Psychological Reserves Research Articles

Longitudinal analysis of the mediating role of self-perception of aging in the relationship between frailty and intrinsic capacity: A cross-lagged mediation model

ObjectivesThe causal relationship between intrinsic capacity and frailty in older adults, as well as the underlying temporal mechanisms, remained poorly understood. The study aimed to investigate the causal association between intrinsic capacity and frailty while exploring the potential mediating role of self-perception of aging. MeasurementsA survey was conducted with a sample of 429 participants who completed measures of intrinsic capacity, self-perception of aging, and frailty at baseline and were followed for one year. The relationships between these variables were assessed using an autoregressive cross-lagged model. ResultsThe study found reciprocal associations between intrinsic capacity and frailty (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the results indicated that self-perception of aging partially mediated the effect of frailty at baseline (T1) on intrinsic capacity at one-year follow-up (T2) (β = -0.02, confidence interval: [-0.055, -0.004]). However, the reverse causation was not observed. Conclusions and implicationsThis study demonstrates a bidirectional causal relationship between intrinsic capacity and frailty in older adults. Self-perception of aging plays a significant mediating role in this relationship. Older adults with a worse level of frailty should be made aware of the potentially vicious cycle related to self-perception of aging, which can negatively affect their intrinsic capacity. Maintaining a positive self-perception of aging may help preserve physical and psychological reserves, maintain intrinsic capacity, and slow the decline of frailty.

The theory of the multiple reserves: The cognitive, physical, psychological and social factors that determine the quality of aging

AbstractBackgroundIn the 1980s the finding that education was linked to lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) led to the concept of cognitive reserve (CR). Extensive evidence of the protective role of cognitive activities in school, as well as at home and at work has supported the concept of CR. However, AD is clearly a multifactorial condition and there are other important lifestyle factors linked to AD risk.MethodThe literature was searched to find factors other than CR that are protective against the development of AD.ResultThe theory of the multiple reserves presents the physical, psychological and social factors that must be considered. Physical reserve includes the health of all the bodies' systems, including the microbiome. Psychological reserve considers emotional stability and ability to maintain healthy mental functions in response to stress. Social reserve considers interpersonal networks and support systems and the ability to be connected to others and society.ConclusionThe multiple reserve concept helps to demonstrate the opportunities for reducing AD risk through development of the four reserves. Cognitive activities throughout life should be enhanced, and ways to elevate the other reserve factors should be developed, Persons should be encouraged to enhance all of the four reserve factors to reduce their risk of the disease, as well as reduce the rate of progression. Furthermore, public policy should be designed to augment all four of the reserves all each stage of life.

A Scoping Review on Coping Strategies and Quality of Life of Stroke Caregivers: Often Underestimated Variables in Stroke Recovery Process?

The purpose of the present study was to review all available work published within the last decade focusing on coping strategies in stroke caregivers and their impact on quality of Life (QoL) and psycho-emotional status. A literature search of two databases (MEDLINE, Scopus) was conducted to identify all relevant full-text English studies published between 2013–2023. Sixteen articles were traced and were finally included. Cognitive and behavioral coping strategies were beneficial for stroke caregivers’ and survivors’ QoL. The level of mutuality in the caregiver-survivor relationship was associated with the impact of depressive symptoms on caregivers’ QoL and the protective effect of mutuality on survivors’ QoL over time. The level and quality of social support were positively associated with QoL for stroke caregivers and survivors. Caregivers’ preparedness was a moderator for the impact of depression on both caregivers’ and survivors’ QoL. High levels of spirituality had a significant role in ameliorating the negative impact of depressive symptoms on the psychological and physical QoL of stroke caregivers and survivors. In conclusion, the study of coping strategies can be used as a psychological reserve in the process of stroke rehabilitation and actively contribute to improving the QoL of both caregivers and stroke survivors.

