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The Journals of Gerontology. Series B,... Jan 2021Little is known about how attachment processes manifest within older adults in daily life and how these processes are associated with daily psychological adjustment....
OBJECTIVES
Little is known about how attachment processes manifest within older adults in daily life and how these processes are associated with daily psychological adjustment. This study examined the within-person associations between states of attachment security and psychological adjustment. It is expected that this association is mediated by higher levels of satisfied needs in daily life.
METHODS
Microlongitudinal self-report data were collected in a sample of 136 older adults ranged in age from 60 to 90 years (ageM = 70.45 years) across 10 days with daily morning and afternoon measurement occasions.
RESULTS
Three main findings from multilevel analyses emerged. First, older adults showed significant within-person variation in attachment security, satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and competence, and psychological adjustment over time. Second, attachment security was positively associated with psychological adjustment within individuals. Third, both satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and competence mediated the within-person association between attachment security and psychological adjustment.
DISCUSSION
The results suggest that attachment security is associated with the experience of autonomy and competence in daily life of older adults which in turn is related with better psychological adjustment.
Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Emotional Adjustment; Female; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Middle Aged; Object Attachment; Personal Autonomy; Personal Satisfaction; Self Efficacy
PubMed: 31711236
DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbz148 -
Psychology & Health Sep 2020We examined the differential predictive powers of physical and psychological impacts of parental physical illness, as well as both instrumental and emotional aspects of...
We examined the differential predictive powers of physical and psychological impacts of parental physical illness, as well as both instrumental and emotional aspects of parentification, on adolescent distress. Forty-seven parents with chronic physical illness and 132 adolescent children completed separate questionnaires that measured parental health conditions and adolescents' parentification, peer attachment, and psychological distress. Ill parents' energy/fatigue level was not related to adolescent distress, but ill parents' emotional well-being was directly associated with adolescent distress. Adolescents' household responsibilities were not linked to their distress level; however, higher levels of emotional parentification appeared to affect their psychological adjustment. Higher quality of peer attachment was related to lower adolescent distress. The results highlight the importance of addressing and fostering physically ill parents' psychosocial adjustment and emotional availability, restoring a sense of normalcy in family adaptation processes, and facilitating emotional support for adolescents, including positive parent-child relationship and peer attachment.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Child of Impaired Parents; Chronic Disease; Emotional Adjustment; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Object Attachment; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Peer Group; Psychological Distress; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 31818131
DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2019.1699091 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2021At present, there is a lack of longitudinal studies on the psychological adjustment of both children and adolescents with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) and their...
At present, there is a lack of longitudinal studies on the psychological adjustment of both children and adolescents with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) and their primary caregivers. To fill this gap, we performed a four-year follow-up study. Mothers filled out the Child Behavior Checklist 4-18, the Social Orientation of Parents with Handicapped Children questionnaire to assess maternal stress and coping strategies, and the Freiburger Personality Inventory-Revised-subscales strain and life satisfaction. Fifty-five subjects with 22q11.2DS (26 males and 29 females; age: M = 10.79 years, SD = 3.56 years) and their biological mothers (age: M = 40.84 years, SD = 4.68 years) were included in this study. Significantly higher levels of behavior problems than in the general population and an increase in these problems, especially internalizing ones, over time could be found. In contrast, maternal stress did not change significantly over time, but mothers demonstrated increased levels of strain and reduced life satisfaction at T2. Thus, careful monitoring as well as early and adequate interventions, if indicated, should be offered to families with a child with 22q11.2DS, not only for somatic complaints but also for problems with psychological adjustment.
Topics: Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Adult; Child; DiGeorge Syndrome; Emotional Adjustment; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mothers
PubMed: 33800178
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18052707 -
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aug 2022Although acculturation is considered a mutual process, no measure assesses attitudes toward mutual acculturation. Through a novel four-dimensional measurement, this...
