David Andres

Cognitive functioning of older people in relation to social and personality variables.

Age differences in performance on memory measures and in subjective ratings of memory adequacy were examined in the context of 12 social, personality, adjustment, and lifestyle measures. Participants were 285 men and women, aged 65 to 93, of middle- and working-class backgrounds. A series of multivariate and univariate analyses revealed that a large proportion of the age differences and virtually all of the social-class differences on memory measures could be accounted for by contextual variables, with education, intellectual activity, extroversion, neuroticism, and lie scores (on the Eysenck Personality Inventory) all accounting for more of the variance in memory performance than did age. Self-rated memory adequacy was not correlated with performance, and although the expected finding of lower ratings by older participants was obtained with the working-class group, the opposite was true for the middle-class group. Implications of these results for understanding age differences in memory are discussed.

Structural equation model of intellectual change and continuity and predictors of intelligence in older men

This study examined the effects of abilities as a young adult, an engaged lifestyle, personality, age, and health on continuity and change in intellectual abilities from early to late adulthood. A battery of measures, including a verbal and nonverbal intelligence test, was given to 326 Canadian army veterans. Archival data provided World War Two enlistment scores on the same intelligence test for this sample: Results indicated relative stability of intellectual scores across 40 years, with increases in vocabulary and decreases in arithmetic, verbal analogies, and nonverbal skills. Young adult intelligence was the most important determinant of older adult performance. Predictors for verbal intelligence were consistent with an engagement model of intellectual maintenance but also indicated the importance of introversion-extraversion and age. Nonverbal intelligence in late life was predicted by young adult nonverbal scores, age, health, and introversion-extraversion.

Caregiving and Dementia: Predicting Negative and Positive Outcomes for Caregivers.

A sample of 118 caregivers, maintaining relatives with dementia at home, were interviewed and completed questionnaires at initial and follow-up assessment six months later. All dependents received a cognitive assessment. The results of LISREL analysis of the data supported a model of caregiving in which negative outcomes of burden and impaired health reduced positive outcomes of enjoyment of aspects of caregiving. Caregivers with larger social support networks were more satisfied with their support, reducing feelings of impaired health, although as caregiving became more difficult, satisfaction with support decreased. The retrospective perception of the premorbid relationship as more difficult lead to the appraisal of the patients symptoms as presently being more extensive and increased burden. Women caregivers repotted both greater feelings of burden and more aspects of caregiving as enjoyable.

The role of psychosocial context, age, and intelligence in memory performance of older men

The hypothesis that psychosocial contextual factors contribute to developmental changes in memory was examined using 326 male World War II veterans. Availability of young adult intelligence scores made it possible to separate the contributions of contextual variables and age to maintenance of general intelligence from their direct contributions to performance on 4 memory tasks. Being younger, healthier, more educated, more introverted, more intellectually active, and more satisfied with social support predicted less intellectual decline and, indirectly, better memory performance. Age, personality, locus of control, and extent of social support directly contributed to performance on 1 or more memory tasks. Age contributions were consistent with Craiks (1986) proposed continuum of task demands for self-initiated effort. Possible elaborations of Craiks hypothesis to accommodate contextual variables are suggested.

Personality Traits as Determinants of Burden and Health Complaints in Caregiving.

This study tested predictions specifying the influence of caregiver personality traits on negative outcomes of caregiving, health complaints and burden. Two-hundred and thirteen caregivers, who were caring for family members with dementia, were interviewed and their relatives were assessed on cognitive status and aggression. At follow-up conducted twenty-four months later, forty-five caregivers were still continuing to provide home care for their dependents. Caregivers who scored higher on a measure of neuroticism experienced higher levels of burden and health complaints both at initial and follow-up assessment. Caregiver extraversion-introversion did not influence the experience of caregiving. At both initial and final assessment, the ability to enjoy some aspects of caregiving, recreational activities, and satisfaction with social support from family and friends mitigated negative outcomes of caregiving, while appraising the dependent as more troublesome increased negative outcomes. Caring for more cognitively impaired and more aggressive dependents and being female increased negative outcomes initially. Personality traits and most other study variables demonstrated significant continuity across time for caregivers continuing home care.

Models of intelligence in late life: comment on Hultsch et al. (1999).

