Biomedical subjects

Jacqui Smith

Publications and source records attributed to Jacqui Smith.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Resources and life-management strategies as determinants of successful aging: on the protective effect of selection, optimization, and compensation.

In this research, the authors investigated the specific and shared impact of personal resources and selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) life-management strategies (A. M. Freund & P. B. Baltes, 2002) on subjective well-being. Life-management strategies were expected to be most relevant when resources were constrained, particularly in very old age. In Study 1 (N=156, 71-91 years), age-differential predictive patterns supported this assumption: Young-old individuals' well-being was predicted independently by resources and SOC, whereas SOC buffered the effect of restricted resources in old-old individuals. Study 2 replicated the findings longitudinally with resource-poor and resource-rich older individuals (N=42). In both studies, specific SOC strategies were differentially adaptive. Results confirm that resources are important determinants of well-being but that life-management strategies have a considerable protective effect with limited resources.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2006

A systemic-wholistic approach to differential aging: longitudinal findings from the Berlin Aging Study.

Wholistic perspectives on differential change focus on multiple-indicator information at a person level. They supplement the modeling of average trajectories at a variable level. The authors extended cross-sectional work in the Berlin Aging Study (J. Smith & P. B. Baltes, 1997) to 6-year longitudinal cluster analyses (n = 132). At baseline, 3 subgroups were identified with distinct within-person psychological profiles across cognitive, personality, and social integration constructs. Over time, highly similar subgroup profiles were found, and about two thirds of the participants could be classified as remaining in the same subgroups. Baseline subgroups differed in level and slope of change and in 2 outcomes, well-being and mortality. Independent of subgroup membership, subgroup-to-subgroup change was associated with greater decline and predicted poststudy mortality. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of a wholistic approach for long-term prediction of outcomes and within-person systemic variability.

Aged↗

PubMed2006

Stability of sex differences in cognition in advanced old age: the role of education and attrition.

We examined whether patterns of sex differences on tasks of perceptual speed, episodic memory, verbal fluency, and verbal knowledge are maintained during advanced old age. Using incomplete 13-year longitudinal data from participants in the Berlin Aging Study screened for dementia (N = 368; M = 83 years; range 70-100 years at baseline assessment), we estimated sex-specific age trajectories of cognitive change and explored the contributing role of education and attrition. We found that women and men declined virtually in parallel, with no evidence of differential change. After we controlled for age cohort-related differences in education, women outperformed men on tasks in the four cognitive domains. Findings also provide initial evidence that sex differences might be masked by differential patterns of sample attrition.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

No aging bias favoring memory for positive material: evidence from a heterogeneity-homogeneity list paradigm using emotionally toned words.

Some authors argue for a memory advantage of older adults for positively toned material. To investigate the contribution of selective processing to a positivity effect, the authors investigated young (n = 72, aged 18 to 31) and older (n = 72, aged 64 to 75) adults' memory for emotionally toned words using a multitrial paradigm that compares performance for heterogeneous (mixed valence) and homogeneous (single valence) lists. Regarding the age comparison, there was no evidence for an aging bias favoring positive material. Moreover, older adults' memory was less affected by emotion-based processing prioritization. Although there was no support for age-specific processing biases in memory for emotionally toned words, the findings are consistent with proposals that negative information receives processing priority in some contexts. Possible limits to the generalizability of the present findings (e.g., to nonverbal material) are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Development of a work instability scale for rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the concept of work instability (WI), a state in which the consequences of a mismatch between an individual's functional abilities and the demands of his or her job could threaten continuing employment if not resolved, in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To develop the Work Instability Scale (WIS). METHODS: WI in people with RA was explored through qualitative interviews, which were then used to generate items for the WIS. RESULTS: Through Rasch analysis and validation against a gold standard of expert vocational assessment, a short 23-item, self administered, RA WIS was developed. CONCLUSION: The WIS can be scored in 3 bands indicating low, medium, and high risk of work disability.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Relation between cardiovascular and metabolic disease and cognition in very old age: cross-sectional and longitudinal findings from the berlin aging study.

This study documented findings on the relation between cognitive functioning (perceptual speed, memory, fluency, and knowledge) and cardiovascular and metabolic disease in a sample of very old adults (ages 70 and older), both cross-sectionally (n=516) and longitudinally (n=206) in a 4-year follow-up. After age, SES, sex, and dementia status were controlled for, 4 diagnoses were negatively associated with cognition: congestive heart failure, stroke, coronary heart disease, and diabetes mellitus, with a joint effect of 0.47 standard deviations. The impact of disease status was largest on perceptual speed and fluency, memory was impacted only by diabetes, and knowledge was not related to any somatic diagnosis. There was no differential decline in participants diagnosed with 1 of these 4 diseases and those who were not. The only cardiovascular risk factor associated with cognitive performance was alcohol consumption.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2003

Positive and negative affect in very old age.

