83 research outputs found
Post-traumatic growth among older people after the forced lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic
We explored post-traumatic growth (PTG) in older adults immediately after the forced lockdown in Spain during March to April, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also tried to identify the variables that predict PTG, focusing on the experience of COVID, sociodemographic variables, and social resources. In total 1,009 people aged 55 years and older participated in the study and completed an online questionnaire comprising the following elements: The short form of the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-SF), sociodemographic and social resources questions, and their experiences of COVID-19 (if they had been infected themselves or if they had experienced the loss of someone close). Results showed that only a quarter of the participants experienced higher PTG after the forced lockdown, with only age and social resources being correlated with scores on the PTGI-SF. Looking at the strengths that older adults put into action to combat the pandemic and its social and health consequences could be an important consideration when planning future social policies for this and other pandemics
Older adults' participation in artistic activities: A scoping review
This scoping review analyses existing literature on older adults’ participation in artistic activities. It identifies gaps in this research topic and suggests new directions for research. We followed the five-step process defined by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and extended by Levac et al. (2010). Four electronic databases were searched, and 129 peer-reviewed articles were included in the scoping review. Research into older adults’ participation in artistic activities has grown in the last ten years. However, empirical papers tend to focus on the outcomes of older people’s participation in artistic activities, in particular the benefits. Most papers centred on facilitators to examine the antecedents of this type of participation among people in late life. Research about experiences, potentially negative consequences or barriers to older adults’ participation in artistic activities have been largely overlooked. We identified several gaps in the literature, which we classified as: related to the artistic activities that were considered; the potential costs and barriers for older adults’ participation in artistic activities; older adults’ voices and their diversity; the life course perspective; and a contextual view of research on the topic. These gaps suggest challenges that future research on older adults’ participation in artistic activities should consider
LA PARTICIPACIÓN CÍVICA DE LAS PERSONAS MAYORES COMO EXPRESIÓN DE LA GENERATIVIDAD EN LA VEJEZ
La participación cívica de las personas mayores podría ser considerada como un ejemplo paradigmático del “buen” envejecer, ya que los mayores obtendrían importantes beneficios a nivel personal al tiempo que contribuyen al desarrollo de sus comunidades. Aunque la investigación previa ha arrojado una gran cantidad de datos empíricos respecto al perfil de las personas mayores que participan, a los factores que predicen esta participación y a los beneficios personales y sociales que se desprenden de la misma, todavía son escasos los intentos de sistematizar este fenómeno desde una perspectiva psicológica. Este artículo explora la utilidad del concepto eriksoniano de generatividad como marco de comprensión de la participación cívica de las personas mayores y propone una agenda de investigación futura desde este punto de vista
Older age as a time to contribute: A scoping review of generativity in later life
Research on later-life generativity has promoted a new view of older persons that, far from the traditional images of disability, dependence and frailty, recognises their capacities, and potential to continue growing, while underlining their participation and contributions to families, communities and society. The goal of this study was to carry out a scoping review on later-life generativity, the first one conducted on this topic as far as we know, to show how studies in this area have evolved, which aspects of generativity in later life have been studied, and the methodological and epistemological approaches that are dominant in this area of inquiry. Our scoping review shows that research into generativity in later life has grown steadily over the past 30 years, and particularly during the last decade. However, our results also show how such growing interest has focused on certain methodological approaches, epistemological frameworks and cultural contexts. We identify four critical gaps and leading-edge research questions that should be at the forefront of future research into generativity in later life, gaps that reflect biases in the existing literature identified in the study. These are classified as methodological, developmental, contextual and 'darkside' gaps
Giving Them a Voice: Challenges to Narrative Agency in People with Dementia
In this paper, we argue that the capacity for narrative agency is significantly compromised in individuals with dementia due to at least three factors: (a) Dementia itself, which causes increasing difficulties in constructing and articulating coherent and meaningful stories, and sharing them with others; (b) cultural narratives about dementia, which promote an extremely negative and pessimistic view of those with the disease; and (c) the convergence of these two last factors, which can lead to caregiving interactions that do not support storytelling and can even stop people with dementia from telling stories. We highlight the importance of narrative care, which involves interventions that focus on the person and their unique life narrative. In narrative care, people with dementia are treated not as impaired patients defined by the disease, but as human beings. In doing so, people with dementia can have their own voices back, which is silenced and discredited so many times
Desarrollo y validación estructural de una escala para evaluar la regulación de la ira y la tristeza en situaciones interpersonales
