The positivity effect in older adults : the role of affective interference and inhibition

Objectives: Research shows that aging often involves a decrease in the experience of negative affect and might even be associated with a stabilization or an increase in experience concerning positive affect. As it has been suggested that these changes could be related to the processing of emotional information, the aim of this study was to investigate interference and inhibition toward sad and happy faces in healthy elderly people compared to a younger population. Method: We used an affective modification of the negative priming task. If interference is related to enhanced inhibition, reduced interference from negative stimuli and a related weakened inhibition toward negative stimuli in the elderly group would be in line with the positivity hypothesis. Results: As expected, the results indicated that interference from negative stimuli was significantly lower in older adults as compared to younger adults, whereas this was not the case for positive stimuli. Moreover, at inhibitory level a significantly reduced processing of negative stimuli was observed only in the older adult group, whereas there was no such effect in the case of positive material. Conclusion: These observations are indicative for a decreased negative bias in older adults at information processing level. This provides new insights with regard to age-related differences in emotion processing

Hierarchical structure of maladaptive personality traits in older adults: joint factor analysis of the PID-5 and the DAPP-BQ

In DSM-5, the categorical model and criteria for the 10 personality disorders included in DSM-IV will be reprinted in Section II. Moreover, an alternative dimensional classification model will appear in Section III. This alternative DSM-5 proposal for the diagnosis of a personality disorder is based on two fundamental criteria: impairments in personality functioning (Criterion A) and the presence of pathological personality traits (Criterion B). In the maladaptive trait model that has been developed to operationalize Criterion B, 25 pathological traits are organized according to five higher order dimensions. The current study focuses on the convergence of the proposed DSM-5 trait model (as measured by the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 [PID-5]) with the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology (DAPP) model (as measured by the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology–Basic Questionnaire [DAPP-BQ]) in a sample of older people. A joint hierarchical factor analysis showed clear convergence between four PID-5 dimensions (Negative Affect, Detachment, Antagonism, Disinhibition) and conceptually similar DAPP-BQ components. Moreover, the PID-5 and the DAPP-BQ showed meaningful associations on different levels of their joint hierarchical factor structure. Methodological and theoretical implications of these initial results for the conceptualization of personality pathology are discussed

The 10-word learning task in the differential diagnosis of early Alzheimer's disease and elderly depression: a cross-sectional pilot study

Objectives: Identification of early Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become very important. Episodic memory tasks appear to have predictive power for indicating early AD. Deficits in encoding and storage processes that are characteristic of AD, however, must be distinguished from non-AD deficits that can also affect memory, including difficulties that may be present in depression. This pilot study was set up to ascertain whether a 10-word-list-learning task (delayed recognition and rate of forgetting) may be useful in making the differentiation between mild AD and depression. Method: A Dutch version of Rey's auditory verbal learning test was administered to 36 mild AD patients, 41 depressed patients, and 47 healthy controls. Data were analyzed in a cross-sectional manner. Results: Receiver operating characteristic analyses showed that for differentiating mild AD and depression, both delayed recognition and percentage of forgetting have sufficient diagnostic accuracy. Conclusion: Percentage of forgetting had the highest diagnostic accuracy for differentiating mild AD and depressed patients and may be useful in the early detection of AD

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on wellbeing and cognitive functioning of older adults

COVID-19 took a heavy toll on older adults. In Belgium, by the end of August, 93% of deaths due to COVID-19 were aged 65 or older. Similar trends were observed in other countries. As a consequence, older adults were identified as a group at risk, and strict governmental restrictions were imposed on them. This has caused concerns about their mental health. Using an online survey, this study established the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults aged 65 years or older, and which factors moderate this impact. Participants reported a significant decrease in activity level, sleep quality and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Depression was strongly related to reported declines in activity level, sleep quality, wellbeing and cognitive functioning. Our study shows that the COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on the mental health of older adults. This implies that this group at risk requires attention of governments and healthcare

Learning to Detect and Prevent Elder Abuse: The Need for a Valid Risk Assessment Instrument

AbstractPrevalence data of elder abuse from social and health services only present a tip of the iceberg. A large amount of situations is left undetected. Professionals often lack knowledge and skills on the topic. Consequently, this paper focuses on training professionals to prevent and assess elder abuse by drawing on a literature search and previous quantitative research on learning and supporting the prevention of elder abuse. This paper provides an understanding of the multi-dimensionality of elder abuse, explores the potential and need for an assessment instrument to support prevention by professionals and examines existing instruments, while addressing a number of shortcomings. Education programmes for care professionals often include identifying signs and symptoms of elder abuse, how to manage suspected cases, and the role of the professional in protecting potential victims and ethical issues. However, there lacks a user-friendly, brief, multi-dimensional instrument, which could support professionals in identifying symptoms of elder abuse

Validation of the AUDIT and AUDIT-C for hazardous drinking in community-dwelling older adults

Background: One of the best-known tools in screening for hazardous drinking is the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and its abbreviated form, the AUDIT-C. The aim of the present study is to determine the cut-offs of both instruments in identifying hazardous drinking in older adults. Method: A sample of 1577 older adults completed a questionnaire regarding alcohol behavior. Hazardous drinking was defined as drinking >10 units/week. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves of AUDIT and AUDIT-C were calculated and cut-off scores were derived. Results: Respectively 27.3% and 12.3% of older men and women drank >10 units/week. For the AUDIT the best trade-off between sensitivity and specificity was using a cut-off of ≥5 for men and ≥4 for women, which yielded in men sensitivity and specificity values respectively of 80.7% and 81.3% and in women 100% and 71.7%, respectively. We found the AUDIT-C to perform well with an optimal cut-off of ≥5 for men and ≥4 for women, which generated in men sensitivity and specificity values respectively of 76.5% and 85.3% and in women 100% and 74.1%, respectively. Conclusion: The AUDIT-C is accurate and sufficient in screening for hazardous drinking in community-dwelling older adults if the cut-offs are tailored by gender

Different Clinical Presentations in Eating Disorder Patients with Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Based on the Co-Occurrence of Borderline Personality Disorder

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) features are common in patients with eating disorders (ED), yet little is known regarding the clinical presentation of ED patients who present with NSSI with and without BPD. The current study compared self-injurious, female ED inpatients with (n = 98; NSSI+BPD) and without BPD (n = 45; NSSI-only) on different self-reported clinical features. Results suggest that ED patients with NSSI+BPD differ from those with NSSI-only with regard to frequency of suicidal ideation, alcohol, drug or medication abuse, internalizing/externalizing psychopathology, interpersonal problems, and coping strategies, with the NSSI+BPD group demonstrating more impairment in each of these domains. Despite these differences in clinical presentation, however, groups did not differ in NSSI features. In sum, while self-injurious ED patients may present with similar NSSI behavior regardless of BPD diagnosis, those with NSS+BPD represent a group with much higher clinical complexity and greater treatment needs