The current study examined two issues involving the relationship between age and affect in very old age using data from men and women (aged 70 to 100+ years, M = 85 years) in the Berlin Aging Study (BASE). The first issue was whether unique effects of age on positive and negative affect remained after we controlled for other variables that would be expected to relate to affect in late life. We found no unique effects of age after we controlled for demographic, personality, and health and cognitive functioning variables. Personality and general intelligence emerged as the strongest predictors of positive and negative affect. Second, we evaluated patterns within meaningful subgroups: young old versus oldest old and men versus women. Subgroup differences in predictor patterns were minimal. Although we accounted for much of the age-related variance in positive and negative affect, a significant amount of variance in the affect of older adults remained unexplained.

Affect↗

PubMed2002

Two-wave longitudinal findings from the Berlin aging study: introduction to a collection of articles.

We provide background information for a collection of articles that describe two-wave longitudinal findings derived from the first intensive follow-up of participants of the Berlin Aging Study (BASE). Multidisciplinary data were collected during 1995-1996 from 206 survivors approximately 4 years after baseline assessment (1990-1993). The strengths of the initial BASE design, in terms of a focus on very old age, multidisciplinary intensive assessment, and an examination of selectivity issues, were maintained in this longitudinal extension of the study.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

Perceiving control: a double-edged sword in old age.

Although control beliefs are thought to be pivotal contributors to emotional well-being in old age, questions remain about the specific and long-term emotional implications of different types of control beliefs. We examined three generalized beliefs about control (personal control over desirable outcomes, personal responsibility for undesirable outcomes, perceived others' control) and their associations with emotional well-being (positive and negative affect) using cross-sectional (N = 516) and longitudinal (N = 206) samples from the Berlin Aging Study (age range = 70-103 years). Relationships between control beliefs and emotional well-being were dependent on the type of control belief and the dimension of emotional well-being considered, the sample investigated, and on whether individual differences at a given point in time or individual differences in intraindividual changes over time were examined. Despite these complexities, findings suggest that perceived control over desirable outcomes is associated with high emotional well-being, whereas perceived others' control is an emotional risk factor in old age.

Aged↗

PubMed2002

The dynamics of possible selves in old age.

Future-oriented motives are thought to be cast off in old age. Transcripts of the hopes and fears of participants in the 4-year longitudinal sample of the Berlin Aging Study (N = 206, 70-100+ years) were coded for central domains and motives (e.g., gain, maintenance, avoiding loss) and evaluated for the amount and direction of change. Domains of personal characteristics, health, and social relationships predominated together with gain motives. Over time, 72% of participants added new domains of hopes and 53% added new fears. Individual differences in stability and change in matched hopes and fears about health and personal identity were associated with changes in physical and functional health. People who added matched possible selves about health, focused on maintenance, and added few new domains of hopes declined in life satisfaction. Overall, these findings indicate that possible selves are a dynamic system during old age.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Stress and aging: theoretical and empirical challenges for interdisciplinary research.

Research on stress is multifaceted and undertaken at many levels of analysis. Discipline differences in definition and measurement have contributed to divergent findings. Although there is general agreement that stress plays a role in aging, there is less consensus about the precise nature of the relationship and the mechanisms. Predictions about positive and negative relations between stress and aging depend on the nature, time of exposure, intensity, and chronicity of stress. Findings from the Berlin Aging Study (BASE), a longitudinal study of men and women aged 70-100, are used to illustrate stress-related phenomena observed at the behavioral level in very old age. Health-related stressors become chronic strains in daily life for the majority of older adults. Changes in profiles of psychological functioning (cognition, self-regulation, well-being) suggest a distress syndrome indicative of a gradual breakdown of the psychological system. This breakdown is linked to decreased well-being and mortality.

Aging↗

PubMedDate not supplied

New frontiers in the future of aging: from successful aging of the young old to the dilemmas of the fourth age.

We review research findings on the oldest old that demonstrate that the fourth age entails a level of biocultural incompleteness, vulnerability and unpredictability that is distinct from the positive views of the third age (young old). The oldest old are at the limits of their functional capacity and science and social policy are constrained in terms of intervention. New theoretical and practical endeavors are required to deal with the challenges of increased numbers of the oldest old and the associated prevalence of frailty and forms of psychological mortality (e.g., loss of identity, psychological autonomy and a sense of control). Investigation of the fourth age is a new and challenging interdisciplinary research territory. Future study and discussion should focus on the critical question of whether the continuing major investments into extending the life span into the fourth age actually reduce the opportunities of an increasing number of people to live and die in dignity.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Prevention and management of back pain in nurses.

Back pain is common in adults and may be associated with personal, psychosocial and biomechanical risk factors. Nursing is considered to be a high-risk occupation for back pain, but personal and work-based strategies can help to reduce the risk.

Back Pain↗