Perceptions of task difficulty predict cognitive effort for older adults.

This study examined age differences in effort devoted to completing cognitively demanding tasks. Fifty-two younger adults ages 18-30 years (Mage = 21.19) and 57 older adults ages 61-93 years (Mage = 76.56) completed a series of memory tests. Following each test, participants rated the test's difficulty and had their blood pressure measured. Effort was indexed by systolic blood pressure response (SBP-R) with greater increases in SBP-R reflecting more effort. Multilevel modeling was used to examine age differences in the intraindividual association between trial-level subjective task difficulty and trial-level effort. Results showed that increases in task difficulty were significantly related to decreases in SBP-R for the older but not younger adults, suggesting the older adults disengaged from the tests they perceived as highly difficult. Findings support Selective Engagement Theory (Hess, 2014), which suggests the perceived cognitive costs of completing difficult tasks may reduce older adults' motivation to engage in the tasks.

A Precautionary Tale: Individual Decision Making in the Time of COVID-19.

Precaution taking is an important part of managing COVID-19 and has been since the start of the pandemic. Guided by the Health Belief Model, two studies conducted during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic aimed to identify possible individual difference predictors of precautionary actions. Study 1 was an online, cross-sectional study using 763 adults aged 20-79 years old. Study 2, a 30-day daily diary study, examined daily precautions in 261 persons over the age of 55 years old. Study 1 and Study 2 indicated that COVID-19 knowledge predicted precautionary behaviors. Multilevel models from Study 2 indicated that daily increases in in-person interactions and leaving home were associated with decreases in precautions, but increases in disruption to routine were associated with increases in precautions. In both studies, including concurrent and lagged models in Study 2, significant interactions between information seeking and perceived risk suggested higher information seeking was related to higher precautions for those who consider themselves low risk. Findings highlight the burden of daily precautions and potentially modifiable factors of engagement in precautions.

Experiencing and Forecasting COVID-19 Daily Stress on Mental Health Reactivity Across Age and Race.

OBJECTIVES: This study systematically evaluates age and race differences in mental health symptoms as they unfold microlongitudinally during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with a focus on within-person reactivity to forecasting and experiencing COVID-19 stress. METHOD: A daily diary approach was used to examine predictors of daily anxiety and depressive symptoms among 526 adults (White [54%] and Black American [46%]) aged 21-79. A total of 3,605 online diaries were collected for 21 consecutive days between October and November, 2020. In addition to mental health symptoms, participants reported forecasted (next 24 h) stress as well as experienced (past 24 h) stress related to COVID-19. RESULTS: Patterns of reactivity to forecasted and experienced COVID-19 stress depended on age and race. White older adults displayed greater reactivity to COVID-19-related stress than White younger adults, but the effects of COVID-19-related stress were consistently detrimental for the daily anxiety of Black Americans, regardless of age. For Black Americans, age was less negatively associated with depressive symptoms than for White Americans. Increases in experienced COVID-19 stress were also more strongly associated with increases in depressive symptoms for Black Americans relative to White participants. DISCUSSION: This study moves beyond cross-sectional, descriptive work within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasizes the dynamic nature of within-person reactivity patterns that differ by age and race. Although White older adults experienced an increase in daily anxiety when forecasting COVID-19 stress, the co-occurring pandemic of systemic racism may be more powerful than age-related vulnerabilities for Black adults.

Age Differences in Risk and Resilience Factors in COVID-19-Related Stress.

OBJECTIVES: Older adults are at higher risk for death and infirmity from COVID-19 than younger and middle-aged adults. The current study examines COVID-19-specific anxiety and proactive coping as potential risk and resilience factors that may be differentially important for younger and older adults in understanding stress experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Five hundred and fifteen adults aged 20-79 years in the United States reported on their anxiety about developing COVID-19, proactive coping, and stress related to COVID-19 in an online survey. RESULTS: Although there were no age differences in stress levels, anxiety about developing COVID-19 was associated with more COVID-19 stress for older adults relative to younger adults, but proactive coping was associated with less COVID-19 stress for older adults relative to younger adults. DISCUSSION: Our results suggest that anxiety might function as a risk factor, whereas proactive coping may function as a resilience factor for older adults' COVID-19 stress. We encourage future context-dependent investigations into mental health among older adults during this pandemic and beyond.

