Behavior In Later Life Research Articles

A longitudinal study of the effects of well-being and perceived control on preparations for old age: moderation effects of contexts.

Extending research on determinants of preparations for old age across adulthood, we examined the relationship between well-being, perceived control, and preparations for old age over time, along with variation in the strength of these relationships depending on domains of functioning, cultures, and age. We analyzed longitudinal data from the Ageing as Future study assessing changes in well-being, perceived control, and preparations in four different life domains (social relations, finances, work, and health) across a five-year period collected from adults aged from 30 to 85years in Germany (N = 623), Hong Kong (N = 317), and the USA (N = 315). Positive feelings about one's current situation predicted greater perceived control five years later, and vice versa. Also, perceived control and preparations were positively associated over time, with only a few exceptions within each domain. For example, high control beliefs were related to subsequent greater preparations and well-being within the domain of social relations and finances, with weak effects of culture. These results suggest that current well-being may promote adaptive behaviors in later life, with the accumulated effects over time. Thus, focusing on how to improve our well-being may promote engagement in preparations for old age. Our results also indicate that these relations in our model vary by contexts, highlighting the importance of variability in age-related processes.

The role of maternal factors in epigenetic programming of neurodevelopment

Early life events are potent determinants of vulnerability and resistance to stressors. In many species, including rodents, the mother is the primary mediator of behavioral and physiological responses to stress in offspring during development. Emerging evidence indicates that epigenetic modifications in the brain of developing offspring are associated with the effects of maternal stress as well as individual neural, physiological, and behavioral responses to adversity. I will discuss research in my lab focused on identifying the relevant genomic targets (in the brain and periphery) of maternal stressors that exert long‐term ‘programming’ effects on stress responses. We have approached this question in several ways. First, we have studied ecologically important stressors applied during gestation. Second, we have investigated factors that co‐occur or interact with maternal care, including variations in ambient temperature and offspring genotype, that influence neurodevelopment and later‐life behavior. Third, we have explored direct exposure to maternal dietary stressors across the developmental period on offspring phenotype and genome‐wide epigenetic modifications in offspring brain. Through these investigations we will explore the significance of the maternal environment in neurodevelopment and the role of epigenetic mechanisms in important signaling pathways involved in susceptibility to stress‐related illness.

Memory of famine: The persistent impact of famine experience on food waste behavior

The 1959–1961 Great Famine in China was one of the most devastating events in history and had long-term effects on economic behavior. This paper seeks to provide a novel explanation for heterogeneous food waste behaviors across age cohorts from the perspective of differing famine experiences. Based on 2004–2009 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data, this paper constructs a difference-in-difference estimator to explore the long-term effects of the early-life famine experience of the household head on household food waste behavior in later life. The results indicate that the more serious famine that the household head experienced in early life was, the less wasted food and lost calories per capita there were, especially for adolescence during the famine. The mechanism analysis shows that households whose heads experienced the 1959–1961 Great Famine in early life tend to save more than those whose head did not. The findings contribute to a better understanding of the formation of preference and the variation in household food waste behaviors across age cohorts.

The influence of gender and class on the transition to retirement: A longitudinal qualitative study on Italian older workers’ experiences

The aim of this study is the reconstruction of the multifaceted points of view related to the transition from work to retirement using a gender perspective. This article includes 40 interviews of ageing Italian workers, 24 women and 16 men, carried out in the cusp of retirement (wave 1) and two years after retirement (wave 3). The experiences related to the ‘decision to retire’ and ‘life after retirement’ were analysed using a complex theoretical framework based on the work of Bourdieu combined with the concept of gendered habitus developed by feminists’ theorizations. The findings identified the elements characterizing women’s narratives in such a way that it was possible to describe the ambivalent women’s positions embedded in the Italian socio-economic context. The voices of the participants were taken as case examples to draw attention to the critical nature of personal gendered identities, which are mostly influenced by structural conditions related to a particular welfare regime (e.g. work and retirement policies) aiming to fix normative behaviours in later life. Nevertheless, the gendered habitus, as an expression of inner discourses, illustrates at the same time the nature of both constraints and freedom possessed by the respondents. We conclude by pointing out the importance of reflexive social approaches applied to the study of gender inequalities in later life.

