Dementia worry, an anxiety-related response to the possibility of developing dementia, represents an important yet underexplored health concern for an aging population. Such a construct is likely ...impacted by stereotypes concerning aging, including biased associations of aging with inevitable cognitive decline. The present article explores the impact of mixed positive and negative aging stereotype messages on levels of dementia worry. The Fear of Alzheimer’s Disease Scale (FADS) was used to measure impact of priming with different proportions of positive and negative aging stereotype words. The priming intervention was modeled after Levy (J Pers Soc Psychol 71:1092–1107,
1996
, doi:
10.1037/0022-3514.71.6.1092
). Eighty older adult participants (
M
age
= 71.65, SD = 6.57) were exposed to mostly positive aging stereotype words, half positive/half negative words, mostly negative words, all negative words, or non-stereotype words. Mean FADS item response was significantly impacted by priming such that those in the all negative condition had highest levels of dementia worry,
F
(4, 75) = 2.48,
p
= .05,
η
p
2
=
0.12
. This effect was strengthened when relevance of aging stereotypes was controlled for,
p
< .01. Results suggested that brief exposure to negative aging stereotype content increased levels of dementia worry, particularly when stereotypes were self-relevant. These findings indicate addressing aging stereotypes may be one way of impacting dementia worry.
Chronic conditions are common and require ongoing continuous management and preventive measures. The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected the management of chronic conditions by delaying care. We ...sought to understand the impact of personal characteristics (i.e., age) and healthcare factors (i.e., access to a provider) on healthcare access in a sample of Americans 50 years of age or older during COVID-19.
Participants completed an online survey at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic - the Aging in the Time of COVID Survey. Questions focused on health status, health care access, COVID-19 fear, and social connectedness. Participants were recruited through social media advertisements, list serves, and snowball sampling. Data collection started in early April 2020 and concluded in late May 2020. Logistic regression models examined the results of two key access points: healthcare provider/doctor (n = 481) and medication (n = 765), with 56 and 93% of participants reporting access to a provider and medications, respectively.
Individuals with an established primary care provider were much more likely to obtain access to a healthcare provider, OR = 3.81 (95% CI: 1.69, 8.77), and to receive medication, OR = 4.48 (95% CI: 1.61, 11.48), during the time of COVID-19. In addition, access to medication was (a) higher for those who were older, OR = 1.05 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.09), had a higher income (greater than 100 k compared to less than 50 k, OR = 3.04 (95% CI: 1.11, 8.98), and (b) lower for those having caregiving responsibilities, OR = 0.41 (95% CI: 0.21, 0.78), or greater social isolation, OR = 0.93 (95% CI: 0.87, 0.98).
Although most participants had access to medication, just over half had access to a healthcare provider when needed. Notably, health-seeking behaviors for individuals who do not have an established primary care providers as well as those who provide unpaid care, are socially isolated, and younger may require more proactive approaches to care monitoring, management, and maintenance.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects Latinos disproportionately. One of the reasons underlying this disparity may be type 2 diabetes (T2D) that is a risk factor for AD. The purpose of this study was to ...examine the associations of T2D and AD blood biomarkers and the differences in these associations between Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites. This study was a secondary analysis of baseline data from the observational Health and Aging Brain Study: Health Disparities (HABS-HD) that investigated factors underlying health disparities in AD in Mexican Americans in comparison to non-Hispanic Whites. HABS-HD participants were excluded if they had missing data or were large outliers (z-scores >|4|) on a given AD biomarker. Fasting blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were measured from clinical labs. T2D was diagnosed by licensed clinicians. Plasma amyloid-beta 42 and 40 (Aβ42/42) ratio, total tau (t-tau), and neurofilament light (NfL) were measured via ultra-sensitive Simoa assays. The sample sizes were 1,552 for Aβ42/40 ratio, 1,570 for t-tau, and 1,553 for NfL. Mexican Americans were younger (66.6±8.7 vs. 69.5±8.6) and had more female (64.9% female vs. 55.1%) and fewer years of schooling (9.5±4.6 vs. 15.6±2.5) than non-Hispanic Whites. Mexican Americans differed significantly from non-Hispanic Whites in blood glucose (113.5±36.6 vs. 99.2±17.0) and HbA1c (6.33±1.4 vs. 5.51±0.6) levels, T2D diagnosis (35.3% vs. 11.1%), as well as blood Aβ42/40 ratio (.051±.012 vs. .047±.011), t-tau (2.56±.95 vs. 2.33±.90), and NfL levels (16.3±9.5 vs. 20.3±10.3). Blood glucose, blood HbA1c, and T2D diagnosis were not related to Aβ42/40 ratio and t-tau but explained 3.7% of the variation in NfL (p < .001). Blood glucose and T2D diagnosis were not, while HbA1c was positively (b = 2.31, p < .001, β = 0.26), associated with NfL among Mexican Americans. In contrast, blood glucose, HbA1c, and T2D diagnosis were negatively (b = -0.09, p < .01, β = -0.26), not (b = 0.34, p = .71, β = 0.04), and positively (b = 3.32, p < .01, β = 0.33) associated with NfL, respectively in non-Hispanic Whites. To conclude, blood glucose and HbA1c levels and T2D diagnosis are associated with plasma NfL levels, but not plasma Aβ and t-tau levels. These associations differ in an ethnicity-specific manner and need to be further studied as a potential mechanism underlying AD disparities.