The purpose of this research was to develop and validate a new instrument to assess the regulation of anger and sadness in interpersonal situations, covering a wide range of emotion regulation strategies. Two studies were carried out, both of them using purposively selected samples. In Study 1 we created a set ofitems based on previous studies of emotion regulation, applied a preliminary version of this scale to a pilot sample of undergraduate students (n = 400), and then selected, using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the best 28 items to include in a brief version of the instrument, the Scale of Emotion Regulation in Interpersonal Situations (SERIS). In Study 2 we tested the resulting scale ina new sample of undergraduate students (n = 259) by means of confirmatory factor analysis. Study 2 validated the factor structure identified in the EFA. Results showed that the scale has adequate internal consistency and psychometric properties. The new scale also identifies the strategies that are most frequently used in the anger and sadness scenarios, showing differential patterns which are consistent with previous literature on emotion regulation. We discuss the limitations of the study and acknowledge that future studies addressing the scale’s convergent and discriminant validity are now required.El objetivo de este trabajo es desarrollar una escala para evaluar la regulación emocional de la ira y la tristeza en situaciones interpersonales y que incluya un amplio rango de estrategias de regulación. Se realizaron dos estudios, contando ambos con muestras seleccionadas de manera intencional. En el estudio 1, se construyó un banco de ítems a partir de la revisión de la literatura, se aplicó a una muestra de estudiantes universitarios (n = 400) y se seleccionaron, mediante análisis factorial exploratorio, los mejores 28 indicadores para conformaruna escala breve llamada Escala de Regulación Emocional en Situaciones Interpersonales (ERESI). En el estudio 2 se validó en una nueva muestra, compuesta también por estudiantes universitarios (n = 259), la estructura factorial de la escala desarrollada en el estudio 1, aplicando un análisis factorial confirmatorio. Los resultados validaron la estructura factorial extraída del estudio 1, y señalaron que el instrumento cuenta con adecuada consistencia interna y validez estructural. También se verificó que el instrumento permite identificarlas estrategias más aplicadas en las situaciones de ira y de tristeza, hallando patrones diferenciales para cada emoción, y consistentes con la literatura existente sobre regulación emocional. Se discutieron las limitaciones y la necesidad de continuar con estudios de validación convergente y discriminante
Managing apathy among people with dementia living in institutional settings: Staff's perceived gap between common and best practices
The aim of this study is to explore how staff manage apathy involving a person living with dementia (PLWD). Forty-two staff members working in four Spanish long-term care facilities were interviewed; 21 were nursing assistants and 21 technical staff. They read a vignette about a PLWD presenting apathy. Participants were asked (1) how a situation like that is commonly managed, and (2) how it should be managed. Responses were content-analyzed. Most participants (88.1%) mentioned having experienced a situation similar to the one described in the vignette. Behavior-focused strategies and person-centered strategies were the most frequently mentioned. As for best practices, person-centered strategies emerged as the preferred alternative, and technical staff mentioned them more frequently than assistant carers. Our findings stress the importance of organizational guidelines and staff development in the management of apathy in PLWD
Development and structural validation of a scale to assess regulation of anger and sadness in interpersonal situations
The purpose of this research was to develop and validate a new instrument to assess the regulation of anger and sadness in interpersonal situations, covering a wide range of emotion regulation strategies. Two studies were carried out, both of them using purposively selected samples. In Study 1 we created a set ofitems based on previous studies of emotion regulation, applied a preliminary version of this scale to a pilot sample of undergraduate students (n = 400), and then selected, using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the best 28 items to include in a brief version of the instrument, the Scale of Emotion Regulation in Interpersonal Situations (SERIS). In Study 2 we tested the resulting scale ina new sample of undergraduate students (n = 259) by means of confirmatory factor analysis. Study 2 validated the factor structure identified in the EFA. Results showed that the scale has adequate internal consistency and psychometric properties. The new scale also identifies the strategies that are most frequently used in the anger and sadness scenarios, showing differential patterns which are consistent with previous literature on emotion regulation. We discuss the limitations of the study and acknowledge that future studies addressing the scale's convergent and discriminant validity are now required
Improving Operational Short- to Medium-Range (SR2MR) Streamflow Forecasts in the Upper Zambezi Basin and Its Sub-Basins Using Variational Ensemble Forecasting
The combination of Hydrological Models and high-resolution Satellite Precipitation Products (SPPs) or regional Climatological Models (RCMs), has provided the means to establish baselines for the quantification, propagation, and reduction in hydrological uncertainty when generating streamflow forecasts. This study aimed to improve operational real-time streamflow forecasts for the Upper Zambezi River Basin (UZRB), in Africa, utilizing the novel Variational Ensemble Forecasting (VEF) approach. In this regard, we describe and discuss the main steps required to implement, calibrate, and validate an operational hydrologic forecasting system (HFS) using VEF and Hydrologic Processing Strategies (HPS). The operational HFS was constructed to monitor daily streamflow and forecast them up to eight days in the future. The forecasting process called short- to medium-range (SR2MR) streamflow forecasting was implemented using real-time rainfall data from three Satellite Precipitation Products or SPPs (The real-time TRMM Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis TMPA-RT, the NOAA CPC Morphing Technique CMORPH, and the Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed data using Artificial Neural Networks, PERSIANN) and rainfall forecasts from the Global Forecasting System (GFS). The hydrologic preprocessing (HPR) strategy considered using all raw and bias corrected rainfall estimates to calibrate three distributed hydrological models (HYMOD_DS, HBV_DS, and VIC 4.2.b). The hydrologic processing (HP) strategy considered using all optimal parameter sets estimated during the calibration process to increase the number of ensembles available for operational forecasting. Finally, inference-based approaches were evaluated during the application of a hydrological postprocessing (HPP) strategy. The final evaluation and reduction in uncertainty from multiple sources, i.e., multiple precipitation products, hydrologic models, and optimal parameter sets, was significantly achieved through a fully operational implementation of VEF combined with several HPS. Finally, the main challenges and opportunities associated with operational SR2MR streamflow forecasting using VEF are evaluated and discussed
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