The G Protein-Coupled Serotonin 1A Receptor Augments Protein Kinase Cε-Mediated Neurogenesis in Neonatal Mouse Hippocampus-PKCε-Mediated Signaling in the Early Hippocampus.

The neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT) plays an important role in mood disorders. It has been demonstrated that 5-HT signaling through 5-HT1A receptors (5-HT1A-R) is crucial for early postnatal hippocampal development and later-life behavior. Although this suggests that 5-HT1A-R signaling regulates early brain development, the mechanistic underpinnings of this process have remained unclear. Here we show that stimulation of the 5-HT1A-R at postnatal day 6 (P6) by intrahippocampal infusion of the agonist 8-OH-DPAT (D) causes signaling through protein kinase Cε (PKCε) and extracellular receptor activated kinase ½ (ERK1/2) to boost neuroblast proliferation in the dentate gyrus (DG), as displayed by an increase in bromodeoxy-uridine (BrdU), doublecortin (DCX) double-positive cells. This boost in neuroproliferation was eliminated in mice treated with D in the presence of a 5-HT1A-R antagonist (WAY100635), a selective PKCε inhibitor, or an ERK1/2-kinase (MEK) inhibitor (U0126). It is believed that hippocampal neuro-progenitors undergoing neonatal proliferation subsequently become postmitotic and enter the synaptogenesis phase. Double-staining with antibodies against bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and neuronal nuclear protein (NeuN) confirmed that 5-HT1A-R → PKCε → ERK1/2-mediated boosted neuroproliferation at P6 also leads to an increase in BrdU-labeled granular neurons at P36. This 5-HT1A-R-mediated increase in mature neurons was unlikely due to suppressed apoptosis, because terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling analysis showed no difference in DNA terminal labeling between vehicle and 8-OH-DPAT-infused mice. Therefore, 5-HT1A-R signaling through PKCε may play an important role in micro-neurogenesis in the DG at P6, following which many of these new-born neuroprogenitors develop into mature neurons.

Neonatal blockade of NR2A-containing NMDA receptor induces schizophrenia-related behaviors in adult rats

It is known that N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor is essential for early brain development. NMDA receptor blockade during neonatal period causes various abnormal behaviors in later life. In the developing brain, NR2A- and NR2B-containing NMDA receptors show different expression patterns. However, the functions of these NMDA receptors in brain development are unknown. Therefore, we investigated the effects of pharmacological inactivation of NR2A- and/or NR2B-containing NMDA receptors on various behaviors in adulthood. We postnatally treated rats with an NR2A-preferring (PEAQX), an NR2B-selective (ifenprodil), or a nonselective NMDA receptor blocker (MK-801). Interestingly, neonatal treatment with PEAQX or MK-801 caused significant decrease in spontaneous alternation in the Y-maze test. In addition, PEAQX or MK-801 treatment increased startle response to acoustic stimuli. Neonatal PEAQX treatment also induced hypersensitivity to locomotor-stimulating effect of MK-801. On the other hand, neonatal ifenprodil treatment did not cause these behavioral alterations. Furthermore, PEAQX-treated but not ifenprodil-treated rats exhibited deformity of the hippocampal CA1 area, while neonatal NMDA receptor blockade did not alter the cell density in the hippocampus. In conclusion, our results suggest that the NR2A-containing NMDA receptor plays important roles in early brain development in rats, and hypofunction of this subunit during developmental period induces schizophrenia-related behaviors in adulthood.

Early Aβ42 Exposure Causes Learning Impairment in Later Life.