Two experiments explored age differences in response to reminders of death. Terror management research has shown that death reminders lead to increased adherence to and defense of one's cultural ...worldview. In Study 1, the effect of mortality salience (MS) on evaluations of moral transgressions made by younger and older adults was compared. Whereas younger adults showed the typical pattern of harsher judgments in response to MS, older adults did not. Study 2 compared younger and older adults' responses to both the typical MS induction and a more subtle death reminder. Whereas younger adults responded to both MS inductions with harsher evaluations, older adults made significantly less harsh evaluations after the subtle MS induction. Explanations for this developmental shift in responses to reminders of death are discussed.
The first COVID-19 case in the US was diagnosed late January 2020. In the subsequent months, cases grew exponentially. By March 2020, SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19) was a ...global pandemic and the US declared a national emergency. To mitigate transmission, federal guidelines were established for social and physical distancing. These events disrupted daily routines of individuals around the world, including Americans. The impact of the pandemic on PA patterns of Americans is largely unknown, especially among those at greater risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess levels of PA over time during the pandemic among US adults aged >50 years.
Data were collected as part of a web-based, longitudinal, 3-wave study examining health and well-being among adults aged > 50. PA data were collected at Waves 2 and 3 using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF). At Wave 2 (conducted mid-May to early June, 2020), participants completed the IPAQ-SF twice, once in reference to a typical 7-day period before the pandemic, and again in reference to the past 7 days. At Wave 3 (conducted mid-June to early July 2020), participants completed the IPAQ-SF once, with reference to the past 7 days. Potential predictors of PA change were collected using items from previously established surveys and included demographic characteristics, pre-pandemic PA levels, perceived COVID-19 threat, self-rated general health, and number of chronic disease conditions.
Respondents (
= 589) had a mean age of 63 ± 7.39 years and were mostly female (88%) and non-Hispanic White (96%). Mean MET-min/week across the three time-referents were 2,904 (pre-pandemic), 1,682 (Wave 2 past 7-days), and 2,001 (Wave 3 past 7-days), with PA declining between the first and second time referents (
= -0.45,
< 0.001) and remaining below pre-pandemic levels at the third (
= -0.34,
< 0.001). Changes over time were predicted by pre-pandemic PA and self-rated general health (
< .05).
Effective strategies are needed to promote safe and socially-distanced PA among adults aged >50 years until the risk of contracting COVID-19 subsides. In the post-pandemic era, PA programming will be imperative to address pandemic-associated declines in PA.
OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Cognitive decline is associated with obesity, stress, poor sleep, and circadian rhythm misalignment, which are themselves functionally intertwined. Irregular food intake timing ...exacerbates these all. Prolonged nightly fasting (PNF) aligns food intake with innate circadian rhythms. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: A nationwide, remotely-delivered, 2-arm randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess feasibility and 8-week outcomes of cognition, stress, sleep, eating behaviors, and general eating habits, after a PNF intervention (14-hr nightly fast, 6 nights/week, no calories after 8pm) compared to a health education control (HEC) condition. Eligible participants were living with obesity, stress (Perceived stress scale-4 (PSS-4) total score ≥5), and memory “not as good as it used to be.” Data were collected via Zoom meetings with participants and trained staff and entered into REDCap. All participants had weekly staff check-in calls to report fasting times (PNF group only) and feedback. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Eligible participants were enrolled from 37 of 50 US states; N=58, 86% women, 71% white, 93% non-Latinx, mean (SD) 50.1 (5.1) years of age, BMI 35.6 (3.6) kg/m^2. No group differences existed at baseline. Linear mixed-effects models were used to compare group differences across all outcome changes. Compared to the HEC condition, the PNF intervention was associated with improved sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; B = -2.52; SE = 0.90; 95% CI-4.30 to -0.74; p=0.006). Stress, everyday cognition, and emotional eating behavior significantly changed over time (p<0.02), but there were no group differences. Analysis of feasibility outcomes are on-going. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Changing food intake timing 6 days per week, to exclude nighttime eating without mandating food quality/quantity change, may benefit many individuals living with obesity, stress and memory decline to improve their sleep. Improved sleep quality may lead to more health benefits over time.
