Age-related psychometrics and differences in gratitude and future time perspective across adulthood

Future time perspective and depression, anxiety, and stress in adulthood

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Research has shown that perceptions of future time as limited are associated with more depressive symptoms. However, there is limited research on which dimensions of future time perspective (FTP: opportunity, extension, constraint) are associated with depression, anxiety, and stress, and whether these findings vary across age.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Data came from a cross-sectional study in a nonclinical U.S. sample (N = 793, 48.0% male; 48.7% female; age: M = 50 years, range: 19-85 years), and local structural equation modeling was used to examine the moderating role of age as a continuous variable rather than artificial age groups.

RESULTS

For all dimensions of FTP, the perception of the future as limited was moderately to strongly associated with higher depression, anxiety and stress levels. More importantly, the association between the perceived constraint dimension and depression, anxiety, and stress was twice as large at younger ages than at older ages.

CONCLUSION

These findings indicate that perceived constraint is primarily a strong risk factor for or indicator of negative wellbeing in young adulthood, whereas perceived limited opportunity and extension are potential risk factors or indicators across the entire adulthood.

The negative association of low subjective socioeconomic status with future orientation: the protective role of low fatalism

BACKGROUND

Subjective socioeconomic status (SES), an individual's beliefs about his or her social class, is anticipated to be related to future orientation. This study proposed a moderation model to examine the relationship between subjective SES on future orientation and the protective role of low fatalism.

METHODS

Two studies were conducted to test the proposed model. Specifically, in Study 1, the structured questionnaires were administered to a sample comprising 217 Chinese participants (192 females, Mage = 18.24 ± 0.63). In Study 2, the structured questionnaires and an Imaginative Scenario Test were administered to collect data among 244 Chinese participants (167 females, Mage = 18.44 ± 0.73). Regression analyses were used to explore the moderating role of fatalism in the association between subjective SES on future orientation. The Bootstrap methods were used to test the significance of these moderating effects.

RESULTS

The results revealed two primary findings: (1) Fatalism moderated the pathway from subjective SES to future orientation. Specifically, low fatalism served as a protective factor, making low subjective SES less disruptive to their future orientation. (2) The moderating effect was primarily attributed to the "luck dimension", which was the belief that luck plays a pivotal role in determining one's fate.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings contribute to enriching the current understanding of the subjective SES on future orientation and the protective role of low fatalism.

Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Older Chinese Adults in Nursing Homes: The Mediating Roles of Self-Efficacy and Social Support

AIM

With an aging global population, there has been a growing interest in the subjective well-being (SWB) of older people. As a positive emotion, gratitude has been found to be significantly and positively associated with SWB. However, the mechanisms underlying the relationship between gratitude and SWB remain poorly understood. This study aimed to examine the mediating effects of social support and self-efficacy in the relationship between gratitude and SWB among older Chinese adults in nursing homes.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

METHODS

A sample of 354 older adults in nursing homes aged 60 years and above was recruited across three nursing homes in Guangzhou, China. Participants completed the Gratitude Questionnaire-Six-Item Form, the World Health Organization's well-being index, the General Self-efficacy questionnaire and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Structural equation modelling was used to evaluate the relationships between gratitude, self-efficacy, social support and SWB. A bootstrap test was performed to test mediating roles of self-efficacy and social support.

RESULTS

Gratitude was found to be significantly and positively associated with SWB (β = 0.294, p < 0.001). Self-efficacy and social support independently mediated the relationship between gratitude and SWB (indirect effect of self-efficacy: Standardised β = 0.105, 95% CI [0.061, 0.157]; indirect effect of social support: Standardised β = 0.116, 95% CI [0.444, 0.191], all p < 0.001). Additionally, the results indicated that the mediating effect of self-efficacy was not significantly different from that of social support in the link between gratitude with SWB.

CONCLUSION

These findings presented strong evidence that self-efficacy and social support provided the underlying mechanisms through which gratitude was associated with SWB in Chinese nursing home residents. This highlighted the need to develop interventions aiming at increasing gratitude, self-efficacy and social support to promote SWB among elderly people.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

No patient or public contribution.