Amyloid cascade hypothesis proposes that amyloid β (Aβ) accumulation is the initiator and major contributor to the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, this hypothesis has recently been challenged by clinical studies showing that reduction of Aβ accumulation in the brain does not accompany with cognitive improvement, suggesting that therapeutically targeting Aβ in the brain may not be sufficient for restoring cognitive function. Since the molecular mechanism underlying the progressive development of cognitive impairment after Aβ clearance is largely unknown, the reason of why there is no behavioral improvement after Aβ clearance remains elusive. In the current study, we demonstrated that transient Aβ expression caused learning deficit in later life, despite the accumulated Aβ was soon being removed after the expression. Early Aβ exposure decreased the cellular expression of XBP1 and both the antioxidants, catalase, and dPrx5, which made cells more vulnerable to oxidative stress in later life. Early induction of XBP1, catalase, and dPrx5 prevented the overproduction of ROS, improved the learning performance, and preserved the viability of cells in the later life with the early Aβ induction. Treating the early Aβ exposed flies with antioxidants such as vitamin E, melatonin and lipoic acid, after the removal of Aβ also preserved the learning ability in later life. Taken together, we demonstrated that early and transient Aβ exposure can have a profound impact on animal behavior in later life and also revealed the cellular and molecular mechanism underlying the development of learning impairment by the early and transient Aβ exposure.

Association between Parenthood and Health Behaviour in Later Life-Results from the Population-Based CARLA Study.

Previous research has focused on comparing health behaviour between parents and non-parents at younger ages, while little is known about the impact of being a parent on health behaviours in later life. We studied whether parenthood is associated with later physical activity (PA), dietary pattern, smoking status and alcohol consumption in German adults of middle and old age. We used data from the baseline examination of the population-based CARLA-study in Halle (Saale), comprising 1779 adults aged 45–83. Linear and logistic regression analyses assessed the relationship between parenthood and health behaviours while controlling for age, partner status, education, income, occupational position, socioeconomic status in childhood, and number of chronic diseases. Of the participants, 89.1% had biological children. Being a father was associated with higher PA in sports (sport index ß = 0.29, 95% confidence interval [0.14; 0.44]), but not with PA in leisure time (excluding sports), dietary pattern, consumption of alcohol and smoking status. No associations were found between being a mother with all outcome variables. Provided that PA of fathers is typically reduced when the children are young, the development towards higher PA at later age needs to be studied in more detail.

Ameliorating effect of continuous alpha-glycosyl isoquercitrin treatment starting from late gestation in a rat autism model induced by postnatal injection of lipopolysaccharides

The present study investigated the role of neuroinflammation and brain oxidative stress induced by neonatal treatment with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)–like behaviors and disruptive hippocampal neurogenesis in rats by exploring the chemopreventive effects of alpha-glycosyl isoquercitrin (AGIQ) as an antioxidant. AGIQ was dietary administered to dams at 0.25% or 0.5% (w/w) from gestational day 18 until postnatal day (PND) 21 on weaning and then to pups until the adult stage on PND 77. The pups were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (1 mg/kg body weight) on PND 3. At PND 6, LPS alone increased Iba1+ and CD68+ cell numbers without changing the CD163+ cell number and strongly upregulated pro-inflammatory cytokine gene expression (Il1a, Il1b, Il6, Nfkb1, and Tnf) in the hippocampus, and increased brain malondialdehyde levels. At PND 10, pups decreased ultrasonic vocalization (USV), suggesting the induction of pro-inflammatory responses and oxidative stress to trigger communicative deficits. By contrast, LPS alone upregulated Nfe2l2 expression at PND 6, increased Iba1+, CD68+, and CD163+ cell numbers, and upregulated Tgfb1 at PND 21, suggesting anti-inflammatory responses until the weaning period. However, LPS alone disrupted hippocampal neurogenesis at weaning and suppressed social interaction parameters and rate of freezing time at fear acquisition and extinction during the adolescent stage. On PND 77, neuroinflammatory responses had mostly disappeared; however, disruptive neurogenesis and fear memory deficits were sustained. AGIQ ameliorated most changes on acute pro-inflammatory responses and oxidative stress at PND 6, and the effects on USVs at PND 10 and neurogenesis and behavioral parameters throughout the adult stage. These results suggested that neonatal LPS treatment induced acute but transient neuroinflammation, triggering the progressive disruption of hippocampal neurogenesis leading to abnormal behaviors in later life. AGIQ treatment was effective for ameliorating LPS-induced progressive changes by critically suppressing initial pro-inflammatory responses and oxidative stress.