Although acculturation is considered a mutual process, no measure assesses attitudes toward mutual acculturation. Through a novel four-dimensional measurement, this study addresses this research gap by assessing attitudes toward minority and majority acculturation and its relation to psychological adjustment for immigrant-background minority and non-immigrant majority adolescents in public secondary schools in three European countries: in Germany (n = 346, 46% female, M = 12.78 years, range 11-16), Greece (n = 439, 56% female, M = 12.29 years, range 11-20), and Switzerland (n = 375, 47% female, M = 12.67 years, range 11-15). Latent profile analyses led to three distinct acculturation profiles in all three countries: strong and mild mutual integration profiles, where both migrant and majority students are expected to integrate, and a third profile assuming lower responsibility upon the majority. Additionally, those in the strong- and mild-integration profiles reported stronger psychological adjustment than those assuming lower responsibility upon the majority, which held for all students in Switzerland and mostly for those without a migration background in Germany. The findings demonstrate the importance of a mutual acculturation framework for future research. Moreover, as most adolescents fit in with one of the mutual integration patterns, findings stress that no matter their migration background, adolescents favor mutual integration including the expectation on schools to enhance intercultural contact.
Topics: Acculturation; Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Adult; Attitude; Child; Emigrants and Immigrants; Emotional Adjustment; Female; Humans; Male; Young Adult
PubMed: 35384532
DOI: 10.1007/s10964-022-01604-6 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2023COVID-19 broke out in China in December 2019 and rapidly became a worldwide pandemic that demanded an extraordinary response from healthcare workers (HCWs). Studies... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
COVID-19 broke out in China in December 2019 and rapidly became a worldwide pandemic that demanded an extraordinary response from healthcare workers (HCWs). Studies conducted during the pandemic observed severe depression and PTSD in HCWs. Identifying early predictors of mental health disorders in this population is key to informing effective treatment and prevention. The aim of this study was to investigate the power of language-based variables to predict PTSD and depression symptoms in HCWs. One hundred thirty-five HCWs (mean age = 46.34; SD = 10.96) were randomly assigned to one of two writing conditions: expressive writing (EW = 73) or neutral writing (NW = 62) and completed three writing sessions. PTSD and depression symptoms were assessed both pre- and post-writing. LIWC was used to analyze linguistic markers of four trauma-related variables (cognitive elaboration, emotional elaboration, perceived threat to life, and self-immersed processing). Changes in PTSD and depression were regressed onto the linguistic markers in hierarchical multiple regression models. The EW group displayed greater changes on the psychological measures and in terms of narrative categories deployed than the NW group. Changes in PTSD symptoms were predicted by cognitive elaboration, emotional elaboration, and perceived threat to life; changes in depression symptoms were predicted by self-immersed processing and cognitive elaboration. Linguistic markers can facilitate the early identification of vulnerability to mental disorders in HCWs involved in public health emergencies. We discuss the clinical implications of these findings.
Topics: Humans; Middle Aged; COVID-19; Depression; Emotional Adjustment; Health Personnel; Linguistics; Pandemics; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
PubMed: 36901490
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20054482 -
International Journal of Environmental... Oct 2020Recent emergent research is seriously questioning whether parental strictness contributes to children's psychosocial adjustment in all cultural contexts. We examined...
Recent emergent research is seriously questioning whether parental strictness contributes to children's psychosocial adjustment in all cultural contexts. We examined cross-generational differences in parental practices characterized by warmth and practices characterized by strictness, as well as the relationship between parenting styles (authoritative, indulgent, authoritarian, and neglectful) and psychosocial adjustment in adulthood. Parenting practices characterized by warmth (affection, reasoning, indifference, and detachment) and strictness (revoking privileges, verbal scolding, and physical punishment) were examined. Psychosocial adjustment was captured with multidimensional self-concept and well-being (life satisfaction and happiness). Participants were 871 individuals who were members of three generations of Spanish families: College students (G3), their parents (G2), and their grandparents (G1). Results showed two different cross-generational patterns in parenting practices, with an increased tendency toward parental warmth (parents use more affection and reasoning but less indifference across generations) and a decreased tendency toward parental strictness (parents use revoking privileges, verbal scolding, and physical punishment less across generations). Interestingly, despite cross-generational differences in parenting practices, a common pattern between parenting styles and psychosocial adjustment was found: indulgent parenting was related to equal or even better self-concept and well-being than authoritative parenting, whereas parenting characterized by non-warmth (authoritarian and neglectful) was related to poor scores.
Topics: Adult; Child; Child Rearing; Emotional Adjustment; Family Characteristics; Female; Humans; Male; Parent-Child Relations; Parenting; Personality; Self Concept
PubMed: 33076230
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17207487 -
Oral Oncology Oct 2022Survivors of head and neck cancer can experience long-term consequences of the cancer and subsequent treatments even after the cancer has resolved. Increasingly... (Review)
Review
Survivors of head and neck cancer can experience long-term consequences of the cancer and subsequent treatments even after the cancer has resolved. Increasingly clinicians are aware of the social, psychological, financial, and emotional impacts of these cancers, in addition to the support required for the physical symptoms. This review provides recommendations on the long-term management and support required for survivors of head and neck cancer in the European healthcare setting.
