The relationship between attentional processing of emotional information and personality : a comparison between older and younger adults

Older adults have been found to focus more on positive and less on negative information compared to younger adults. Yet, results on this attentional positivity effect are inconsistent. Since personality has been related to attentional processing in younger adults, we explored whether (mal) adaptive personality traits are also linked to the occurrence of the positivity effect measured with eye tracking paradigms. We performed two studies with different experimental tasks and recruited for each study 60 community dwelling younger (aged 2450) and 60 older (age 65-91) adults. We found some indication for a positivity effect with a free-viewing task (study 2), but not with a task measuring engagement and disengagement with emotional information (study 1). Although this effect should be interpreted with caution, it corroborates evidence that the positivity effect is more robust in situations without cognitive constraints. No evidence was found for personality traits to be related to the occurrence of the effect. Further research is needed to further clarify conditions that influence older adults' attention for emotional information

How is personality related to well-being in older and younger adults? The role of psychological flexibility

Objectives: Personality is known to be a reliable predictor of well-being. However, it is rather difficult to influence the personality of individuals in order to improve their well-being. Therefore, it is important to examine possible underlying mechanisms or indirect effects. Consequently, the aim of the current study was to investigate whether psychological flexibility is a mechanism explaining the relationship between personality and well-being. Given the evidence that age-related differences exist in personality, flexibility, and well-being, we also investigated whether our indirect effects model differed in both older and younger adults. Design: We used a cross-sectional design. Setting: Participants were asked to fill in questionnaires at home. Participants: We recruited 138 younger (25-50 years) and 120 older (65+) adults from a community-dwelling population. Measurements: Self-report questionnaires were used to assess (mal)adaptive personality traits (Big Five), psychological flexibility, and affective and general subjective well-being. Results: Similar indirect effects were found in older and younger adults: Psychological flexibility is a mechanism explaining the link between personality and well-being. In nearly half of the models, psychological flexibility even fully accounted for the effect of personality on well-being. Conclusion: These results have important implications for clinical practice, since psychological flexibility, contrary to personality traits, is malleable. Interventions to increase psychological flexibility already exist and are validated in both older and younger samples. They may hold promise to improve well-being

Flexibility as a mediator between personality and well-being in older and younger adults : findings from questionnaire data and a behavioral task

Background Personality is a predictor of subjective well-being in older and younger adults, but less is known about the underlying mechanisms. One possible mechanism is psychological flexibility, which is the ability to keep an open mind-set in order to make flexible choices adapted to the situation at hand. Methods We recruited 60 younger and 60 older adults and measured personality and well-being by questionnaires. To assess psychological flexibility we used questionnaires and a behavioral task assessing flexibility in information acquisition when making choices. Results Based on indirect effect analysis of the questionnaire data, in line with former research, our data show that in both age groups, the relationship between personality and well-being runs through psychological flexibility. Conclusion This implies that training psychological flexibility may be a promising approach to increase well-being in both older and younger adults. This effect could not be demonstrated with our choice flexibility task, thus more research is needed to uncover why this could not be measured at the behavioral level

Persoonlijkheidsstoornissen bij ouderen: Epidemiologische aspecten

Ondanks de groeiende klinische aandacht voor persoonlijkheidsstoornissen bij ouderen (≥ 55 jaar) is empirisch onderzoek naar persoonlijkheidspathologie op latere leeftijd beperkt. Gezien de toenemende mondiale vergrijzing is wetenschappelijk kennis op dit vlak cruciaal. Dit artikel geeft een overzicht van epidemiologische aspecten van persoonlijkheidsstoornissen bij ouderen, zoals de prevalentie, het beloop en de invloed ervan op verschillenden gebieden van functioneren.status: Published onlin

Epidemiological aspects of personality disorders in older adults

Despite growing clinical attention to personality disorders in older adults (≥ 55 yrs.), empirical research addressing personality pathology in late life is scarce. Given the ageing of the population globally, scientific knowledge in this area is of vital importance. This article gives an overview of the epidemiological aspects of personality disorders in older adults, such as prevalence, the course and the impact on various domains of functioning