Coping Flexibility and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Older Adults: The Compensatory Effect of Co-rumination

Background: Coping flexibility, defined as a wide range of coping strategies, may be a promising construct in determining coping effectiveness, especially in conjunction with a person-centered approach. However, no studies have focused on these issues. The study aimed to identify the distinct, multidimensional patterns of strategies for coping with chronic health conditions and their association with changes in physical and psychological health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among older adults over a one month period.Methods: Coping strategies (brooding, reflection, co-rumination, and positive reappraisal) and HRQoL psychological and physical domains were assessed twice (at the baseline and one month later) among 210 older adults (age 76.12 ± 9.09 years, 66% women).Findings: The parallel process analysis demonstrated the sample heterogeneity regarding coping. In multidimensional latent class growth analysis (MLCGA), four coping classes of overall strategies were identified: consistently low (46%), medium and decreasing (18%), medium and increasing (20%), and consistently high (16%). The last two can be considered the coping flexibility. Participants in the medium and increasing subgroup reported enhancement in HRQoL psychological domain, whereas members of the consistently high subgroup indicated its decrease. The favorable effects were related to an increase in co-rumination.Discussion: The findings shed light on the longitudinal patterns of coping in older adults, showing that coping flexibility is more adaptive when it relies on modifying coping efforts rather than coping complexity. Co-rumination played a key role, compensated by the effect of maladaptive strategies

Różnice płciowe w przystosowaniu do insulinoterapii u chorych na cukrzycę typu 2

Background: This study aims to investigate if there aregender differences in cognitive, behavioral and emotional response to switching over to insulin treatmentin adults with type 2 diabetes.Material and methods: Cognitive appraisal (questionnaire KOS), coping strategies (CHIP) and emotions (PANAS) were assessed among 278 patients (F = 148,M = 130) one month after conversion to insulin treatment.Results: Results showed that women reported morenegative appraisal, instrumental- and emotion-oriented behaviors than did men. There’s no differences inemotions. In addition, patients generally expressed stronger perception of their health condition in termsof challenge, more emotion-oriented coping strategies and higher levels of negative emotions.Conclusions: Gender differences play an important antrole in adjustment to insulin treatment.Wstęp: Celem badania było określenie istotnych różnic międzypłciowych w zakresie oceny poznawczej, strategii radzenia sobie oraz emocji pojawiających się w reakcji na wprowadzenie insulinoterapii u chorychz cukrzycą typu 2.Materiał i metody: Badaniami kwestionariuszowymi objęto 278 osób (K = 148, M = 130), które miesiąc wcześniej rozpoczęły insulinoterapię. Zastosowano kwestionariusze KOS (ocena poznawcza), CHIP (strategie radzenia sobie z chorobą) oraz PANAS (negatywne i pozytywne emocje).Wyniki: Wykazano istotne znaczenie płci dla oceny zmiany leczenia i zachowań podejmowanych w jej obliczu. Kobiety istotnie częściej postrzegały insulinoterapię w kategoriach zagrożenia, podejmowały działania ukierunkowane na poradzenie sobie z chorobą oraz regulujące emocje. Nie odnotowano różnic w zakresie odczuwanych emocji. Analizy wykazały, że pacjenci, bez względu na płeć, najczęściej oceniali swoją sytuację zdrowotną w kategoriach Wyzwania/aktywności, odczuwali negatywne emocje i radzili sobie poprzez koncentrowanie się na tych emocjach.Wnioski: Rezultaty badania wskazują, że w praktyce klinicznej przy wprowadzaniu insulinoterapii należałoby uwzględnić różnice międzypłciowe

Working Memory Capacity as a Predictor of Cognitive Training Efficacy in the Elderly Population