Perceptions of the Future and Health Behavior in Adulthood

Engagement in healthier lifestyle behaviors often is motivated by a focus on the future. However, there is limited research on the associations between health behavior and future time perspective, defined as people's tendency to perceive their future as expansive or as limited. Data came from a survey of U.S. adults (N = 805, 49.3% female; M = 50 years, range: 19 to 85 years). Participants completed measures of perceptions of future opportunities and time and health behavior. Opportunities and time factors were uniquely associated with health behavior. While the perceived opportunities factor was strongly associated with better health behavior, the time factor was associated with poorer health behavior. However, this latter association was dependent on individual demographic and health status differences. These findings suggest that perceptions of future opportunities can play an important role in health behavior engagement and thus represent an important target for health promotion.

Measuring dissociation across adolescence and adulthood: developing the short-form Černis Felt Sense of Anomaly scale (ČEFSA-14)

BACKGROUND

Dissociation may be important across many mental health disorders, but has been variously conceptualised and measured. We introduced a conceptualisation of a common type of dissociative experience, 'felt sense of anomaly' (FSA), and developed a corresponding measure, the Černis Felt Sense of Anomaly (ČEFSA) scale.

AIMS

We aimed to develop a short-form version of the ČEFSA that is valid for adolescent and adult respondents.

METHOD

Data were collected from 1031 adult NHS patients with psychosis and 932 adult and 1233 adolescent non-clinical online survey respondents. Local structural equation modelling (LSEM) was used to establish measurement invariance of items across the age range. Ant colony optimisation (ACO) was used to produce a 14-item short-form measure. Finally, the expected test score function derived from item response theory modelling guided the establishment of interpretive scoring ranges.

RESULTS

LSEM indicated 25 items of the original 35-item ČEFSA were age invariant. They were also invariant across gender and clinical status. ACO of these items produced a 14-item short-form (ČEFSA-14) with excellent psychometric properties (CFI=0.992; TLI=0.987; RMSEA=0.034; SRMR=0.017; Cronbach's alpha=0.92). Score ranges were established based on the expected test scores at approximately 0.7, 1.25 and 2.0 theta (equivalent to standard deviations above the mean). Scores of 29 and above may indicate elevated levels of FSA-dissociation.

CONCLUSIONS

The ČEFSA-14 is a psychometrically valid measure of FSA-dissociation for adolescents and adults. It can be used with clinical and non-clinical respondents. It could be used by clinicians as an initial tool to explore dissociation with their clients.

Estimating Local Structural Equation Models

Local structural equation models (LSEM) are structural equation models that study model parameters as a function of a moderator. This article reviews and extends LSEM estimation methods and discusses the implementation in the R package sirt. In previous studies, LSEM was fitted as a sequence of models separately evaluated as each value of the moderator variables. In this article, a joint estimation approach is proposed that is a simultaneous estimation method across all moderator values and also allows some model parameters to be invariant with respect to the moderator. Moreover, sufficient details on the main estimation functions in the R package sirt are provided. The practical implementation of LSEM is demonstrated using illustrative datasets and an empirical example. Moreover, two simulation studies investigate the statistical properties of parameter estimation and significance testing in LSEM.

Factors associated with remission of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in U.S. military veterans with a history of suicide attempt

Suicide is a major public health problem in U.S. military veterans, but little is known about factors associated with remission from suicide attempts in this population. We aimed to identify risk and protective correlates of remission from suicidal thoughts and behavior (STB) in U.S. veterans with a prior suicide attempt. Data were analyzed from the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study survey. A broad range of sociodemographic, military, physical and mental health, and psychosocial variable were assessed. Purpose in life, dispositional gratitude, and conscientiousness emerged as independent correlates of STB remission (24.3%-40.3% of explained variance), even after accounting for other relevant risk and protective factors. While the cross-sectional nature of the study precludes the ability to determine whether the identified protective factors are causally related to STB remission, results suggest three potentially modifiable targets for suicide prevention efforts in veterans. Longitudinal studies are needed to better understand the role of purpose in life, dispositional gratitude, and conscientiousness in promoting remission from STBs in veterans and other populations at risk for suicide.