Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-2l2gl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-29T12:48:04.044Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The impact of positive reappraisal on positive (and negative) emotion among older adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Jamie S. Nowlan ,
Viviana M. Wuthrich Open the ORCID record for Viviana M. Wuthrich [Opens in a new window]  and
Ronald M. Rapee
Jamie S. Nowlan
Affiliation:
Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Viviana M. Wuthrich*
Affiliation:
Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Ronald M. Rapee
Affiliation:
Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Dr Viviana M. Wuthrich, Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Email: viviana.wuthrich@mq.edu.au.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Positive reappraisal is an important cognitive strategy for older adults associated with wide-ranging improvements in psychological well-being. However, little is known about the relationship between positive reappraisal and positive and negative emotion, anxiety and depression, and whether positive reappraisal is associated with continued increases in positive emotion over time.

Methods:

In the first study, 61 participants aged 62 to 88 years (M = 72, SD = 5.8) completed current measures of cognitive emotion regulation, positive emotion, negative emotion, anxiety and depression regarding their most distressing aging-related adverse life event, and rated (retrospectively) positive reappraisal use at the time of the stressor. Utilizing a longitudinal design, in a second study 60 participants aged 62 to 88 years (M = 71.2, SD = 5.7) completed the same measures for a recent adverse life event and repeated the measures 3 and 6 months later.

Results:

In the first study, positive reappraisal reported for both time periods was significantly correlated with current positive emotion, but not negative emotion with mixed findings for anxiety and depression, and positive reappraisal use increased with time since stressor onset. In the second study, positive reappraisal was significantly correlated with positive emotion and significantly predicted positive emotion from 3-month to 6-month follow-up, and was related to anxiety and depression but not general negative emotion.

Conclusions:

These findings indicate that positive reappraisal is related to positive emotion but not consistently with negative emotion, and continues to be beneficial over time in older adults who have experienced a stressor.