Aging is associated with a decline in a wide range of cognitive functions and working memory (WM) deterioration is considered a main factor contributing to this. Therefore, any attempt to counteract WM decline seems to have a potential benefit for older adults. However, determination of whether such methods like WM trainings are effective is a subject of a serious debate in the literature. Despite a substantial number of training studies and several meta-analyses, there is no agreement on the matter of their effectiveness. The other important and still not fully explored issue is the impact of the preexisting level of intellectual functioning on the training’s outcome. In our study we investigated the impact of WM training on variety of cognitive tasks performance among older adults and the impact of the initial WM capacity (WMC) on the training efficiency. 85 healthy older adults (55–81 years of age; 55 female, 30 males) received 5 weeks of training on adaptive dual N-back task (experimental group) or memory quiz (active controls). Cognitive performance was assessed before and after intervention with measures of WM, memory updating, inhibition, attention shifting, short-term memory (STM) and reasoning. We found post-intervention group independent improvements across all cognitive tests except for inhibition and STM. With multi-level analysis individual learning curves were modeled, which enabled examining of the intra-individual change in training and inter-individual differences in intra-individual changes. We observed a systematic and positive, but relatively small, learning trend with time. Moderator analyses with demographic characteristics as moderators showed no additional effects on learning curves. Only initial WMC level was a significant moderator of training effectiveness. Older adults with initially lower WMC improved less and reached lower levels of performance, compared to the group with higher WMC. Overall, our findings are in accordance with the research suggesting that post-training gains are within reach of older adults. Our data provide evidence supporting the presence of transfer after N-back training in older adults. More importantly, our findings suggest that it is more important to take into account an initial WMC level, rather than demographic characteristics when evaluating WM training in older adults

To know or not to know? Opinions of patients with Parkinson’s Disease on disclosing risk of phenoconversion in RBD

Introduction. The aim of our study was to find out the opinion of patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) whose disease was preceded by REM sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) regarding early information about the high risk of phenoconversion in RBD. Clinical rationale for the study. RBD is an early clinical manifestation of α-synucleinopathies with a more than 90% risk of phenoconversion to PD, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) or multiple system atrophy (MSA). It remains a subject for debate as to whether and how RBD patients should be informed about the high risk of phenoconversion. The patient’s right to full knowledge regarding his or her health conflicts with the potentially destructive impact of this information on his or her mental state and quality of life of them and their relatives. Material and methods. Thirty-nine patients with PD whose disease was preceded by RBD were surveyed. Data on the course of RBD and PD was collected. Questions were asked about early information about the high risk of phenoconversion to patients with RBD and factors determining the opinion of the surveyed persons. Results. The majority ( > 60%) of respondents gave a positive answer when asked whether patients should be informed about their high risk of developing PD once diagnosed with RBD. Only a few (7.7%) respondents believed that disclosing such information to the patient should be possible only after obtaining his or her consent. Respondents associated consent to information about the high risk of developing PD in people with RBD with high expectations of the healthcare system. We were unable to determine whether factors such as the gender of the subject, the clinical course of the PD, and the RBD duration had an impact on patients’ opinions regarding disclosing knowledge about phenoconversion. Conclusions and clinical implications. Our study provides important information that should influence physicians’ communication with patients with RBD, especially regarding how they communicate about the high risk of phenoconversion

A Growth Mixture Modeling Study of Learning Trajectories in an Extended Computerized Working Memory Training Programme Developed for Young Children Diagnosed With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

This study explored (1) whether growth mixture modeling (GMM) could identify different trajectories of learning efficiency during a working memory (WM) training programme for young children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), compared with a typically developing (TD) control group, and (2) if learning trajectories and outcomes were different for simple and complex training tasks. Children completed simple visuospatial short-term memory (VSSTM) and complex visuospatial WM (VSWM) tasks for 15 min a day, 5 days a week, and for 8 weeks. Parent-reported executive functioning, and children's WM and attention control, educational achievement, and IQ were measured prior to (T1), immediately following (T2) and 3 months after training (T3). GMM analysis showed that WM training was represented as one learning curve, and there was no difference for the trajectories of the ADHD and TD groups. The learning trajectory for the VSSTM tasks across groups was represented as one learning curve and for the VSWM tasks there were three learning curves. Learning for the VSSTM tasks and for most children in the VSWM tasks was characterized by an inverted-U shape, indicating that training was effective for up to 15 sessions, was stable and declined thereafter, highlighting an optimal training timeframe. For the VSWM tasks, the two remaining groups showed either a U-shaped or a high inverted U-shaped trajectory, with the latter group achieving the highest T1T2 change score (i.e., children showed a lower starting point and the most gain in terms of learning and post-training performance). There were no broader benefits of training at post-test or follow-up. Further research should explore who would benefit most from intensive cognitive training, as well as the potential benefits for mental health and well-being

Original article Depressive symptom clusters among the elderly: a longitudinal study of course and its correlates