Topics: Delivery of Health Care; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Humans; Quality of Life; Survivors; Survivorship
PubMed: 35932637
DOI: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2022.106047 -
Journal of the National Cancer... Jul 2022Rapid growth in the number of cancer survivors raises numerous questions about health and economic outcomes among survivors along with their families, caregivers, and... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Rapid growth in the number of cancer survivors raises numerous questions about health and economic outcomes among survivors along with their families, caregivers, and employers. Health economics theory and methods can contribute to many open questions to improve survivorship.
METHODS
In this paper, we review key areas where more research is needed and describe strategies for improving data infrastructure, research funding, and capacity building to strengthen survivorship health economics research.
CONCLUSIONS
Health economics has broadened an understanding of key supply- and demand-side factors that promote cancer survivorship. To ensure necessary research in survivorship health economics moving forward, we recommend dedicated funding, inclusion of health economics outcomes in primary data collection, and investments in secondary data sets.
Topics: Cancer Survivors; Humans; Neoplasms; Research; Survivors; Survivorship
PubMed: 35788375
DOI: 10.1093/jncimonographs/lgac004 -
Current Nutrition Reports Sep 2022To discuss the historical development of intermittent fasting, its potential underlying mechanisms, and the state of clinical trials, and to reflect on considerations... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
To discuss the historical development of intermittent fasting, its potential underlying mechanisms, and the state of clinical trials, and to reflect on considerations for practice and future recommendations.
RECENT FINDINGS
Preclinical studies consistently show the robust disease-modifying efficacy of intermittent fasting in various metabolic diseases which may hold implications for cancer prevention and survivorship. Twenty-one clinical trials have or are being conducted on fasting in cancer, utilizing various fasting regimens across different tumor types as a stand-alone intervention or in adjunct to anticancer treatment, with heterogenous outcome variables. Though there are no known, reproducible diets, to cure or prevent cancer recurrence, preliminary research on the underlying mechanisms, tolerance, and safety of intermittent fasting in cancer warrants further investigation. The inherent flexibility of intermittent fasting to accommodate all types of diets is of necessity in oncology.
Topics: Fasting; Humans; Metabolic Diseases; Neoplasms; Survivorship
PubMed: 35639262
DOI: 10.1007/s13668-022-00425-0 -
Journal of Adolescence Aug 2020Sleep problems are associated with negative developmental outcomes in youth, and identification of vulnerability and protective factors is needed to explicate for whom...
INTRODUCTION
Sleep problems are associated with negative developmental outcomes in youth, and identification of vulnerability and protective factors is needed to explicate for whom and under which conditions adolescents may be most at risk. Towards this end, we examined socio-economic status (SES) as a moderator of associations between multiple sleep parameters and adolescents' socio-emotional adjustment and cognitive functioning.
METHODS
Participants were 272 adolescents (M age = 17.3 years; 49% girls) and their parents, residing in the Southeastern U.S.A. The sample was socioeconomically diverse and included 41% Black/African American and 59% White/European American youth. Using a cross-sectional design, adolescents' sleep was assessed with actigraphy (total sleep minutes; efficiency indicated by % of time asleep from sleep onset to wake time) and self-reports of sleep quality (sleep-wake problems). Mothers reported on youths' internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and cognitive functioning was assessed with a standardized test battery.
RESULTS
Moderation effects were found and illustrated that, for youth from families with lower SES, shorter and less efficient sleep and subjective sleep problems were associated with higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms as well as lower cognitive performance. Conversely, longer and better-quality sleep protected against socio-emotional and cognitive difficulties otherwise observed for socioeconomically disadvantaged youth. Fewer relations between sleep and adjustment emerged for adolescents from families with higher SES.
CONCLUSIONS
Results reinforce a growing literature indicating that the relation between sleep and adjustment is stronger for youth from families with lower SES, who may especially benefit from better sleep.
Topics: Actigraphy; Adolescent; Cognition; Cross-Sectional Studies; Emotional Adjustment; Female; Humans; Male; Self Report; Sleep; Social Class; Southeastern United States
PubMed: 32619770
DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.06.006