Keywords

positive reappraisalcognitive reappraisalpositive emotioncoping
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , April 2016 , pp. 681 - 693
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bradburn, N. M. and Caplovitz, D. (1965). Reports on Happiness. Chicago: Aldine.Google Scholar
Carstensen, L. L. and Mikels, J. A. (2005). At the intersection of emotion and cognition: aging and the positivity effect. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 117–121. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00348.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carstensen, L. L. et al. (2011). Emotional experience improves with age: evidence based on over 10 years of experience sampling. Psychology and Aging, 26, 21–33. doi: 10.1037/a0021285.Google Scholar
Chipperfield, J. G., Perry, R. P. and Weiner, B. (2003). Discrete emotions in later life. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 58B, P23–P34. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.1.P23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crawford, J. R. and Henry, J. D. (2004). The positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS): construct validity, measurement properties and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43, 245–265. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1348/0144665031752934.Google Scholar
Danhauer, S. C., Carlson, C. R. and Andrykowski, M. A. (2005). Positive psychosocial functioning in later life: use of meaning-based coping strategies by nursing home residents. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 24, 299–318. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0733464805277754.Google Scholar
Fiksenbaum, L. M., Greenglass, E. R. and Eaton, J. (2006). Perceived social support, hassles, and coping among the elderly. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 25, 17–30. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0733464805281908.Google Scholar
Freitas, S., Simoes, M. R., Alves, L. and Santana, I. (2013). Montreal cognitive assessment: validation study for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 27, 37–43. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/WAD.0b013e3182420bfe.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garnefski, N. and Kraaij, V. (2006). Relationships between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms: a comparative study of five specific samples. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1659–1669. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2005.12.009.Google Scholar
Garnefski, N., Kraaij, V. and Spinhoven, P. (2001). Negative life events, cognitive emotion regulation and emotional problems. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 1311–1327. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869%2800%2900113-6.Google Scholar
Garnefski, N., Legerstee, J., Kraaij, V., van den Kommer, T. and Teerds, J. (2002). Cognitive coping strategies and symptoms of depression and anxiety: a comparison between adolescents and adults. Journal of Adolescence, 25, 603–611. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jado.2002.0507.Google Scholar
Hall, N. C., Chipperfield, J. G., Heckhausen, J. and Perry, R. P. (2010). Control striving in older adults with serious health problems: a 9-year longitudinal study of survival, health, and well-being. Psychology and Aging, 25, 432–445. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0019278.Google Scholar
Hardy, S. E., Concato, J. and Gill, T. M. (2002). Stressful life events among community-living older persons. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 17, 841–847. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2002.20105.x.Google Scholar
Hilton, B. (1989). The relationship of uncertainty, control, commitment, and threat of recurrence to coping strategies used by women diagnosed with breast cancer. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 12, 39–54. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00844748.Google Scholar
Johnco, C., Knight, A., Tadic, D. and Wuthrich, V. M. (2015). Psychometric properties of the geriatric anxiety inventory (GAI) and short-form (GAI-SF) in a clinical and non-clinical sample of older adults. International Psychogeriatrics, 27, 1089–1097. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1041610214001586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraaij, V., Arensman, E. and Spinhoven, P. (2002). Negative life events and depression in elderly persons: a meta-analysis. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 57B, P87–P94. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/57.1.P87.Google Scholar
Lazarus, R. S. and Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. NY: Springer Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Nasreddine, Z. S. et al. (2005). The Montreal cognitive assessment, MoCA: a brief screening tool for mild cognitive impairment. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53, 695–699. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53221.x.Google Scholar
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. and Aldao, A. (2011). Gender and age differences in emotion regulation strategies and their relationship to depressive symptoms. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 704–708. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.06.012.Google Scholar
Nowlan, J. S., Wuthrich, V. M. and Rapee, R. M. (2015a). Positive reappraisal in older adults: a systematic literature review. Aging & Mental Health, 19, 475–484. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2014.954528.Google Scholar
Nowlan, J. S., Wuthrich, V. M. and Rapee, R. M. (2015b). Self-report measures of positive reappraisal with a focus on older adults: a systematic review. Clinical Gerontologist: The Journal of Aging and Mental Health, 38, 302–324. doi: 10.1080/07317115.2015.1032468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nowlan, J. S., Wuthrich, V. M. and Rapee, R. M. (2015c). Increasing older adults’ use of positive reappraisal coping for chronic physical illness. Clinical Gerontologist, 38, 428–437. doi: 10.1080/07317115.2015.1067274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pachana, N. A., Byrne, G. J., Siddle, H., Koloski, N., Harley, E. and Arnold, E. (2007). Development and validation of the geriatric anxiety inventory. International Psychogeriatrics, 19, 103–114. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1041610206003504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schreiber, J. B., Stage, F. K., King, J., Nora, A. and Barlow, E. A. (2006). Reporting structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis results: a review. The Journal of Educational Research, 99, 323–337. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOER.99.6.323-338.Google Scholar
Sears, S. R., Stanton, A. L. and Danoff-Burg, S. (2003). The yellow brick road and the emerald city: benefit finding, positive reappraisal coping and posttraumatic growth in women with early-stage breast cancer. Health Psychology, 22, 487–497. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.22.5.487.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seematter-Bagnoud, L., Karmaniola, A. and Santos-Eggimann, B. (2010). Adverse life events among community-dwelling persons aged 65–70 years: gender differences in occurrence and perceived psychological consequences. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 45, 9–16. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00127-009-0035-3.Google Scholar
Sheikh, J. I. and Yesavage, J. A. (1986). Geriatric depression scale (GDS): recent evidence and development of a shorter version. Clinical Gerontologist: The Journal of Aging and Mental Health, 5, 165–173. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J018v05n01_09.Google Scholar
Swift, A. U., Bailis, D. S., Chipperfield, J. G., Ruthig, J. C. and Newall, N. E. (2008). Gender differences in the adaptive influence of folk beliefs: a longitudinal study of life satisfaction in aging. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 40, 104–112. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0008-400X.40.2.104.Google Scholar
Wancata, J., Alexandrowicz, R., Marquart, B., Weiss, M. and Friedrich, F. (2006). The criterion validity of the geriatric depression scale: a systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 114, 398–410. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2006.00888.x.Google Scholar
Watson, D., Clark, L. A. and Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed