Emotional aging: a discrete emotions perspective

Perhaps the most important single finding in the field of emotional aging has been that the overall quality of affective experience steadily improves during adulthood and can be maintained into old age. Recent lifespan developmental theories have provided motivation- and experience-based explanations for this phenomenon. These theories suggest that, as individuals grow older, they become increasingly motivated and able to regulate their emotions, which could result in reduced negativity and enhanced positivity. The objective of this paper is to expand existing theories and empirical research on emotional aging by presenting a discrete emotions perspective. To illustrate the usefulness of this approach, we focus on a discussion of the literature examining age differences in anger and sadness. These two negative emotions have typically been subsumed under the singular concept of negative affect. From a discrete emotions perspective, however, they are highly distinct and show multidirectional age differences. We propose that such contrasting age differences in specific negative emotions have important implications for our understanding of long-term patterns of affective well-being across the adult lifespan

Search Me: Eastern Michigan University\u27s Journey through the Highs and Lows of Implementing the Summon Discovery Tool

In early 2011, Eastern Michigan University (EMU) began implementation of the Summon Web-scale discovery service from Serials Solutions. This case study will explore the challenges and successes of the implementation and launch process. Topics covered will include project management overview; integration of Summon with our ILS, link resolver, and Automated Retrieval Collection (ARC); mapping of the library\u27s print collection to the Summon interface; issues that arose with the ingest of our titles; incorporation into the library\u27s daily workflow; maintenance of e-resource holdings in two separate knowledge bases; and integration into public services reference and teaching

Self-regulation processes and health: The importance of optimism and goal adjustment

ABSTRACT This article discusses how self-regulatory models can be used to understand people’s response to health threats. The article begins with a general discussion of the principles and assumptions of self-regulatory models of behavior. Two distinct lines of research are then presented addressing two important processes of adaptive self-regulation. First, we provide a brief overview of the literature on optimism and adjustment to chronic disease and other health outcomes. Second, we present an overview of the process of disengagement from unattainable goals, focusing on recent research. We close by making recommendations for future research. The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the ways in which self-regulatory models of behavior can help us understand people’s responses to health threats. This article begins with a general discussion of a set of orienting assumptions and principles embedded in models of self-regulation of behavior, placing the heaviest emphasis on our own approach. We then describe two distinct lines of researc

How do cancer patients manage unattainable personal goals and regulate their emotions?

Objectives. This article addressed the role of goal adjustment (i.e. disengagement from unattainable goals and reengagement in alternative goals) and cognitive emotion-regulation strategies (i.e. rumination, catastrophizing, positive refocusing) in cancer patients' psychological well-being. We expected that patients who are better able to disengage from unattainable goals, identify alternative goals, and regulate their emotions by positive refocusing and not engaging in rumination and catastrophizing would experience less negative and more positive affect. Design. In this cross-sectional study, data were collected using a self-report questionnaire. Methods. Cancer patients (N = 108) were recruited on a psychoeducational meeting aimed to inform them about the illness and its consequences. To examine the relationships between goal adjustment, cognitive emotion-regulation strategies, and affect, Pearson correlations were calculated and regression analyses were performed. Results. Regression analyses showed that reengaging in meaningful goals and focusing on pleasant issues were significantly associated with more positive affect. Focusing on pleasant issues was also significantly associated with less negative affect, whereas rumination and catastrophizing were significantly associated with more negative affect. Conclusions. Goal reengagement as well as cognitive emotion-regulation strategies seems to play an important role in cancer patients' psychological well-being. Health care professionals may assist patients in paying more attention to positive experiences in their daily life and in finding new meaningful goals. Techniques based on mindfulness may be used to assist cancer patients in decreasing the repetitive negative thinking about causes, meanings, and consequences of the illness and helping them to focus attention on the present moment

Moving forward during major goal blockage: situational goal adjustment in women facing infertility

Individuals confronting chronic medical conditions often face profound challenges to cherished life goals. The primary aim of this study was to examine the associations of goal adjustment with psychological adjustment in the context of infertility. At study entry (T1; n = 97) and 6 months later (T2; n = 47), women in fertility treatment completed measures of goal blockage, goal adjustment ability, and psychological adjustment. At T1, greater perceived and actual goal blockage were related to negative psychological adjustment. Ability to disengage from the goal of biological parenthood was associated with less infertility-specific thought intrusion, whereas engagement with other goals was related to fewer depressive symptoms and greater positive states of mind. Greater general goal engagement was protective against the negative relationships between low goal disengagement and the dependent variables. Promoting letting go of the unattainable and investing in the possible may be a useful intervention to foster well-being among individuals experiencing profound goal blockage