Educational training for healthcare professionals about sexual health and behaviour in later life: a scoping review

ABSTRACT Older adults’ sexual health is often overlooked and unaddressed by healthcare professionals, though sexuality is a central and life-long aspect of being human. Healthcare professionals cite lack of knowledge and comfort in addressing older adult sexual health needs and concerns. We conducted a scoping review to identify educational programmes for professionals about later life sexual health and behaviour. Sixty articles were assessed for eligibility and five met inclusion criteria (two quantitative, two qualitative process evaluations, and one mixed method study). Content analysis identified four categories describing features that may contribute to the effectiveness of educational programmes: curriculum development; staff training within facility-based care settings; staff receptiveness and desire for more training; and inclusion of family members. Findings reveal several components that support professionals’ knowledge of and comfort with discussing sexual health. The dearth of articles investigating training for professionals about sexual health and behaviour in later life reveals how few studies have assessed the long-term effectiveness of training in practice. Researchers should design and evaluate educational programmes to increase professionals’ comfort with discussing older adult sexual health and behaviour to better equip professionals to meet the wide-ranging care needs, inclusive of sexual health, of an increasingly diverse ageing population.

Neonatal procedural pain affects state, but not trait anxiety behavior in adult rats.

The influence of neonatal experiences upon later‐life affective behavior is increasingly recognized, but the reported effects on anxiety are often contradictory. The observed effect may depend upon the type of anxiety (state or trait) affected. The current study aims to investigate whether neonatal repetitive needle pricking alters anxiety behavior in adulthood, by assessing both state and trait anxiety in rats. Sprague–Dawley rat pups received four unilateral needle pricks per day, while controls received four tactile stimuli or were left completely undisturbed during the first postnatal week. Mechanical sensitivity was assessed in the neonatal phase and throughout the development. State anxiety was assessed in the open field test and trait anxiety in the elevated zero maze. The results show that repetitive needle pricking leads to acute mechanical hypersensitivity, but does not affect baseline mechanical sensitivity throughout development. In adulthood, animals previously exposed to neonatal procedural pain (including repetitive handling and removal from litter) showed lower state anxiety but did not differ in trait anxiety, as compared with the undisturbed controls. These findings indicate that early‐life procedural pain decreases state but not trait anxiety behavior in later life in a rodent model of repetitive needle pricking.

Suicide in late life: A viewpoint

Suicide in old age represents a sad public health concern. Despite the global decline in rates of suicide and the general amelioration of quality of life and access to health care for older adults, their rates of suicide remain the highest virtually in every part of the world. With the aging of the world population and the growing number of mononuclear families, the risk of an increase in isolation, loneliness and dependency does not appear ungrounded. The Covid-19 pandemic is claiming the life of many older persons and creating unprecedented conditions of distress, particularly for this segment of the population. This article briefly examines the main characteristics of suicidal behavior in late life, including observations deriving from the spread of the Sars-2 coronavirus and possible strategies for prevention.

Tackling the relationship between pornography's consumption and female sexual scripts: does masturbation play an activating role?

ABSTRACT The present study addresses a neglected research question: does female masturbation moderate the association between pornography consumption during adolescence and sexual attitudes and behavior in later life? We adopt a theoretical perspective derived from the sexual script approach: since masturbation triggers the activation of sexual scripts acquired through porn exposure, we expect the former to increase the latter's association with the adoption of permissive and recreational sexual scripts. In order to answer our research question, several regression models were applied to a sample of Italian women. The random survey sample used here ensures that findings have greater generalizability than many previous studies on pornography. The empirical evidence is in line with expectations, indicating that masturbation plays an activating role in the association between underage porn consumption and the adoption of permissive and recreational sexual scripts in later life: this association is stronger among women who masturbated than among those who did not. The paper ends with a discussion of whether the shift towards these kinds of scripts can be seen as an improvement for female sexual agency and pleasure.

