Engage! a pilot study of a brief behavioural activation program to promote engagement and well-being in older adults.

Previous research has indicated the suitability of behavioural activation (BA) as an intervention for reducing depression in older adults. However, little research has investigated the potential of BA to increase active engagement and well-being in older adults. The current pilot study sought to investigate the usefulness and acceptability of BA to promote well-being in a group of non-clinical older adults.

Understanding ageing in older Australians: the contribution of the Dynamic Analyses to Optimise Ageing (DYNOPTA) project to the evidence base and policy.

Aim: To describe the Dynamic Analyses to Optimise Ageing (DYNOPTA) project and illustrate its contributions to understanding ageing through innovative methodology, and investigations on outcomes based on the project themes. DYNOPTA provides a platform and technical expertise that may be used to combine other national and international datasets.

Methods: The DYNOPTA project has pooled and harmonised data from nine Australian longitudinal studies to create the largest available longitudinal dataset (n= 50652) on ageing in Australia.

Deriving prevalence estimates of depressive symptoms throughout middle and old age in those living in the community.

Background: There is considerable debate about the prevalence of depression in old age. Epidemiological surveys and clinical studies indicate mixed evidence for the association between depression and increasing age. We examined the prevalence of probable depression in the middle aged to the oldest old in a project designed specifically to investigate the aging process.

Subjective well-being mediates the effects of resilience and mastery on depression and anxiety in a large community sample of young and middle-aged adults.

Objective: The tripartite model of depression and anxiety hypothesizes that positive and negative affect is related to depression and anxiety. However, the specific role of cognitive or psychological well-being constructs like resilience and mastery within a tripartite context and throughout adulthood is unclear.

Method: Data was drawn from two longitudinal population-based cohorts, aged 20-24 and 40-44 based in Canberra, Australia (N = 3989).

Psychological distress in non-drinkers: associations with previous heavy drinking and current social relationships.

Aims: The aim of this paper is to investigate two possible explanations for the higher levels of psychological distress observed among alcohol abstainers relative to light and moderate drinkers, and to investigate possible moderating effects of age on this association. The possible explanations were that: (i) the higher level of psychological distress among abstainers is due to the presence of a subset of former heavy drinkers in this group; and (ii) abstainers have poorer social relationships than light/moderate drinkers.

Methods: A national cross-sectional survey yielded data from 2856 Australians aged 20-22, 30-32 and 40-42 years (response rate 15.

Gender differences in depression and anxiety across the adult lifespan: the role of psychosocial mediators.

Background: There is robust epidemiological and clinical evidence that a greater number of women than men experience depression and anxiety. This study investigated a number of socio-demographic, health and lifestyle, psychological and social factors as possible mediators for the gender difference in depression and anxiety in three cohorts (20-24, 40-44, 60-64).

Methods: Responses were from a representative, community based survey (n = 7,485) conducted in Canberra and Queanbeyan (NSW), in Australia.

Volunteering and psychological well-being among young-old adults: how much is too much?

Purpose: Research concerned with the relationship between volunteer activity and psychological well-being has typically reported higher levels of well-being among older adult volunteers relative to nonvolunteers. However, few studies have examined nonlinear associations between frequency of volunteer activity and well-being. We examined nonlinear associations between hours spent volunteering and psychological well-being, controlling for employment status, partner status, physical health, and education.

Interventions to reduce the adverse psychosocial impact of driving cessation on older adults.

As a result of our aging population, the coming years will see increasing numbers of older adults faced with the prospect of giving up driving due to poor health or functional limitations. Driving cessation has been associated with negative psychosocial outcomes for older adults including restricted mobility and depression. While several studies report evaluations of interventions designed to help older adults to drive safely for longer, there is a paucity of published research concerned with the design or implementation of intervention programs intended to reduce the negative consequences of driving cessation.

The role of perceived control in explaining depressive symptoms associated with driving cessation in a longitudinal study.

Purpose: The purpose of this article was to investigate the role of control beliefs in mediating the relationship between driving cessation and change in depressive symptoms in a population-based sample of older adults.

Design And Methods: We report results from a prospective, community-based cohort study that included two waves of data collected in 1992 and 1994. Participants consisted of 700 men and women aged 70 and older, including 647 drivers and 53 participants who ceased driving between baseline (1992) and follow-up (1994).

Weekly alcohol consumption, brain atrophy, and white matter hyperintensities in a community-based sample aged 60 to 64 years.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the association between weekly alcohol consumption and brain atrophy in adults aged 60 to 64 years.

Methods: Brain magnetic resonance imaging scans from 385 adults recruited through a community survey were analyzed. Automated segmentation and manual tracing methods were used to obtain brain subvolumes and automated methods were used to obtain quantification and localization of white matter hyperintensities.

Measuring physical and mental health using the SF-12: implications for community surveys of mental health.

Objective: The effects of using different approaches to scoring the SF-12 summary scales of physical and mental health were examined with a view to informing the design and interpretation of community-based survey research.

Method: Data from a population-based study of 7485 participants in three cohorts aged 20-24, 40-44 and 60-64 years were used to examine relationships among measures of physical and mental health calculated from the same items using the SF-12 and RAND-12 approaches to scoring, and other measures of chronic physical conditions and psychological distress.

Results: A measure of physical health constructed using the RAND-12 scoring showed a monotonic negative association with psychological distress as measured by the Goldberg depression and anxiety scales.

Predicting driving cessation over 5 years in older adults: psychological well-being and cognitive competence are stronger predictors than physical health.

Objectives: To examine psychological, medical, and sensorimotor risk factors that predict driving cessation in older adults.

Design: Prospective cohort study including five waves of data collected in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1997.

Setting: The Australian Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Lower cognitive test scores observed in alcohol abstainers are associated with demographic, personality, and biological factors: the PATH Through Life Project.

Aims: To identify variables that explain the association between alcohol abstention and cognitive performance. We hypothesized that demographic and personality variables would be important for explaining the association in all age cohorts, but that health variables would be more important in the older age-cohorts.

Design: Three age cohorts (20-24, 40-44, 60-64 years) were sampled randomly, yielding a total of 7485 participants, with data from 602 alcohol abstainers and 4158 light or moderate drinkers used in this study.

Non-linear relationships between cognitive function and alcohol consumption in young, middle-aged and older adults: the PATH Through Life Project.

Aims: To investigate associations, including non-linear relationships, between cognitive function and alcohol consumption, testing for moderating effects of age and gender and for differences across outcome measures. Design Cross-sectional general population samples of three age cohorts. Setting Canberra and Queanbeyan, Australia.

Association of pulmonary function with cognitive performance in early, middle and late adulthood.

Background: Pulmonary function has been associated with some measures of cognitive performance, mostly in late adulthood. This study investigated whether this association is present for a range of cognitive measures, at three stages of adulthood, and whether it remains after controlling for demographic, health and lifestyle factors.

Method: The relationship between forced expiratory volume at 1 s (FEV1), a measure of pulmonary function, and cognitive test performance was examined in three cohorts aged 20-24, 40-44 and 60-64.