Do the Emotional Benefits of Optimism Vary Across Older Adulthood? A Life-Span Perspective

Objective. This study examined whether the emotional benefits of dispositional optimism for managing stressful encounters decrease across older adulthood. Such an effect might emerge because age-related declines in opportunities for overcoming stressors could reduce the effectiveness of optimism. Method. This hypothesis was tested in a six-year longitudinal study of 171 community-dwelling older adults (age range = 64 to 90 years). Results. Hierarchical linear models showed that dispositional optimism protected relatively young participants from exhibiting elevations in depressive symptoms over time, but that these benefits became increasingly reduced among their older counterparts. Moreover, the findings showed that an age-related association between optimism and depressive symptoms was observed particularly during periods of enhanced, as compared to reduced, stress. Conclusions. These results suggest that dispositional optimism protects emotional well-being during the early phases of older adulthood, but that its effects are reduced in advanced old age

Optimism

Dispositional optimism is a personality construct that reflects individual differences in generalized expectations about future outcomes. Unlike their pessimistic counterparts, optimists tend to approach the world expecting positive, as opposed to negative, outcomes to occur in their future, across different life domains. This definition makes dispositional optimism different from other, related concepts that address outcome expectancies of specific, situational transactions and behaviors or infer optimism through an individual’s interpretation of negative life events. Most research examines dispositional optimism by administering the “Life Orientation Test-Revised”, which assesses a person’s generalized optimistic and pessimistic outcome expectancies. Much of this work has treated dispositional optimism as a continuous, bipolar construct, ranging from high levels of pessimism to high levels of optimism. Other research, however, has examined optimistic and pessimistic outcome expectancies as separate, but related, constructs. Overall, the literature on dispositional optimism suggests that optimists live happier and healthier lives than pessimists. This entry reviews literature on optimism and provides an overview of the psychological mechanisms that make dispositional optimism an adaptive personal resource. The entry focuses on two important life-span developmental questions: 1) are there age-related changes in the benefits of optimism, and 2) can individuals become more optimistic over time

Self-Compassion, Chronic Age-Related Stressors, and Diurnal Cortisol Secretion in Older Adulthood

Background: Many older adults experience chronic age-related stressors (e.g., life regrets or health problems) that are difficult to control and can disturb cortisol regulation. Self-compassion may buffer adverse effects of these stressful experiences on diurnal cortisol secretion in older adulthood. Purpose: To examine whether self-compassion could benefit older adults’ cortisol secretion in the context of chronic and largely uncontrollable age-related stressors. Methods: 233 community- dwelling older adults reported their levels of self-compassion, age-related stressors (regret intensity, physical health problems, and functional disability), and relevant covariates. Diurnal cortisol was measured over 3 days and the average area-under-the-curve (AUC) and slope were calculated. Results: Higher levels of self-compassion were associated with lower daily cortisol levels among older adults who reported higher levels of regret intensity, physical health problems, or functional disability (βs .28). Conclusions: These results suggest that self- compassion may represent an important personal resource that could protect older adults from stress- related biological disturbances resulting from chronic and uncontrollable stressors

Self-regulation of unattainable goals in suicide attempters: the relationship between goal disengagement, goal reengagement and suicidal ideation

There is growing interest in models of adaptive self-regulation. Recent research suggests that goal disengagement and goal reengagement (i.e., goal adjustment) are implicated in the self-regulation of emotion. This study extends the self-regulation research to investigate the utility of goal adjustment in understanding suicidal risk. To this end, two hundred adults hospitalised following a suicidal episode completed a range of clinical and psychological measures in hospital and were followed up approximately 2.5 months after discharge (Time 2). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that goal reengagement predicted suicidal ideation at Time 2. In addition, the lack of goal reengagement was especially pernicious when reported concomitantly with high disengagement. These predictive effects were independent of baseline mood, attempt status and suicidal intent. The theoretical and clinical implications are discussed