The National Spirit Embodied in the Battle of Shanghai and Its Historical Significance

The Second Sino-Japanese War (19371945) was also a page in the development of the Chinese nation that was marked by vicissitudes. During this period, the national spirit, with patriotism as its core, reached an unprecedented height. The Sino-Japanese War lasted fourteen years, divided into the stage of a partial war and a full-scale war. This article focuses on the comprehensive strategic defence phase during the full-scale war from 1937 to 1939, with the Battle of Shanghai as the main focus, and discusses the analysis of the history of the war and the national spirit embodied in it. The significance of the Battle of Shanghai is not only the military strategic consideration of "uploading and transmitting" or buying time for the national industry to move inward, but also the "united mindset" and even "bottom-up" spirit, from officers to popular people. The national spirit of "bottom up" embodied in it provided valuable and rich ideological and psychological reserves for people to resist the war for a long time. The Battle of Shanghai promoted the unity and solidarity of people from all social classes in Shanghai and even the whole country under the call of "resisting Japan and defeating insults, solidarity in the national defense", and promoted the development of an unprecedented new climax of the national anti-Japanese movement.

Recurrent syncope in long survivors and its association with geriatric syndromes.

Syncope is a common clinical condition in the elderly, associated with significant morbidity and risk of recurrence. Recurrent syncope causing a repeated reduction in the cerebral blood flow can predispose to progressive neurodegeneration, a decline in overall health and functionality. Hence, this study was conducted to study the common causes of recurrent syncope and its association with various geriatric syndromes. This case-control study recruited 50 cases of recurrent syncope and 50 controls, aged 75 years and older. A detailed history and sequential evaluation for aetiologies of recurrent syncope were done. Cognition, frailty, activities of daily living, depression, and nutrition were assessed using various scales. Most (80%, 80/100) of the participants were males and the mean age was 80.04 ± 4.3 years. In the syncope group, 42% (21/50) of patients had arrhythmia, and 30% (15/30) had valvular heart disease. Recurrent syncope was significantly associated with lower scores on Montreal cognitive assessment scale (OR: 6.47 P < 0.001), four or more comorbidities (OR: 6.29 P < 0.001), and hearing impairment (OR: 6.21 P< 0.004) on multivariate logistic regression analysis. Recurrent syncope is significantly associated with cognitive impairment, the presence of four or more comorbidities, and hearing impairment. Conduction abnormality was the most common etiology of recurrent cardiovascular syncope. Structured evaluation and appropriate management of recurrent syncope might reduce the decline in physical, cognitive, and psychological reserve. A follow-up longitudinal study is needed to establish this.

Psycho-social impact of pandemic among COVID-19 survivors

Background: The clobber of COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented public health challenge that disrupted psycho-social resilience of the society projecting an ultimatum since SARS outbreak 2003. Considering the trend, it was decided to ascertain the psyche and mind-set of 72 COVID survivors (actual patients) those came in contact with the scholar during the pandemic in 2020-21 in Kolkata, India. Methods: A descriptive study employing convenient sampling, conducted by data collection through questionnaire that included socio-demographic and psycho-social data during Aug-Sep 2022. Psycho-social data included perception on health risk, social support, psychological reserve and psychological distress on 5-point Likert scale and was analyzed through suitable descriptive statistics. Result: Study found the basic traits of survivors like age, sex, employment, job-loss, co-morbidity and occurrence pattern of COVID-19 similar to other documented studies in India. The subjects displayed high health risk perception, satisfaction in Govt. regulation and other social services including food/provisions, need for ever-sought-after social support (57-63%), high psychological distress (82-88%) in the background strong psychological reserve (47-62%) indicating considerable agony during hard trying time. Conclusion: It is recommended that public health administration must conduct mental health audits during epidemic outbreaks for efficient management of community distress and provide online psycho-therapy in addition to traditional support.

Subjective Cognitive Decline: Is a Resilient Personality Protective Against Progression to Objective Cognitive Impairment? Findings from Two Community-Based Cohort Studies.