Anxiety-Buffer Disruption Theory (ABDT) posits that posttraumatic stress disorder is associated with a disruption of normal anxiety-buffer functioning produced by traumatic events that produce high ...levels of dissociation. Two experiments conducted among survivors of the 2005 Zarand earthquake in Iran supported four hypotheses derived from ABDT: (1) dissociation predicts atypical responses to death- and trauma-related thoughts, (2) dissociation predicts stronger affective responses to death- and trauma-related thoughts, (3) PTSD symptom severity 2 years after the event is associated with continued disruption of anxiety-buffer responses, (4) the relationship between dissociation 1 month posttrauma and posttraumatic symptoms 2 years later is mediated by disrupted anxiety-buffering functioning. The role of anxiety-buffer disruption in both clinically significant and seemingly benign but socially problematic responses to traumatic events was discussed.
According to terror management theory, people are motivated to protect themselves from the potential for anxiety resulting from awareness of mortality. It was hypothesized that increased concern for ...future generations, and the symbolic immortality this produces, may be particularly important to older adults when awareness of their mortality is increased. In two studies, older and younger adults' generative concern was examined following mortality or control primes. As hypothesized, older adults' generative concern and preference for pro-social over pro-self generativity were greater following reminders of mortality, whereas neither effect was observed among younger adults. For both studies, age differences were only observed when mortality salience was heightened; older and younger adults' generative concern did not differ in control conditions. Results provide support for the hypothesis that younger and older adults differ in their responses to increased awareness of mortality and suggest that older adults respond to death reminders by adopting a more pro-social generative orientation.
Objective: Negative consequences of childhood maltreatment have been well-documented, including poorer executive functioning and nonverbal reasoning in midlife. However, not all adults with a history ...of childhood maltreatment manifest these outcomes, suggesting the presence of risk and protective factors. Based on growing empirical support for the importance of social variables in understanding neuropsychological development and functioning, we examined whether social support and social isolation mediate or moderate the effects of childhood maltreatment on cognitive functioning in midlife. Method: In the context of a prospective cohort design study, individuals with documented histories of childhood maltreatment (ages 0-11 years) and demographically matched controls were followed up and interviewed in adulthood. Social support and isolation were assessed in young adulthood (Mage = 29), and cognitive functioning was assessed in midlife (Mage = 41). Structural equation modeling was used for mediation and linear regressions for moderation. Results: Childhood maltreatment predicted higher levels of social isolation and lower levels of social support and cognitive functioning. Only social isolation mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and midlife cognitive functioning, whereas childhood maltreatment interacted with social support to predict Matrix Reasoning in midlife. Social support was protective for the control group but not for those maltreated. Conclusions: Social isolation and social support play different roles in understanding how childhood maltreatment impacts midlife cognitive functioning. Greater social isolation predicts greater deficits in cognitive functioning overall, whereas the protective effects of social support are limited to those without a documented history of childhood maltreatment. Clinical implications are discussed.
Key Points
Question: What is the key question this article addresses? What roles do social support and social isolation play in explaining the relationship between childhood maltreatment and cognitive functioning in middle adulthood? Findings: What are the primary findings? Greater social isolation in young adulthood leads to greater deficits in midlife cognitive functioning for both groups of individuals (maltreated and controls), and social isolation in part explained the relationship between childhood maltreatment and midlife cognitive functioning. In contrast, social support interacted with childhood maltreatment to predict midlife cognitive functioning, though the hypothesized protective effects of social support were limited to those without a documented history of childhood maltreatment. Importance: What are the key scientific and practical implications of the findings? Social relationships appear to be important targets for intervention, and increased frequency of social contact in young adulthood may be particularly important for subsequent cognitive functioning. Next Steps: What directions should be explored in future research? The protective effect of higher levels of social support only emerged among nonmaltreated children. This finding needs further examination to determine why higher levels of social support are not protective for individuals with a history of childhood maltreatment.
Heightened awareness and perceived negativity of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) may increase health-related concerns about developing ADRD, also called dementia-related anxiety. ...Anticipating greater levels of ADRD stigma was expected to be associated with greater dementia-related anxiety. Middle-aged and older adults (N = 183, aged 40-80, M = 59.57) responded to online questionnaires about anticipated ADRD stigma, ADRD exposure, dementia-related anxiety, and potential psychosocial correlates of dementia-related anxiety. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that self-perceived ADRD risk, ADRD exposure, and anticipated stigma remained significantly associated with dementia-related anxiety, after controlling for demographic variables. Reducing ADRD stigma may ease dementia-related anxiety, an area for future research.
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