Initial Evidence for the Efficacy of an Everyday Memory and Metacognitive Intervention.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the efficacy of an Everyday Memory and Metacognitive Intervention (EMMI) designed to improve everyday functioning of older adults. The EMMI emphasizes self-regulation as a behavioral approach to take priority over habitual behaviors that often impede everyday functioning. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This study used a quasi-experimental design (intervention vs waitlist control) to test whether the EMMI improved several aspects of everyday cognition. Thirty-three EMMI participants (M age = 70.24) were compared to 20 control participants (M age = 71.70 years). The 2 groups were compared on everyday memory failures and successes, measures of well-being, subjective memory, and a prospective memory task. RESULTS: Participants who received the EMMI reported more memory successes and fewer memory failures over a 10-day measurement period postintervention. In addition, EMMI participants reported significantly higher life satisfaction and better subjective memory at posttest than the control group. Critically, the EMMI participants performed better on a laboratory contact prospective memory task. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The results from this study suggest that the EMMI is a promising approach that has potential to improve everyday memory functioning and perhaps help extend functional independence. Future studies will include randomized controlled trials as well as electronic measurement of memory incidents.

Mental Health Challenges of United States Healthcare Professionals During COVID-19.

As COVID-19 continues to impact global society, healthcare professionals (HCPs) are at risk for a number of negative well-being outcomes due to their role as care providers. The objective of this study was to better understand the current psychological impact of COVID-19 on HCPs in the United States This study used an online survey tool to collect demographic data and measures of well-being of adults age 18 and older living in the United States between March 20, 2020 and May 14, 2020. Measures included anxiety and stress related to COVID-19, depressive symptoms, current general anxiety, health questions, tiredness, control beliefs, proactive coping, and past and future appraisals of COVID-related stress. The sample included 90 HCPs and 90 age-matched controls (M age = 34.72 years, SD = 9.84, range = 23 - 67) from 35 states of the United States. A multivariate analysis of variance was performed, using education as a covariate, to identify group differences in the mental and physical health measures. HCPs reported higher levels of depressive symptoms, past and future appraisal of COVID-related stress, concern about their health, tiredness, current general anxiety, and constraint, in addition to lower levels of proactive coping compared to those who were not HCPs (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.28). Within the context of this pandemic, HCPs were at increased risk for a number of negative well-being outcomes. Potential targets, such as adaptive coping training, for intervention are discussed.

State Anxiety Is Related to Cortisol Response During Cognitive Testing for Older Adults.

Cognitive testing situations can be stressful for both younger and older adults, but threats of cognitive evaluation may be particularly salient among anxious older individuals as they tend to be more concerned than younger adults about their cognitive abilities and age-related cognitive decline. We examined age-related differences in the effect of anxiety on cortisol responses during cognitive testing in a sample of 27 younger (M = 19.8) and 29 older (M = 71.2) adults. Older adults with higher anxiety also had higher during-task cortisol (suggesting higher reactivity to testing) than older adults with lower anxiety and young adults. There was no effect of anxiety on cortisol for younger adults. Simultaneously examining subjective (state anxiety) and physiological (cortisol response) indicators of threat during cognitive testing appears to be especially important for older adults with higher state anxiety. The results are important for understanding cortisol reactivity, particularly in older adults. Researchers who administer cognitive tests to older adults and clinicians who work with older adults with cognitive concerns and/or anxiety may want to consider how they present their material.

Women's Self-Perceived Similarity to Their Mother and Associations with Patterns of Alcohol Misuse over 20 Years.

AIMS: This study examined transgenerational transmission of risk for female alcohol misuse. Women's perceived similarity to their mother/father in adulthood was examined in terms of its influence on the expected association between perceived maternal alcohol use and female offsprings' trajectories of alcohol misuse. We hypothesized that a daughter's self-perceived similarity to her mother, in instances where her mother was perceived to be a frequent- or problem-drinker, would be associated with an increase in the daughter's count of negative consequences from alcohol use and potential symptoms of alcohol dependence across adulthood. SHORT SUMMARY: Women's perceived similarity to their mother/father was examined as a factor influencing associations between perceived parental alcohol use during childhood and patterns of alcohol misuse in adulthood. Women's self-perceived similarity to their frequent- or problem-drinking mothers increased the risk of negative consequences from drinking over time as well as potential symptoms of alcohol dependence over time. METHODS: Analyses utilized data from a survey of women (N = 911) who were followed over a 20-year period, beginning in 1981. Women, ages 21 or older and living in households in the contiguous USA, were eligible, and women who consumed four or more alcoholic drinks per week were oversampled. Model estimates were weighted to adjust for the oversampling of heavier drinking women and to reflect national demographics. Latent growth mixture models estimated regression parameters that captured variation in participants' alcohol misuse over time. RESULTS: Women who reported that their mother was a frequent- or problem-drinker and who perceived themselves to be similar to their mother, in general, showed increases in alcohol misuse. The same pattern of results was not shown for fathers. CONCLUSIONS: Results support that interventions seeking to reduce female alcohol misuse should address the role of perceived similarity to heavy-drinking female role models or 'female-drinker' prototypes to reduce problem-drinking behavior among female drinkers.