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is related to personality functioning and risk of subsequent objective cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to examine whether lower neuroticism and higher conscientiousness-resilient personality traits-protect against conversion from SCD to objective cognitive impairment in two longitudinal community-based cohorts. Data from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 1,741, Mean age = 68.64 years, Follow-up mean = 7.34 years) and the National Health and Aging Trends Survey (N = 258, Mean age = 79.34 years, Follow-up mean = 4.31 years) were analyzed using Cox regression analysis, controlling for sociodemographic covariates, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and apolipoprotein ɛ4. The pooled results showed that lower neuroticism and higher conscientiousness were associated with decreased risk of conversion from SCD to objective cognitive impairment. Among individuals with SCD, those with a resilient personality may have more cognitive and psychological reserve to maintain cognitive functioning and delay conversion to objective cognitive impairment. The findings further contribute to a better understanding of personality along the cognitive continuum: The observed effect sizes were smaller than those reported in cognitively normal individuals but larger than in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. Personality could provide useful information to identify individuals with SCD who may develop objective cognitive impairment-namely those who hold a vulnerable personality (higher neuroticism, lower conscientiousness).

Війна в Україні: сприйняття населенням та її вплив на якість життя

The authors analyse internal and external migration, psychological reserves, and the Ukrainian population’s sense of support based on the results of national survey. The paper dwells upon theprovision of assistance to defenders and the perception of the victory prospects. The level of trust in the President of Ukraine has been determined.

Psychotherapeutic Change Mechanisms and Causal Psychotherapy: Applications to Child Abuse and Trauma.

The study of change mechanisms in psychotherapy needs to be integrated with the causality of behavior, which leads to the concept of causal psychotherapy. Causal psychotherapy is posited as a useful adjunct to standard, evidence based psychotherapies for child and youth victims of abuse and trauma. The article illustrates six processes that could be involved in causal psychotherapy in this context, from the distal to the proximal. They include the distal mechanism of activation-inhibition coordination. The most proximal one relates to executive function. The intermediate levels include ones related to co-regulation (e.g., self control), analysis-synthesis, objectivity-subjectivity, and psychological reserve, which is a new concept in the domain of psychological change mechanisms. Each of the variables can vary from high to low, with the low end being more problematic. Psychotherapy can aim to bring the patient toward adaptive levels. The literature review focuses on psychotherapeutic change mechanisms, and standard psychotherapies for child/youth abuse/trauma, especially trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (TF-CBT). Then, it considers causal aspects of child/youth abuse and trauma, including PTSD. The discussion relates causal therapy to the question of unifying psychology and psychotherapy under the rubric of causality as a core integrative mechanism.

The Method for Enhancing Statokinetic Stability in Alpine Skiers Based on the Use of Normobaric Hypoxia in Combination with Cervical Spine Muscle Exercises

Lately, the improved outfitting and sports alpine skiing equipment have brought about significantly increased speed of their motion on the mountain slope. At the same time, alpine skiers’ psychological and physiological reserves remain practically unchanged. In order to enhance the statokinetic stability level of the alpine skiers included in the experimental group, normobaric hypoxia training in combination with cervical spine muscle exercises were used for a month during a preparatory period before competitions. The subjects of the control group used conventional exercises to enhance the statokinetic stability level. The results of the studies showed that the alpine skiers from the experimental group demonstrated a confidently increased tolerance time of continuous cumulation of Coriolis accelerations (versus initial measurements). We also observed the lowered intensity of negative vestibulosensory, vestibulovegetative and vestibulosomatic reactions. This showed their improved tolerance of continuous cumulation of Coriolis accelerations. Besides that, the alpine skiers of the experimental group showed positive changes in the static stabilometric test in the integrated functional computer stabilography. The open eyes test showed a confidently significant reduction in the rate of increase of the statokinesiogram length and area, oscillation amplitude of the projection of the common center of gravity in the frontal and sagittal planes, and also the coefficient of asymmetry in the frontal and sagittal directions. The obtained results can justify recommendation of normobaric hypoxia course to be used in combination with cervical spine muscle exercises as means to improve statokinetic stability in alpine skiers.