The Elephant in the Room – A Critical Interpretive Synthesis of Older Adults’ Sexuality

Objectives: This study aimed to explore past studies that have focused exclusively on the sexuality of adults older than 65 from a positive public health approach. Methods: We performed a critical interpretive synthesis, starting with the literature review on sexual behaviors in later life, adding policy documents on aging sexuality, and bringing new perspectives. Results: Older adults continue to be sexually active. Healthcare professionals lack knowledge and communication skills surrounding aging sexuality and no policies before 2013 mention aging sexuality. Conclusions: We posit that society’s view of later life sexuality reflects on practice, policies, and research on this topic, which influence back society’s view.

The effect of early exposure to violence on acceptance of violence and dating violence perpetration in university students: the moderating role of pro-violence messages

ABSTRACT Dating violence is a prevalent problem among college-aged couples. Empirical studies based on social learning theory have found a strong relationship between early exposure to violence and violent behaviors in later life. However, researchers have not fully examined which contexts exacerbate the potential risk of violence perpetration among individuals who have experienced violence. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether pro-violence messages received in childhood moderate the effect of early exposure to violence on acceptance of violence and dating violence perpetration. The current study used a sample of U.S. college students (N = 3,302) using cross-sectional data from the International Dating Violence Study (2001– 2006). Findings from ordinary least squares regression analyses showed that receiving pro-violence messages during childhood was associated with acceptance of violence among male and female students (p < .5), but that such messages are associated with increased dating violence perpetration among female students only (p < .5). Overall, pro-violence messages did not moderate the relationship between early exposure to violence and acceptance of violence and dating violence perpetration. Among the female sample pro-violence messages moderated the relationship between early exposure to violence and acceptance of violence (p < .5). These findings highlight the significance of pro-violence messages on later attitudes toward violence. However, subsequent studies are needed to explore the risk factors that adjust or reinforce the relationship between early exposure to violence and acceptance of violence and dating violence behaviors in later life.

Prenatal stress-induced disruptions in microbial and host tryptophan metabolism and transport

The aromatic amino acid tryptophan (Trp) is a precursor for multiple metabolites that can steer proper immune and neurodevelopment as well as social behavior in later life. Dysregulation in the Trp metabolic pathways and abundance of Trp or its derivatives, including indoles, kynurenine (Kyn), and particularly serotonin, has been associated with behavioral deficits and neuropsychiatric disorders including autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and schizophrenia. Previously, we have shown that prenatal stress (PNS) alters placental Trp and serotonin, and reduces Trp-metabolizing members of the maternal colonic microbiota. Given that PNS also results in alterations in offspring neurodevelopment, behavior and immune function, we hypothesized that PNS affects Trp metabolism and transport in both the maternal and fetal compartments, and that these alterations continue into adolescence. We surmised that this is due to reductions in Trp-metabolizing microbes that would otherwise reduce the Trp pool under normal metabolic conditions. To test this, pregnant mice were exposed to a restraint stressor and gene expression of enzymes involved in Trp and serotonin metabolism were measured. Specifically, tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase, aryl hydrocarbon receptor, and solute carrier proteins, were altered due to PNS both prenatally and postnatally. Additionally, Parasutterella and Bifidobacterium, which metabolize Trp in the gut, were reduced in both the dam and the offspring. Together, the reductions of Trp-associated microbes and concomitant dysregulation in Trp metabolic machinery in dam and offspring suggest that PNS-induced Trp metabolic dysfunction may mediate aberrant fetal neurodevelopment.

Digitally Connecting Consumers Mental Health and Behavior amid Pandemic

The covid-19 pandemic is likely to have a profound impact on mental health globally. This paper aims to explore the psychological perspectives that have affected consumer behavior during the life-changing social environment as a framework in consumer mental health research. The paper offers a history of consumer behavioral health studies and applications in the field of marketing, as well as an introduction to the theoretical and empirical framework for the study of consumer behavior in later life concerning consumption-related problems throughout life. A sample of 254 millennial consumers is used to test hypothesized relationships derived from the life course perspectives. The approach to the life course, designed to analyze the various facets of consumer behavior, offers a basis for filling holes in prior analysis to study consumer behavior over time. The author introduces a life-course concept that offers an insight applicable to the life-course paradigm of consumer behavior research. In the present context, it has already increased feelings of stress, peers, economic status has given rise to a range of digital and other interventions to help people cope with the “new normal”, the researchers need to illustrate how the life course approach might innovatively contribute to existing studies © Review Of International Geographical Education

A Painful Beginning: Early Life Surgery Produces Long-Term Behavioral Disruption in the Rat.

Early life surgery produces peripheral nociceptive activation, inflammation, and stress. Early life nociceptive input and inflammation have been shown to produce long-term processing changes that are not restricted to the dermatome of injury. Additionally stress has shown long-term effects on anxiety, depression, learning, and maladaptive behaviors including substance abuse disorder and we hypothesized that early life surgery would have long-term effects on theses complex behaviors in later life. In this study surgery in the rat hindpaw was performed to determine if there are long-term effects on anxiety, depression, audiovisual attention, and opioid reward behaviors. Male animals received paw incision surgery and anesthesia or anesthesia alone (sham) at postnatal day 6. At 10 weeks after surgery, open field center zone entries were decreased, a measure of anxiety (n = 20) (P = 0.03) (effect size, Cohen’s d = 0.80). No difference was found in the tail suspension test as a measure of depression. At 16–20 weeks, attentional performance in an operant task was similar between groups at baseline and decreased with audiovisual distraction in both groups (P < 0.001) (effect size, η2 = 0.25), but distraction revealed a persistent impairment in performance in the surgery group (n = 8) (P = 0.04) (effect size, η2 = 0.13). Opioid reward was measured using heroin self-administration at 16–24 weeks. Heroin intake increased over time in both groups during 24-h free access (P < 0.001), but was greater in the surgery group (P = 0.045), with a significant interaction between time and treatment (P < 0.001) (effect size, Cohen f 2 = 0.36). These results demonstrate long-term disruptions in complex behaviors from surgical incision under anesthesia. Future studies to explore sex differences in early life surgery and the attendant peripheral neuronal input, stress, and inflammation will be valuable to understand emerging learning deficits, anxiety, attentional dysfunction, and opioid reward and their mechanisms. This will be valuable to develop optimal approaches to mitigate the long-term effects of surgery in early life.

Age-Related Changes in the Role of Social Motivation: Implications for Healthy Aging.

Prior research has established the importance of social relations and social embeddedness for motivation in healthy aging. Thus, social orientation appears to be essential for understanding healthy aging. This article focuses particularly on age-related changes in goals concerning social orientation, such as increased prioritization of emotional goals, increased prosociality/altruistic motives, generativity, and ego transcendence. We then consider open questions regarding gaps in the links between goals related to social orientation and healthy aging, as well as the implications of theories and research on social goals for leveraging motivation to promote healthy aging. In particular, interventions to promote healthy behavior in late life may be most effective when they match the themes of older adults' strivings to find meaning and purpose in their personal goals.

A ticking time bomb of future harm: Lockdown, child abuse and future violence

The Covid-19 pandemic and the implementation of national lockdowns has generated significant changes in the citizenry's material realities. Although the efficacy of lockdown is yet to be determined, emerging evidence points to a rise in unintended harms, such as increased child abuse and neglect. Indeed, reported incidences of child abuse in many countries across the world have increased as at-risk children are confined to their dwelling for significant periods of time with a violent perpetrator. Drawing on recently developed theories that indicate a mediated causal link between childhood trauma and a commitment to violent behaviour in later life, particularly in young men, this article claims lockdown may be an unintended ‘violence generating mechanism’ that might potentially manifest itself in increased violent outbursts in the future. First, the article briefly outlines how lockdowns have impacted upon societies. It then explores the statistical upsurge in child abuse and neglect, including afar as Croatia, South Africa, New Zealand, China, Uganda, Nepal and the United Kingdom. The paper closes with a discussion of the empirical evidence that demonstrates a link between childhood trauma and violence in later life, concluding that lockdowns may act as a ticking time bomb of future harm.