Age and extraversion differences in heart rate reactivity during working memory tasks

Research and theory have shown a link between heart rate reactivity during cognitive testing and extraversion in younger adults; however, similar work has not been conducted with older adults. This study was designed to explore age and extraversion-related differences in within-person heart rate (HR) reactivity during two working memory tasks of varying difficulty using a multi-level modeling approach. Across 570 total within-person assessments of continuous HR monitoring, 28 younger adults (M = 19.76, SD = 1.15) and 29 older adults (M = 71.19, SD = 6.63) were administered two working memory tasks (backward digit span and n-back). There were no age differences in reactivity during the backward digit span. However, similar to previous findings, on the more difficult n-back task, younger adults low in extraversion showed a trend toward higher HR reactivity than young adults high in extraversion. Interestingly, the older adults showed the opposite pattern in that lower extraversion older adults were less reactive than the higher extraversion older adults who showed the steepest increase in HR. The HR increase of the older adults high in extraversion may be an indication of higher engagement in this more difficult task. Individual differences in extraversion need to be taken into account when administering working memory tasks in older adults.

Perceived ease of activity (but not strategy use) mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and activity engagement in midlife and older adults

Objectives: Activity participation is associated with a range of positive outcomes in older adults but tends to decline with age. Understanding protective factors is important to facilitate activity in later life. Social cognitive theory suggests that having high self-efficacy may promote activity because individuals with higher self-efficacy perceived their activities to be easier and use adaptive strategies to overcome barriers to activity. Despite considerable research linking self-efficacy and activity, limited research has examined the proposed mechanisms behind this association. This study therefore examined whether perceived ease of activity and use of adaptive strategies account for the association between self-efficacy and activity. Method: Participants were 412 adults aged 50-93 years who completed a cross-sectional survey. Structural equation modelling was used to examine whether the effects of self-efficacy on activity were mediated by perceived ease of activity and use of adaptive strategies. Results: Perceived ease of activity mediated the positive associations between self-efficacy and social (0.04 [0.02, 0.07]) and physical activity (0.16 [0.08, 0.25]), but not mental activity (0.01 [0.000, 0.03]). For physical activity, this effect was stronger for adults aged 70+ years than those aged 50-69 years (older a₂*b₂ - younger a₂*b₂ 0.13 [0.04, 0.24]). Use of adaptive strategies was not a significant mediator in any model. Conclusion: This study suggests that self-efficacy may influence older adults' perception of activities and, in turn, the activities they choose to participate in. This has potential implications for the development of interventions aimed at promoting activity engagement in later life.

Relationship of Global Self-Evaluations of Activity to Psychosocial and Health-Related Aging Outcomes

The authors obtained older adults' self-rated judgments about the quality of their activity engagement considered as a whole (global activity evaluation) and, using cross-sectional survey data, tested the ability of such judgments to predict well-being. Participants were 460 community-dwelling older adults who responded to (1) global activity evaluations, (2) activity participation frequency scales, and (3) indices of life satisfaction, depression, and physical and mental health-related quality of life. Regression analyses indicated that global activity evaluations had a stronger relationship to psychosocial outcome indices than did participation frequency ratings, although both measurement approaches were associated with statistically significant predictions. However, global evaluations and participation frequency ratings were approximately equal in their ability to predict physical health-related quality of life. These relationships were fairly consistent across ethnic groups. Overall, the results suggest that ideally the two strategies for assessing activity should be incorporated in future research on activity and occupational therapy practice.

Typical intellectual engagement and cognition in old age

Typical Intellectual Engagement (TIE) comprises the preference to engage in cognitively demanding activities and has been proposed as a potential explanatory variable of individual differences in cognitive abilities. Little is known, however, about the factorial structure of TIE, its relations to socio-demographic variables, and its influence on intellectual functioning in old age. In the present study, data of 364 adults (65-81 years) from the Zurich Longitudinal Study on Cognitive Aging (ZULU) were used to investigate the factorial structure of TIE and to examine the hypothesis that TIE is associated more strongly with crystallized intelligence than with fluid intelligence in old age. A measurement model of a second order factor based on a structure of four correlated first order factors (Reading, Problem Solving, Abstract Thinking, and Intellectual Curiosity) evinced an excellent fit. After controlling for age, sex, and formal education, TIE was more strongly associated with crystallized intelligence than with fluid intelligence, comparable to results in younger persons. More detailed analyses showed that this association is mostly defined via Reading and Intellectual Curiosity.