Biomedical subjects

B Hayslip

Publications and source records attributed to B Hayslip.

44 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Depression and helplessness-induced cognitive deficits in the aged.

Sixty-six community-residing elderly (mean age = 72.5) were categorized as depressed (mean = 11.3) or nondepressed (mean = 3.9) based on Beck Depression Inventory scores. After a pre-test battery measuring short-term memory and crystallized/fluid intelligence, the subjects responded to a word association task, disguised as a test of interpersonal empathy, under response dependent or response independent reinforcement conditions, or were assigned to a no treatment control. A post-test battery of alternate forms followed. Four of seven measures showed significant pre- to post-test declines in performance. For two of these four, response dependent reinforcement prevented otherwise significant declines. With pre-test differences statistically controlled, depression produced significant post-test deficits in three measures. Response dependent reinforcement eliminated this depression deficit in one measure. The results indicate that depression may exacerbate fatigue effects for the elderly and response dependent reinforcement may prevent fatigue-caused deficits in short-term memory.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Psychoneuroendocrinological indicators of stress and intellectual performance among older adults: an exploratory study.

For an exploration of the relationship between task-specific anxiety and intellectual performance, 26 community-dwelling older adults were asked to perform a series of cognitive tasks to assess crystallized (Gc) and fluid (Gf) intellectual abilities. The volunteers then completed questionnaires concerning their beliefs about their task performance specific to each ability, as well as measures of both generalized and intellectual self-efficacy, everyday cognitive failures, and trait and state anxiety. Cortisol levels were assessed as a physiologic indicator of task anxiety, and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) levels were measured to reflect nonspecific physiological changes. With trait anxiety taken into consideration, significant negative correlations were seen between cortisol levels and performance on all tasks measuring primarily fluid abilities, as well as between cortisol levels and self-efficacy concerning tasks measuring primarily crystallized abilities. EBV levels were not correlated with any of the task-specific measures, except for Letter Sets performance. These preliminary findings confirm that older persons' concerns about their task performance are indeed stressful when measured physiologically, apart from indicators of self-reported stress.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The relationship of cortisol to practice-related gains in intelligence among older persons.

Based on data collected from two separate samples of older adults, the present study explored the role of cortisol in mediating practice-related gains in fluid intelligence (Gf) among older adults. Analyses across samples involved treatment group participants who received stress inoculation training in order to reduce anxiety concerning intellectual performance; waiting list control group participants did not receive training until the experiment(s) were completed. Practice effects were examined for both groups. In Study 1, the sample consisted of a heterogeneous (re: concerns about intellectual performance) group of older adults, and Study 2 participants were older adults who self-reported as being at least moderately anxious or concerned about intellectual performance declines. The two samples differed on health (p < .01), with Study 2 participants being healthier (as determined via self-report). Results indicated that practice, but not training, effects were evident for measures of crystallized ability (Gc) and Gf across both studies. The data also suggested that cortisol mediation was different for the two samples in that it was negatively correlated with Gf in the first sample, and, though not significant, positively correlated with Gf in the second. The same directional relationships were evident for the measure of Gc. Comparisons between studies regarding correlations between cortisol and practice-related gains in performance were significant for Gf (p < .01) and approached significance for Gc (p < .07). These data seem to suggest that for some older persons, higher levels of cortisol interfere with the effects of practice on Gf performance, while for others, higher cortisol facilitates such gains in performance.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Comparisons of urinary versus serum cortisol in older persons.

The present analysis compared urine- versus serum-based amounts of the stress hormone cortisol in two older adult samples, given that urine as a sample medium is a less expensive and less invasive method of determining cortisol amounts relative to serum. Seventy-three older adults provided urine samples as part of an ongoing study to assess levels of cortisol as a function of intellectual efficacy/performance; these data were compared to serum cortisol levels obtained from 96 older adults in a separate study examining health beliefs and cortisol levels. Analyses indicated that the cortisol levels did not differ across samples, i.e., cortisol amounts measured in serum or urine yielded similar, typical (within normal ranges) results. The data, though preliminary, indicate that urine may provide an alternative to serum when assessing cortisol in older persons.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relationships among death anxiety, communication apprehension with the dying, and empathy in those seeking occupations as nurses and physicians.

In light of the modern phenomenon of increased institutionalized deaths occurring in hospitals and in nursing homes, much of recent death attitude research has focused on health professionals. The present study explored possible relationships among measures of death anxiety, communication apprehension with the dying, and empathy in undergraduate nursing, premedical, and control subjects. Main effects for year in school indicated that seniors scored lower than freshmen on communication apprehension with the dying. The multivariate effects for field of study were also significant, with univariate results indicating that nursing students scored lower than controls on communication apprehension with the dying.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Idiographic assessment of the self in the aged: a case for the use of the Q-sort.

Literature bearing on the use of the Q-sort in gerontological research is discussed. It is argued that the measurement of self-concept and the design of outcome measures with elderly clients should be rooted in a perspective emphasizing multiple, interactive determinants of life-span development; increases in intraindividual variability/interindividual differences with age; ecological validity; and a growing concern for the practical utility and acceptability of nontraditional counseling and psychotherapy and the aged. Suggestions for the development and use of the Q-sort in evaluating intervention-oriented efforts from within such a perspective on the self in old age and on outcome research with elderly clients are offered.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The development of the physicians' end-of-life care attitude scale.

The Physicians' End-of-Life Care Attitude Scale (PEAS) was developed as an outcome measure for palliative care education. PEAS assesses the willingness of medical trainees to care for dying patients. Sixty-four Likert-type questions were created on the basis of discussions with focus groups of medical trainees, then administered to sixty-two medical students and residents. Total PEAS scores as well as personal preparation and professional role subscales (where higher scores indicated greater concern) possessed excellent internal consistency and reliability. In addition, there were substantial correlations between PEAS scores and the CA-Dying scale, a measurement of laypersons' fears about interacting with dying persons. Thus, PEAS adequately assesses the unique communication concerns of physicians in training regarding working with dying persons and their families. Correlations between PEAS scores and age were negative, while those who had experienced the death of a loved one had higher PEAS scores than those who did not. This suggests that for some persons, life experiences may lessen difficulties in dealing with dying persons, while for others, personal losses may exacerbate such concerns. The utility of PEAS in evaluating the efficacy of palliative care education as well as its potential to measure medical trainee's willingness to care for the terminally ill is discussed.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relationships between intelligence and concept identification in adulthood as a function of stage of learning.

Three groups (n = 54) of participants aged 17-26, 39-51 and 59-76 were asked to solve two types of concept problems to investigate the intellectual correlates of concept identification as a function of stage of learning in adulthood. Predictions derived from the Gf-Gc theory of Horn and Cattell were partially supported in each age group. Differential ability-performance relations as a function of stage of learning were considerably less potent in the elderly versus the young and middle aged. Comparisons both within and between age groups suggested that a dynamic picture of interactions among organismic and task-related variables is preferable, reflecting structural changes in such relationships with practice and cohort membership.

Adolescent↗