Preoperative assessment and optimisation for pelvic exenteration in locally advanced and recurrent rectal cancer: A review

The pre-operative phase in planning a pelvic exenteration or extended resections is critical to optimising patient outcomes. This review summarises the key components of preoperative assessment and planning in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) and locally recurrent rectal cancer (LLRC) being considered for potential curative resection. The preoperative period can be considered in 5 key phases: 1) Multidisciplinary meeting (MDT) review and recommendation for neoadjuvant therapy and surgery, 2) Anaesthetic preoperative assessment of fitness for surgery and quantification of risk, 3) Shared decision making with the patient and the process of informed consent, 4) Prehabilitation and physiological optimisation 5) Technical aspects of surgical planning. This review will focus on patients who have been recommended for surgery by the MDT and have completed neoadjuvant therapy. Other important considerations beyond the scope of this review are the various neoadjuvant strategies employed which in this patient group include Total Neo-adjuvant Therapy and reirradiation. Critical to improving perioperative outcomes is the dual aim of achieving a negative resection margin in a patient fit enough for extended surgery. Advanced, realistic communication is required pre-operatively and should be maintained throughout recovery. Optimising patient's physiological and psychological reserve with a preoperative prehabilitation programme is important, with physiotherapy, psychological and nutritional input. From a surgical perspective, image based technical preoperative planning is important to identify risk points and ensure correct surgical strategy. Careful attention to the entire patient journey through these 5 preoperative phases can optimise outcomes with the accumulation of marginal gains at multiple timepoints.

Pilot study on the evaluation of the effectiveness of psychocorrection methods that include EEG-training and VR headset in athletes involved in extreme kinds of sports

Objective: to evaluate the effectiveness of psychocorrection based on the methods of self­regulation in athletes.Materials and methods: the effectiveness was evaluated on 104 male athletes who had an optimal level of psychoemotional state of the body during a background examination by electroencephalography (EEG). The subjects were randomly assigned to three groups of psychocorrection: control, EEGtraining, and VR­therapy. Mathematical and statistical processing was carried out in Statistica 7.Results: the average values of the wave intensity index (WII) after psychological correction using the following methods: EEG­training and VRtherapy showed positive EEG dynamics in athletes of the second group (EEG­training) 65,6 % (21) and the third group (Vr­therapy) 73,8 % (31) of the subjects, respectively. Whereas in the control group, self­healing was recorded in 9 (30 %) athletes without psychocorrection procedures.Conclusion: the quantitative criterion of WII is a universal informative indicator of the functional activity of the brain for evaluating the effectiveness of psychocorrection aimed at optimizing the psychoemotional state. Psychocorrection of athletes using EEG­training and VR­therapy provides efficiency in 73.8 and 65.6 % of cases, which significantly softens pre­start tension as a result of reducing anxiety and restoring the psychoemotional state of the body to an optimal level by involving the psychological reserve.

Frailty and Its Correlates in Cognitively Intact Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Background: Frailty syndrome is characterized by a decline in physiological and psychological reserve and may be associated with poor health outcomes. Objectives: The current study explored frailty and its correlates among cognitively intact community-dwelling older adults. Methods: A secondary analysis of data collected from 109 community-dwelling older adults who are cognitively intact was conducted for the purpose of this study. The Arabic versions of the culturally adapted Tilburg Frailty Indicator, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, the Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Short Form-36 Quality of Life (QOL) survey. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the relationships between frailty and depression. Results: The results indicated a high prevalence of frailty (78%) and depression (38%) among cognitively intact community-dwelling older adults. Frailty was found to be associated with increased age, being single or illiterate, living alone, having a high number of comorbid conditions, having high rate of depression, and having poor QOL. Conclusion: High prevalence of frailty is associated with high depression scores, a high number of comorbid conditions, and poor QOL among cognitively intact community-dwelling older adults.

Don't forget the trauma patient: lessons from a major trauma and major COVID centre.

Don't forget the trauma patient: lessons from a major trauma and major COVID centre.

Арт-техники в подготовке музыканта-исполнителя

The authors of the article consider one of the directions of musical pedagogy - the use of art pedagogy in the process of training a musician-performer. Based on the analysis of the research literature and experience describes the possibility of using psychological reserves of music and performing activities, in particular, reception of musical color modeling of the emotional and figurative content of music, are revealed.

