Aging & Mental Health

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to create a tool to assess eHealth interventions for dementia by adapting an existing implementation readiness (ImpRess) checklist that assessed manualised interventions. METHODS: In Part 1, online semi-structured interviews with individual stakeholders ( N  = 9) with expertise in eHealth and dementia were conducted (response rate 83%). The Nonadoption, Abandonment, and challenges to the Scale-Up, Spread, and Sustainability of Health and care technologies (NASSS) framework was applied, both to guide the construction of the interview guide, as well as to use its subdomains as codes in the deductive qualitative thematic analysis...

OBJECTIVES: In the present study, our aim was to deepen the understanding of suicidality in older men by adopting a biopsychosocial approach. The study focused on older men as they face an elevated risk of suicide, surpassing not only other age groups but also exhibiting higher rates compared to women. We examined the contribution of mental pain as a mediator in the association between attachment avoidance and suicidal ideation among older men, taking into consideration the severity of their physical illnesses...

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OBJECTIVES: Resilience during old age reflects the capacity to adapt to changes and challenges associated with normative aging and is an important component of successful aging. Belief in the incremental theory of intelligence and personality could help older adults maintain cognitive functioning and social engagement, which may further contribute to their resilience. The current study investigated how implicit theories of intelligence and personality affected older adults' resilience and examined cognitive functioning and social participation as two mediators...

OBJECTIVES: Childhood maltreatment has long-lasting effects on mental health. Existing evidence suggests that trajectories of depressive symptoms vary among individuals; however, little is known about how childhood maltreatment shapes these trajectory patterns. Therefore, this study investigated the impacts of childhood maltreatment on eight-year depressive trajectories among Chinese older adults. METHOD: Five waves of longitudinal data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study were utilized...

Objectives: Previous studies on the associations between Internet use and older people's depression have mostly focused on single types of online activities, especially online social engagement. The current study investigated the diversity of purposes of Internet use and its interaction with the time spent online in shaping older Chinese Internet users' depression. Method: A sample of 974 Internet users aged 60 and above was adopted from the 2020 China Family Panel Studies wave. We adopted a latent class analysis (LCA) to explore the diverse purposes of internet usage...

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the variables that  were associated, contributed and moderated quality of life (QoL) and burden in family caregivers. METHODS: A total of 130 participants were evaluated using the following instruments: Depression, Anxiety and Distress Scale; Index of Family Relations; Heartland Forgiveness Scale; Burden Interview Scale; Short Form Health Survey. RESULTS: Being a younger caregiver, less distress, better family relationships and greater use of forgiveness were associated with more QoL...

OBJECTIVES: Risky drinking is a concern among UK-based middle-aged adults. We aimed to explore the relationship between risky drinking, drinking motives, wellbeing, and mental health literacy (MHL). METHOD: Cross-sectional analysis of online survey data completed by 193 UK-based adults aged 40-65 who drank alcohol, incorporating the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT); Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised (DMQ-R); Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS); Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS) and demographic questions...

OBJECTIVES: The present study examined how activity engagement mediates the association between personality and cognition. METHODS: Participants were middle-aged and older adults (Age range: 24-93 years; N  > 16,000) from the Midlife in the United States Study, the Health and Retirement Study, the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study of Aging. In each sample, personality traits and demographic factors were assessed at baseline, engagement in cognitive, physical, and social activities was assessed in a second wave, and cognition was measured in a third wave, 8 to 20 years later...

OBJECTIVES: The aim is to assess the level of stigmatization and knowledge of dementia among university students of medical, rehabilitation and social faculties in Poland. Possible correlates of these concepts and group differences are also investigated. METHODS: We applied quantitative methods using an online questionnaire comprising sociodemographics, the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale, a vignette of a person with dementia and the modified Family Stigma in Alzheimer's Disease Scale...

OBJECTIVES: The goal of the present meta-analysis was to compare effects of reminiscence interventions on depression and anxiety across different target groups. METHODS: Systematic search in electronic data bases and cross-referencing identified 195 randomized controlled trials that were included in random-effects meta-analysis. RESULTS: Reminiscence interventions resulted, on average, in moderate improvement of depressive symptoms and small-to-moderate improvements of anxiety symptoms...

OBJECTIVES: Service accessibility plays a pivotal role in older adults' mental health. However, accessibility measures used in previous studies are either objective or perceived. This study aimed to integrate both objective and perceived measures of service accessibility to explore the relationship between environmental cognition on service accessibility and mental health in older adults and the pathways. METHODS: We used both questionnaire data collected from 2,317 older adults in Hong Kong and geographical data to explore the direct and indirect effect of environmental cognition (i...

OBJECTIVES: This research project investigated how family carers in Norway experienced delivering iCST, their need for supervision and the potential for co-occupation. METHODS: Reflexive thematic analysis was used to understand the experiences of 11 carers using iCST for 8 wk. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant, including a pre-assessment of caregiver burden and a rating of dementia severity. RESULTS: Most carers described the manual as self-instructive...

OBJECTIVES: The literature highlights the role of physical activities in reducing depression, primarily in clinical samples and international longitudinal studies on older adults with diabetes. Based on Andersen's Behavioral Model, this study aims to describe the trajectory of depressive symptoms in this population and examine whether physical activities are associated with this trajectory. METHODS: This study used a longitudinal survey design, utilizing three waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study...

OBJECTIVE: Previous research has shown that daily activities are crucial for mental health among older people, and that such activities declined during the COVID-19 pandemic. While previous studies have confirmed a link between stringent restrictions and an increase in mental ill-health, the role of daily activities as a mediator in this relationship remains underexplored. We analyzed whether reductions in daily activities mediated the impact of these COVID-19 restrictions on mental ill-health during the pandemic's initial phase...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work is to examine suicide intent disclosures to identify patterns to support an improved understanding of the impetus for suicidal behavior in late life, which may offer insight useful in aiding prevention efforts. METHODS: Using restricted access data from the National Violent Death Reporting System for years 2016-2018, we conducted qualitative content analysis of included narrative descriptions of 2,969 cases in which the decedent was aged 65 years or older and disclosed their intent to die by suicide...

OBJECTIVE: The population of women ages 50 years and older living with HIV is increasing. Yet, little is known about the care networks that older women living with HIV (OWLH) use to manage their health. The goal of this study was to explore the caregiving and care receiving relationships among OWLH and how these relationships impact HIV management. METHODS: OWLH aged 50 years and older were recruited from clinics and community-based organizations across the U...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to provide evidence that supports the validity and reliability of the Colombian version of the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination Revised (ACE-R) in comparison to the MMSE at assessing and finding patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Additionally, the study aims to determine the optimal cut-off scores based on the age of a population with a low education level. METHOD: This study included 314 individuals (235 participants diagnosed with MCI and 79 cognitively healthy) who live in two different rural departments (states) in Colombia...

OBJECTIVES: A growing literature suggests depression and anxiety increase risk of cognitive decline. However, few studies have examined their combined effects on cognition, among older adults, especially during periods of high stress. METHOD: Based on a sample of community dwelling older adults ( N  = 576), we evaluated the effects of pre-pandemic anxiety and depressive symptoms, obtained in September 2018, to changes in self-reported memory (SRM) assessed 3 months into the COVID-19 pandemic...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aging process is characterized by encountering challenging situations and losses that may influence the subjective wellbeing of older adults. This study investigates the influence of the political-social crisis that unfolded in Israel in 2023 on the wellbeing of senior citizens. Additionally, it explores whether their participation in protests has contributed to their wellbeing. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted interviews with 30 older adults who were actively engaged in the protest movement against the judicial overhaul...