of 680 neuropsychological evaluation protocols was analyzed using a LCA.

Do multiple health events reduce resilience when compared with single events?

Objective: The impact of multiple major life stressors is hypothesized to reduce the probability of resilience and increase rates of mortality. However, this hypothesis lacks strong empirical support because of the lack of prospective evidence. This study investigated whether experiencing multiple major health events diminishes rates of resilience and increases rates of mortality using a large population-based prospective cohort.

Predictors of WAIS-R vocabulary in late life: Differences by race.

Background: Vocabulary scores tend to be significantly related to education in heterogeneous groups of older adults, even after controlling for confounding variables. However, there may be other factors that impinge on cognitive functioning for certain demographic groups, particularly those whose educational opportunities were limited, and who may have experienced considerable stress as a result of their minority status.

Objectives: This study sought to explore possible predictors of vocabulary scores among African American and White older adults.

Religiousness and Psychological Distress in Jewish and Christian Older Adults.

Objectives: In this study, the authors explore how the association between religiousness and psychological distress varies by religious affiliation. Prior work has shown that the association between religious belief and psychological distress is stronger for Christians than Jews, while religious activity is associated with lower psychological distress for both groups.

Methods: Interviews were conducted using a community sample of 143 Christian and Jewish older adults, ages 65 and over.

Social Support, Mastery, and Psychological Distress in Black and White Older Adults.

Social support and mastery can protect against psychological distress in late life, carrying implications for theory and intervention. However, some groups have not been well studied, with African Americans receiving less empirical attention, especially in regard to their satisfaction with social support. In this study, samples of African American and White American community-dwelling older adults reported their perceived mastery, degree of psychological distress, and social support.