Importance of Will in Resilience and Recovery: Findings From the BLSA

Using data from 743 initially well-functioning men and women (49.5%) aged ≥60 in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging we interrogated the association between physical reserve operationalized as fast 400m walk performance scaled from 0 to 4 and psychological reserve (“will”) operationalized as personal mastery (high versus not) and likelihood of recovery from a decline of ≥2 points in reported walking ability. Of the 35% who declined 1-2 years post study baseline, 54% recovered 1-2 years later and 45% did not. Controlling for age, sex, race and initial walking ability, for each increment in reserve, likelihood of recovery was 43% greater (95% confidence interval (1.10, 1.85); p=.007). This association was most pronounced in women (odds ratio=1.84; 95% CI (1.19, 2.86; p=.006). Personal mastery showed no association with likelihood of recovery. Continuing work will further explore alternative operationalizations of “will”. Part of a symposium sponsored by Epidemiology of Aging Interest Group.

Pain catastrophizing is associated with increased physical disability in patients with anterior knee pain

IntroductionThe traditional nociceptive approach to pain identifies the mind and body as functionally separate. However, the biopsychosocial model accounts for the impact of social, psychological and physical factors on the patient experience. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between diagnosis, physical disability, and psychological distress among patients with anterior knee pain-one of the most common complaints in an orthopedic clinic. MethodsThis was a single-center, cross-sectional study. Patients presenting for initial evaluation of knee pain completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Kujala Anterior Knee Pain Scale, and SF-12 questionnaires. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Version 24. Results207 patients, 108 (52.2%) females and 99 (47.8%) males, with a mean age 44.5 ± 15.4 years were enrolled. The osteoarthritis cohort had the highest pain catastrophizing score (17 ± 14.5), lowest Kujala score (48.3 ± 18.1), lowest SF-12 PCS (37.5 ± 8.3), and lowest SF-12 MCS (50.8 ± 11.0). Across all diagnoses, there was a statistically significant negative correlation between the total Pain Catastrophizing Score (PCS) and the Kujala, SF-12 Physical, and SF-12 Mental Component Scores. Bivariate and multivariate analysis demonstrated a correlation between PCS and duration of symptoms and African-Americans. The Kujala and SF-12 PCS demonstrated a statistically significant correlation with age, smoking, and the Asian Indian ethnicity. The SF-12 MCS showed a significant relationship with the Asian Indian ethnicity. Bivariate analysis also showed a statistically significant relationship between the SF-12 PCS and the SF-12 MCS. ConclusionKnee pain patients presenting to an orthopedic sports medicine clinic demonstrate diminished physical quality of life and psychological reserves. This study determined an association between catastrophizing behavior and other patient reported outcomes measuring pain, physical distress, quality of life and mental/emotional well-being. To optimize patient outcomes, psychological domain should be managed contemporaneously to orthopedic pathology.

Psychological resources of management of pedagogical education at the university in the context of global changes

The article covers the problem of searching for psychological reserves for finding managerial mechanisms to accelerate the transformation of the national university educational system. There is a decrease in the population's assessment of ongoing reforms, which is partially caused by the lack of teachers’ activity to work out an adequate concept of development, the loss of the very meaning of university education, its substitution by different values, and, most importantly, the lag of universities in the transfer of modern knowledge. It is obvious that all developed educational technologies are aimed at accelerating of one of the slowest learning processes in education. One of the ways to reduce learning time is related to the digitalization of education, which theoretically tends to zero thanks to the introduction of microchips that connect the human mind with the computer. However, there are technologies of knowledge transfer that do not form professionals, who, in addition, must have certain competencies, experience and personal qualities. In the context of searching for effective ways to develop pedagogical education, attention is drawn to the study of the results of increasing its species diversity, as well as the integration of its main types - formal, non-formal and informal. Besides, it is important to change the position of the student outlining ways to prepare the educational elite, the main difference, the specificity of which is its universality. This can be achieved by creating a new geographically closed space, a new innovative environment, the beginnings of which began to manifest in the situation of the pandemic: an intellectual civilization aimed to provide conditions for the symbiosis of population, scientific knowledge and production. Further development of pedagogical knowledge in a high-tech society is impossible without integration with science. The growth of the scientific component, the active introduction of scientific methods forms the ability to foresee and predict the future, thereby turning pedagogical universities into an innovative information and educational environment.

