Understanding late life anxiety and cognitive processes – We are rapidly gaining momentum: Introduction to the special issue

Abstract

The older adult population is growing at an accelerated pace, thus mental health professionals must become familiar with problems of aging. This special issue of Journal of Anxiety Disorders is the first to address the independent, interactive, and mutual effects of anxiety and cognitive processes in older adults. Although there are relatively longstanding traditions of study on cognitive aging and the effects of anxiety and cognition in younger adults, our understanding of anxiety and cognitive processes in the elderly lags far behind. The articles in this issue represent one of the first collective efforts to close this gap, addressing topics such as cognitive functioning in clinical and analog groups of anxious older adults, the relation of cognitive functions to indices of treatment outcome, and longitudinal models of increased anxiety in later life.