48 research outputs found
Conscientiousness, Career Success, and Longevity: A Lifespan Analysis
Markers of executive functioning, such as prudent planning for the future and impulse control, are related to conscientiousness and may be central to both occupational success and health outcomes.
The aim of the study was to examine relations among conscientiousness, career success, and mortality risk across a 65-year period.
Using data derived from 693 male participants in the Terman Life Cycle Study, we examined associations among childhood personality, midlife objective career success, and lifelong mortality risk through 2006.
Conscientiousness and career success each predicted lower mortality risk (Nâ=â693, relative hazard (rh)â=â0.82 [95% confidence intervalâ=â0.74, 0.91] and rhâ=â0.80 [0.71, 0.91], respectively), with both shared and unique variance. Importantly, childhood personality moderated the successâlongevity link; conscientiousness was most relevant for least successful individuals.
Conscientiousness and career success predicted longevity, but not in a straightforward manner. Findings highlight the importance of lifespan processes
SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues
Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to
genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility
and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component.
Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci
(eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene),
including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform
genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer
SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the
diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types
COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study
Background:
The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms.
Methods:
International, prospective observational study of 60â109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms.
Results:
âTypicalâ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (â€â18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (â„â70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each Pâ<â0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country.
Interpretation:
This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men
Age differences in affective and cardiovascular responses to a negative social interaction: the role of goals, appraisals, and emotion regulation.
Age differences and longitudinal change in the effects of data collection mode on self-reports of psychosocial functioning.
Coping with a negative social interaction: the role of age and depressive symptoms
Interpersonal stressors, such as arguments and disagreements, are among the most distressing types of daily experiences. It is therefore important to understand how people cope with such stressors. Previous studies suggest that older adults are more likely to use emotion-focused, avoidant, and passive coping strategies during interpersonal tensions (e.g., Birditt & Fingerman, 2003), which are among the most effective strategies for these types of stressors (e.g., Blanchard-Fields et al., 2007). Individuals with greater depressive symptoms also tend to use similar coping strategies and yet, they often exhibit lower efficacy (Coyne, Aldwin, & Lazarus, 1981). The current study investigates how age correlates with depressive symptoms and coping styles in response to a controlled negative interpersonal stressor. Younger adult (18-35 years old) and older adult (60+ years old) participants (N = 159) discussed hypothetical dilemmas with an age-group, gender, and cultural group matched confederate who was scripted to act unfriendly and disagreeable. As expected, individuals with greater depressive symptoms were less likely to engage in active coping and more likely to self-blame, use behavioral disengagement, and be in denial about the negative social interaction with the confederate. Moreover, there was an interaction effect such that with increasing depressive symptoms, older adults were less likely to vent (i.e., express negative affect) with the confederate whereas for younger adults, greater depressive symptoms was associated with greater venting. However, it was also found that depressive symptoms were more likely to be found in the young adult participants than the older adult participants. These findings suggest the importance of considering how the association between depressive symptoms and coping strategies may depend on age and other possible motivational factors
Age differences in affective and cardiovascular responses to a negative social interaction: The role of goals, appraisals, and emotion regulation.
Older adults often report less affective reactivity to interpersonal tensions than younger individuals, but few studies have directly investigated mechanisms explaining this effect. The current study examined whether older adultsâ differential endorsement of goals, appraisals, and emotion regulation strategies (i.e., conflict avoidance/de-escalation, self-distraction) during a controlled negative social interaction may explain age differences in affective and cardiovascular responses to the conflict discussion. Participants (N=159; 80 younger adults, 79 older adults) discussed hypothetical dilemmas with disagreeable confederates. Throughout the laboratory session, participantsâ subjective emotional experience, blood pressure, and pulse rate were assessed. Older adults generally exhibited less reactivity (negative affect reactivity, diastolic blood pressure reactivity, and pulse rate reactivity) to the task, and more pronounced positive and negative affect recovery following the task, than did younger adults. Older adults appraised the task as more enjoyable and the confederate as more likeable, and more strongly endorsed goals to perform well on the task, which mediated age differences in negative affect reactivity, pulse rate reactivity, and positive affect recovery (i.e., increases in post-task positive affect), respectively. In addition, younger adults showed increased negative affect reactivity with greater use of self-distraction, whereas older adults did not. Together, findings suggest that older adults respond less negatively to unpleasant social interactions than younger adults, and these responses are explained in part by older adultsâ pursuit of different motivational goals, less threatening appraisals of the social interaction, and more effective use of self-distraction, compared to younger adults
Cultural differences in coping with interpersonal tensions lead to divergent shorter- and longer-term affective consequences.
Culture influences how people cope with interpersonal tensions, with those from more collectivistic contexts (e.g. Chinese Americans (CA)) generally opting for strategies promoting social harmony whereas those from more individualistic contexts (e.g. European Americans (EA)) preferring confrontational strategies. The current study examined cultural differences in coping strategy choices and their linkages to immediate affective reactions and subsequent affective memories. Participants (Nâ=â159) discussed hypothetical dilemmas with a disagreeable confederate matched by age group, gender, and cultural group. CA exhibited less positive affect reactivity (i.e. smaller decreases in positive affect) and greater positive affect recovery (i.e. greater increases in post-task positive affect) compared to EA, which was explained by CAs appraisals of greater emotional support from the confederate and lower endorsement of defending ones opinions. In contrast, one week later, EA, but not CA, recalled experiencing more task positive affect and less task negative affect than originally reported. Cultural differences in negative affect memory discrepancies were explained by EAs greater tendency to defend their opinions, relative to CA. Culture shapes coping choices, which predict affective consequences over different time scales
Daily interpersonal tensions and well-being among older adults: The role of emotion regulation strategies.
Interpersonal tensions are more strongly associated with well-being than other types of stressors in late life. Yet, there is little understanding of how older adults preferences for different emotion regulation strategies may buffer or exacerbate effects of daily interpersonal tensions on emotional well-being. The present study examined links between interpersonal tensions and daily emotional well-being and whether those links were exacerbated or buffered by general emotion regulation strategy preferences. Participants were from the Daily Experiences and Well-Being Study, which included 293 older adults (aged 65 + years old) who completed baseline interviews, followed by 5-6 days of ecological momentary assessments, and a leave-behind questionnaire regarding emotion regulation strategies. Interpersonal tensions predicted poorer emotional well-being throughout the day and even more so for oldest-old individuals (aged 80 +) compared to young-old individuals. The effects of tensions on emotional well-being were attenuated among adults who generally preferred reappraisal and exacerbated among people who generally preferred avoidance. Reappraisal was particularly important for buffering the effects of tensions among individuals with poorer self-reported health. The findings regarding active coping were more nuanced and varied by age. The current study advances previous research on emotion regulation and social relations by examining older adults and revealing that links between interpersonal tensions, emotion regulation strategies, and emotional well-being vary on the basis of age and self-rated health. This study highlights the importance of considering how personal characteristics may shape later-life well-being in the context of coping with interpersonal tensions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)