The role of social inequality and individual psychological resources in the incidence of socially significant diseases in Russia and Europe

Psychological resources of the individual are an important factor of keeping health. Having such psychological features as awareness of their ability to control the life circumstances, a positive perception of themselves and belief in their own strength, self-esteem, optimistic view in the future, have a direct positive impact on the physical and psychological state of a person, promote healthy lifestyles, equip with the ability to cope struggles and reduce stress influence to health. The availability of such psychological resources and their reserve is especially important for people suffering from socially significant chronic diseases accompanied by physical and functional limitations, violations of psychological and social adaptation. However, according to numerous studies, in socially disadvantaged groups of the population – poorly educated, employed in the least prestigious and low-paid jobs with low incomes, together with high risks of morbidity and premature mortality from chronic diseases, there are low rates of psychological resistance due to a shortage of psychological resources. The study of the relationship between social status and individual psychological resources, which affect the health of different social strata’s representatives, allowed us to identify two main approaches. Within the framework of one approach, psychological features are considered to be a product of the structural conditions that determine the inequalities of their distribution in society. The deficit of psychological resources that experienced by representatives of socially vulnerable groups is consider to be contributing the negative impact of low socio-economic status on health and acts as one of the mediating mechanism for the transformation of socio-economic differences into inequalities in health. Another approach emphasizes the role of the person in changing the life circumstances, including those of them that are caused by the adverse effects of low socio-economic status. In this case, attention is focused not so much on the differences in the psychological reserves of individuals who occupy different positions in the socio-economic stratification, as on their variability within one social level. Empirical studies confirm that especially among the socially disadvantaged groups, individuals characterized by greater reserve of positive psychological properties, demonstrate significantly better health compared to those fellow citizens who are deprived of this reserve. In the literature, this phenomenon designates as a" buffer" effect, contributing to the reduction of negative health consequences of low status, and, consequently, to the reduction of socio-structural inequalities in health. In developed European countries, where government guarantees allow lower social strata to maintain self-esteem, confidence in the future and optimism, psychological resources lose their role as a mediator between socio-economic status and health and can lead to a buffer reduction of structural inequalities. In the less developed countries of Europe and in Russia, where public health and education programs do not allow people from the lower strata to maintain psychological stability, structural differences in the risks of chronic diseases and premature mortality persist.

Psychological Resources, Material Deprivation, and Health in Europe: Direct Effects and Mediation of Educational Inequalities

The article deals with the problem of mediation of social structural inequalities in health. According to theoretical explanations that require further empirical justification, inequalities in education — deterioration of health with its decline — may be associated with material deprivation. With a low educational status, a person does not have enough material resources necessary for high-quality nutrition, recreation and treatment. These inequalities may also arise due to the fact that poorly educated people lack the psychological reserves necessary for overcoming life's difficulties. Analysis of European Social Survey data (ESS 2012) for 27 countries, as well as the contextual factor of social protection expenditure was carried out using statistical methods of two-level modeling and regression models for mediation effects (HLM, MLmed macro, Process macro). Health inequalities in education are clearly manifest in any country. It was established that, along with education, material deprivations and especially personal resources play a significant role in differentiating the well-being of people, exerting an independent impact on it. According to the modeling results, in many countries, including the most developed, material deprivations that people with low levels of education suffer from, act as a mediator, partly clarifying the reasons for differences in health among people with different education. One of the lines of psychological mediation is also connected with material conditions — through two intermediaries, the first of which is deprivation, and the second is psychological qualities. At the same time, even when controlling all of these mediating effects, personal characteristics are an important mediator of SES inequalities, but not all over Europe, but only in countries with a relatively weak social state. In conclusion, a brief description of health inequalities and mediating effects in Russia is given.