The authors comment on D. F. Hultsch, C. Hertzog, B. J. Small, and R. A. Dixons (1999) report of the latest results of the Victoria Longitudinal Study, which are presented as a test of the engagement hypothesis, and on their reanalysis of the data from the Veterans Study (Pushkar Gold et al., 1995), which proposes an alternative model of intellectual function. Differences between the methodologies, variables, and concepts of engaged lifestyle in the 2 studies lead to different tests of the engagement hypothesis and different conclusions. Failure to report specified paths and unjustified assumptions lessen the credibility of the Hultsch et al. model for the Veterans Study data. The authors conclude that their original model, which indicates a small but significant effect of engaged adult lifestyle on the maintenance of intellectual verbal abilities in later life, provides a better explanation of the Veterans Study data.

Repeat Abortion: Is It a Problem?

As the number of Canadian women who have had induced abortions increases with each succeeding year, the number at risk--and the actual incidence--of repeat abortion also increases. Some researchers have argued that women who have more than one induced abortion are less well adjusted, others that they are less willing to use contraceptives, perhaps because of anxiety about sexuality. Still others have suggested that repeat abortion is unrelated to the psychology or attitudes of individual women, but rather is an inevitable result of imperfect contraceptives, imperfect contraceptive practice and the availability of legal abortion for the termination of unwanted pregnancies. A group of 580 women seeking abortions were interviewed at the Montreal General Hospital and given a number of psychological tests. About one in five of these women were having repeat abortions. The women having repeat abortions were older, less likely to be married and more tolerant of legal abortion than were women having their first abortions. They also had intercourse more frequently than the first-abortion patients. Women obtaining a repeat abortion were slightly more likely to have been using contraceptives at the time they became pregnant, but they did not differ from first-abortion patients in the types of methods that they used. On no other social or demographic characteristics, measures of psychological adjustment or attitudes about sexuality were there any important differences between the groups. A more complex statistical analysis reveals that the two most important factors differentiating first-abortion and repeat-abortion patients are age and coital frequency--both of which are variables that reflect added exposure to the risk of unintended pregnancy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Off-Target Verbosity and Talkativeness in Elderly People.

This study examined whether off-target verbosity should be conceptualized as a distinct process from high levels of talkativeness in every day social situations. The relationship of age to these speech styles was also determined. The responses of 125 community-based elderly adults to a life-history interview were independently rated by two research assistants for the frequency and extent of off-target verbosity. The participants activities in daily life, including talkativeness, were independently rated by the participants themselves, 125 similar-aged peers and 10 professional workers acquainted with the participants. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a model postulating off-target verbosity and talkativeness as two largely independent latent factors. Age was associated with the verbosity factor. The results were interpreted as indicating that off-target verbosity cannot be explained by the same processes that underlie social talkativeness. Possible mechanisms of the verbosity factor were discussed.

Self-perception of personality at midlife in elderly people: Continuity and change

This study examined the extent of self-perceived continuity and change in personality in older people. Two visits were made to 362 elderly female and male volunteers, randomly assigned to either an experimental or control condition. In the first visit, the subjects completed a life interview and psychological battery including the Eysenck Personality Inventory. In the second visit, the experimental subjects had their life circumstances at age 40 reviewed and were asked to complete the personality inventory again, this time answering as if they were aged 40. Control subjects completed the personality inventory twice under standard directions. The dominant pattern for individuals in both conditions was one of personality continuity, however, subjects in the experimental group had significant differences between scores in the two test administrations, while the scores of control group subjects did not change significantly. Current personality scores were the major predictors of perceived personality at midlife, although ratings of financial adequacy and subjective age were also significant but minor predictors in the experimental condition.

Coping and Control Processes: Do They Contribute to Individual Differences in Health in Older Adults?

This paper reviews the literature on the relation of coping and control processes to health outcomes in late adulthood and presents new data on relations between coping and control processes and health for 295 World War II veterans. The results for the veterans showed that health was positively associated with cognitive coping, and negatively associated with behavioural coping and avoidance. No association was found between perceived locus of control and health. These findings, together with those in the literature, were discussed in terms of their implications for future research on the role of coping and control in health maintenance and their significance for people working with older persons.