Longitudinal trajectories of memory among middle-aged and older people with hearing loss: the influence of cochlear implant use on cognitive functioning.

Introduction: Cochlear implants (CI) are the gold standard intervention for severe to profound hearing loss, a known modifiable risk factor for dementia. However, it remains unknown whether CI use might prevent the age-related cognitive decline. Recent studies are encouraging but are limited, mainly by short follow-up periods and, for ethical reasons, lack of appropriate control groups.

Can cochlear implantation prevent cognitive decline in the long-term follow-up?

Cognitive function and hearing are known to both decline in older adults. As hearing loss is proposed to be one modifiable risk factor for dementia, the impact of auditory rehabilitation on cognitive decline has been gaining increasing attention. Despite a large number of studies, long-term data are still rare.

COVID-19 and perceiving finitude: Associations with future time perspective, death anxiety, and ideal life expectancy.

The coronavirus pandemic threatens the health, future, and life of individuals and might hence accentuate perceptions of the fragility and finitude of life. We investigated how different perceptions of the pandemic (regarding the virus as a health threat and perceiving social and financial restrictions due to the pandemic) relate to different perceptions of life's finitude (i.e.

Participation in activities mediates the effect of Internet use on cognitive functioning in old age.

Research indicates that Internet use positively influences cognitive functioning in later life, but we do not know the behavioral pathways that explain this association. This study explored the role of participation in activities as a potential mediator of the relationship between Internet use and cognitive functioning over a 4-year period. We analyzed representative data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).

Technology Adaptivity Mediates the Effect of Technology Biography on Internet Use Variability.

Background And Objectives: Increasing numbers of older adults use the internet, but relatively little is known about the range and determinants of different online activities among older internet users. This study explores the interplay between technology-related biographical experiences and subjective technology adaptivity to explain the variability of internet use. Older adults who report having had more biographical experiences with technologies were expected to use a greater range of online activities.

Social support is associated with technology use in old age.

Background: The use of technological innovations can play a significant role in healthy aging and social participation in old age; however, it is not well understood how social contexts can influence or support older adults' use of technology. This study explored the associations between technology use, perceived technology-related support and actual technology-related social support. It was expected that older adults who perceived having more supportive resources available would be more likely to receive actual support in technology-related issues, which, in turn would explain a greater use of technology in everyday life.

Negative Self-perception of Aging and Mortality in Very Old Chinese Adults: The Mediation Role of Healthy Lifestyle.

Objectives: Previous literature has consistently shown a positive association between negative self-perception of aging and mortality in middle-aged and older adults. However, two questions remain unsolved: (a) whether such association holds among very old people (i.e.

Internet Use and Cognitive Functioning in Late Adulthood: Longitudinal Findings from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).

Objectives: Research suggests that cognitive functioning is associated with technology use in late life, but longitudinal research in this domain is still sparse. This study explored the reciprocal association between Internet use and cognitive functioning over a 2-year period.

Method: We analyzed representative data across 14 countries from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).

German Version of the Inventory of Motivations for Hospice Palliative Care Volunteerism: Are There Gender Differences?

The present study examined gender differences in motivations for volunteering for hospice using a German version of the Inventory of Motivations for Hospice Palliative Care Volunteerism (IMHPCV). The IMHPCV was translated into German and back-translated into English following the World Health Organization's guidelines for the translation and adaptation of instruments. In an online survey, 599 female and 127 male hospice volunteers from hospice organizations throughout Germany completed the translated version of the IMHPCV, the Scales of the Attitude Structure of Volunteers as well as questions pertaining to their volunteer experience.

The Detrimental Consequences of Overestimating Future Health in Late Life.

Objectives: Although forecasting a positive future can be adaptive, it may not be when expectations are unmet. Our study examined whether such inaccurate expectations about future health status (overestimation) were maladaptive for older adults who commonly experience late life declines in physical functioning.

Method: We analyzed data from the nationally representative German Aging Survey (DEAS; 1996-2011; n = 2,539; age range 60-85 years) using multilevel growth models that assessed the influence of inaccurate health expectations on older adults' physical functioning over a 9-year period.

Subjective Technology Adaptivity Predicts Technology Use in Old Age.

Background: To date, not much is known about the psychological and motivational factors underlying technology use in late life. What are the interindividual determinants that lead older adults to invest in using technological innovations despite the age-related physiological changes that impose challenges on behavioral plasticity in everyday life?

Objective: This research explores interindividual differences in subjective technology adaptivity - a general technology-related motivational resource that accounts for technology use in late life. More specifically, we investigate the influence of this factor relative to demographic characteristics, personality traits, and functional limitations in a longitudinal sample of community-dwelling older adults.

Outdoor motivation moderates the effects of accessibility on mobility in old age.

Background: Mobility plays a major role in healthy aging and social participation. This study explored whether accessibility problems in the housing environment are negatively associated with mobility in old age and whether this association is moderated by differences in an individual's preference for spending time outside the home (outdoor motivation).

Material And Methods: This article reports the results of a research project on mobility in old age.

Cognitive Functions Buffer Age Differences in Technology Ownership.

Background: Technology plays a major role in enhancing quality of life and everyday competence in old age. Mechanic and pragmatic cognitive functions are known to serve as resources when using technology in everyday life. Not much is known about the differential role of mechanic and pragmatic cognitive functions when moderating reduced technology ownership in old age.