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Maladaptive Personality Traits And Health Behaviors, Health Perceptions, And Inflammatory Biomarkers In Older Adults, Joshua R. Oltmanns
Maladaptive Personality Traits And Health Behaviors, Health Perceptions, And Inflammatory Biomarkers In Older Adults, Joshua R. Oltmanns
Theses and Dissertations--Psychology
Traits from dimensional models of normal-range personality have been shown to predict physical health outcomes including health behaviors, health perceptions, disease, and mortality. Maladaptive traits of personality disorders may predict even more variance in physical health indicators. Dimensional models of maladaptive personality traits are replacing categorical models of personality disorder, and the five-factor model of personality disorder (FFMPD) has been shown to be a useful dimensional model of maladaptive traits. However, there has been little work investigating the criterion validity of the FFMPD for predicting physical health indicators. The present study examines FFMPD scales in the prediction of health behaviors, …
Maintenance Of Positive Affect Following Pain In Younger And Older Adults, Ian Andres Boggero
Maintenance Of Positive Affect Following Pain In Younger And Older Adults, Ian Andres Boggero
Theses and Dissertations--Psychology
Socioemotional selectivity theory posits that as people age, they become motivated and successful at maximizing positive emotions and minimizing negative ones. Yet, 70% of older adults report physical pain, which is associated with negative affect. The strategies and resources that older adults use to maintain positive affect in the face of pain remain largely unknown. Specific positivity-enhancing strategies include recalling, recognizing, and responding to positive stimuli and prioritizing close over knowledgeable social partners. Executive functions (EF, i.e., task-switching, working memory, and inhibition) and heart rate variability (HRV) may be important resources for coping with pain. The current project used two …
Testing A Values-Based Approach To Healthcare Decision-Making In Older Adults, Paul Jefferson Geiger
Testing A Values-Based Approach To Healthcare Decision-Making In Older Adults, Paul Jefferson Geiger
Theses and Dissertations--Psychology
Despite natural declines in physical and cognitive function, older adults maintain good emotion regulation abilities, leading to emotional wellbeing and resilience. This phenomenon can partially be explained by socioemotional selectivity theory (SST), which posits that when time is perceived as a limited resource, older adults focus attention on positive environmental stimuli to regulate emotions. Although this positivity effect maintains emotional wellbeing, it may disrupt information processing related to healthcare decision-making. Older adults request less information from their doctors, are less likely to ask for a second opinion, make their decisions more quickly, and devote more attention to positive medical information, …
Optimism And Pain Interference In Aging Women, Stephanie T. Judge
Optimism And Pain Interference In Aging Women, Stephanie T. Judge
Theses and Dissertations--Psychology
Pain interferes with people's daily lives and often limits the extent to which they can pursue goals and engages in activities that promote well-being. The present study test how optimism affects and is affected by pain interference and activity among older women. Every three months for two years, middle- and older-age women (N = 199) complete daily diaries at home for a seven-day period, reporting their daily pain, pain interference, and activity. Optimism was measured at baseline and end-of-study. Multilevel models test the between- and within-person relationships among pain, optimism, pain interference and activity. Pain best predicted pain interference …
Self-Regulation In Older Adults: The Prioritization Of Emotion Regulation, Daniel R. Evans
Self-Regulation In Older Adults: The Prioritization Of Emotion Regulation, Daniel R. Evans
Theses and Dissertations--Psychology
Despite having fewer cognitive resources, older adults regulate their emotions as well as, if not better than, younger adults. This study aimed to (1) test the limits of older adults’ emotion regulation capacity and (2) gain a better understanding of how older adults use their more limited resources to regulate their emotions. Participants included 48 healthy older adults aged 65-85 from the community and 50 healthy younger adults aged 18-25 from the student population. They were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups involving an initial activity that was high or low in self-regulatory demand followed by a test …