Background The longitudinal course of depressive symptoms among the elderly was examined over a one-month follow-up period. The aim of the study was to identify clusters of change as well as their correlates, including demographic variables and coping strategies (brooding, reflection, co-rumination, and positive reappraisal). Participants and procedure Two hundred and seventy-seven seniors (age 77.39 ±9.20 years, 67.50% women) were assessed twice within one month with the 11-item version of the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Demographic and clinical characteristics were measured at baseline together with coping strategies. Selected items from Ruminative Response Styles (brooding, reflection), the Co-Rumination Questionnaire (co-rumination), and mini-COPE (positive reframing) were used. Results On the basis of a two-step cluster analysis, four clusters of depression course were recognized: low stable (n = 53), medium stable (n = 101), high increasing (n = 69), and very high stable (n = 54). Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that higher number of diseases, higher brooding and lower positive reappraisal were associated with increased likelihood of belonging to the higher symptom groups. No significant gender effect was noted. Conclusions A non-clinical sample of older people appeared to be heterogeneous regarding symptoms of depression and its course. However, only 19.00% of participants reported a low level of depression. Strategies of coping with health concerns may play a significant role here, as brooding and positive reappraisal significantly differentiate between clusters of low stable and high stable symptoms, even after control for a proxy of objective health status

Data_HSCT

The recruitment occured in a single-centre after elective hospital admission for hematopeotic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The research procedure consisted of 2 stages: (1) baseline measurement (before conditioning regimen); and (2) a day-by-day measurement based on a daily evening measurement of physical symptoms for 28 days starting from the first day of hospital discharge. The study protocol was approved by the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities Ethics Committee. <br>Measures: daily somatic symptoms; demographic (age, gender, education, marital status, subjective economic status and employment) and clinical characteristics (diagnosis, time since diagnosis, comorbidities, type of transplant, condidioning).<br

Data_PTG and PTD following mastectomy.sav

Coping strategies, support effectiveness (SSE), posttraumatic growth (PTG), and posttraumatic depreciation (PTD) were measured in 84 post-mastectomy women. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) history of mreast cancer, (2) history of radical or breast-conserving mastectomy, (3) no history of other major disibling medical or psychiatric conditions, and (4) age of above 18 years. This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the Local Ethics Committee. All participants gave written informed conset in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.<br>Posttraumatic grwoth symptoms were assessed using the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). Responses were provided on a 6-point scale, ranging from 0 (I did not experience this change) to 5 (I experienced this change to a very great degree). Higher scores reflected more PTG (Cronbachs' alfa was .86).<br>Posttraumatic depreciation symptoms were assessed with 21 negatively worded items from PTGI. A similar methodology was implemented by Backer et al. (2008). The participants used the same response scale as for PTGI. Higher scores indicated more PTD (Crongachs' alfa was .84).<br>Coping strategies were assessed with the abbreviated situational version of the COPE Inventory (Brief COPE). The participants rated their behavior regarding breast cancer and mastectomy ona 4-point scale ranging from 1 (I haven't been doing this at all) to 4 (I've been doing this a lot). In its original form, the Brief COPE consist of 14 subscales (with only 2 itmes per scale). Due to low item reliability, and as per the suggestion of Carver et al. (1998), a second-order exploratory ractor analysis was performed. Three higher-orger factors were identified and further analyzed: problem-focused coping (active coping, planning, use of instrumental support, alfa was .74); positive emotion-focused coping (use of emotional support, positive reframing, acceptance, religion, humor, alfa was .61); and negative emotion- and avoidance-focused coping (venting, denial, substance use, behavioral disengagement, self-distraction, self-blame, alfa was .62). Higher scores reflected greater coping strategies.<br>Effectiveness of social support attempts were assessed with the Social Support Effectiveness Questionnaire (SSE-Q; Rini and Dunkel-Schetter, 2010). The participants rated (a) whether the received amount matched the expected amount of support, (b) the ectent to which they wished for different support, (c) whether support was provided in a skillful way, (d) the difficulty associated with getting support, (e) whether support was offered without asking, and (f) whether the recieved support resulted in negtive effects (e.g. guilt). Points (a) to (e) were assessed on a 4-point scale from 0 (very poor, not et alll; or never; depending on the content) to a 4 (excellent; extremely; always; respectively), while negative effects were assessed on a two-point scale of 0 (yes) to 2 (no). Higher scores indicated greater SSE (alfa was .91). <br><br